Modernizing Bangladesh public

administration through e-governance:

Benefits and challenges
Author links open overlay panelShahjahan H.Bhuiyan
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Abstract
More and more public administration emphasizes how Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) can be used to support transformational
change in governmental functions globally to achieve efficiency and cost-
effective service delivery to citizens. Bangladesh public administration
employs energies to achieve this goal. Experience in some developing
countries has shown that e-governance can improve transparency which
leads to, among other things, corruption control and poverty reduction. This
article examines the role that e-governance can play in the modernization of
public administration for efficient and effective service delivery to the citizens
of Bangladesh, as well as its potential to control corruption and reduce
poverty. Based on the lessons learned from successful practices in
developing countries and literature review, it suggests that e-governance can
play a significant role for corruption control and poverty reduction, and thus
offers opportunities to cost-effective service delivery to the citizens in
Bangladesh.

Introduction
There is a growing consensus among governments across the world of the
need to revitalize public administration to facilitate customer-centered, cost-
efficient, and user-friendly delivery of services to citizens and businesses,
thereby improving the quality of governmental functions. Technology has
strengthened reforms in many areas and e-Government1 is widely recognized
as fundamental to the reform, and as a modernization and improvement of
government (Foley and Alfonso, 2009, PIU, 2000). As a result, governments
are introducing innovations in their organizational structure, practices, and
capacities, as well as in the way they mobilize, deploy and utilize the human
capital and information, technological, and financial resources for service
delivery to citizens (UN, 2008, p. xii). The introduction of e-Government is
justified if it enhances the capacity of public administration to increase the
supply of much needed public value (World Public Sector Report, 2003). For
instance, the use of electronic service delivery frees citizens to engage with
public services at their own convenience, not just when government offices
are open. The interactive aspects of e-Government allow both citizens and
bureaucrats to send and receive information (West, 2004), a major
transformational shift in public policy, processes and functions.
The potential of e-Government to improve transparency and control corruption
in public administration has received overwhelming attention from
practitioners and researchers in this field (for example, Cho and Choi, 2005,
Khan, 2009, Kim et al., 2009, Lenk, 2006, Pathak et al., 2008, Pathak et al.,
2009). Admittedly, transparency can be attained by providing citizens with
more and direct access to governmental information, as increased
transparency leads to decreased corruption (Kim et al., 2009). It has been
argued that in this context, e-Government reflects a “new face of government,”
one that is transforming government-citizens interactions at all levels of
government, and within and between governments around the globe
(Morgeson & Mithas, 2009). An efficient and effective public administration is
an essential precondition for economic and social development (Schuppan,
2009). However, it is recognized that many regimes in developing countries
are only partly open to public scrutiny and influence. Because e-governance
can promote openness in the flow of ideas and information, its introduction
may be resisted where the power of governors is exercised undemocratically
or corruptly (Rose, 2005, p. 1).
The role of ICT in achieving efficiency, effectiveness, or supporting
transformational change in state functions will bring no substantive results in
the context of the developing world, thereby keeping millions in a state of
poverty. The World Bank (1990) identified poverty as, “the most pressing
issue facing the development community: how to reduce poverty.” Poverty
reduction, therefore, remains a key policy goal for governments in many
developing countries. Academics and development agencies equate poverty
with being “information poor” (Ashraf, Hanisch, & Swatman, 2009). Jaggi
(2003) observes that “a more informed citizenry is in a better position to
exercise its right, and better able to carry out its responsibilities and increase
their income level within the community and region.” The revolution of ICT has
been changing human behavior, the management of corporations, and
governance of states. The central and local governments have increasingly
utilized the electronic communications as a means of the provision and
delivery of public goods and services (Kim, 2007). The usage of ICT broadens
the operational scope of modern public administration and the reliability of its
actions as foundations to achieving progress, development, and good
governance.

The new democratically-elected Bangladesh government, installed in January

2009, has expressed its firm commitment to transform the “contextless” nature
of public administration (see Haque, 1996) to a citizen-friendly, accountable,
and transparent government by implementing the key election pledge
articulated, “Vision 2021.” The objective of this paper is to critically examine
the role that e-governance can play in the modernization of public
administration for efficient and effective service delivery to the citizens of
Bangladesh, as well as its potential to control corruption and reduce poverty.
This article proceeds first by describing the context in which public
administration modernization efforts have been considered. Next, it will
provide a brief review of the literature on e-governance and its role in
corruption control and poverty reduction. In the following three sections, the
methodology of the study will be presented, the e-Government initiatives in
Bangladesh will be introduced, and its impact on curbing corruption and
poverty reduction will be assessed. In the latter two sections, the key
problems and challenges for the implementation of e-governance will be
addressed, and a description of future direction in order to address issues
such as poverty, corruption, infrastructural development will be made. The
final section succinctly concludes the paper.

Section snippets
Setting the context
Bangladesh (see Box 1) is a South Asian country that became an
independent state in 1971 after a bloody liberation war with Pakistan. It is a
densely populated country with some 145 million people who intermittently
experience natural disasters in the form of floods, cyclones, and other
cataclysmic events. Poverty is widespread, although the number of people
living below 1 USD per day was reduced from 59% of the population in 1990
to about 50% in 2000 and further declined to 38% in 2007 (Jacobs,

Literature review
Various studies have examined the role of e-governance in corruption control
and poverty reduction in a number of countries. Pathak, Singh, Belwal, and
Smith (2007) reported the results of a survey in Ethiopia about factors that
cause corruption and the potential of e-Government to mitigate corruption.
The results of the research suggested that e-governance can help not only in
weeding out corruption but also in establishing of more trusting government-
citizen relationship. In a similar but

Methodology
This paper primarily provides an analysis of secondary sources. Webster and
Watson (2002) document that literature reviews are a significant part of the
development of a field. They offer the opportunity to synthesize and reflect on
previous research, and thus providing secure grounding for the advancement
of knowledge (Sæbø, Rose, & Flak, 2008). As a result, this paper emphasizes
a review of the literature. Four sources in particular have been researched
and analyzed. First, this paper

The state of e-governance in Bangladesh

The 2003 World Public Sector Report notes that ICT allows a government's
internal and external communication to gain speed, precision, simplicity,
outreach, and networking capacity. This can be converted into cost reductions
and increased effectiveness—two desired features of all government
operations, but especially of public services. It can also be converted into 24/7
usefulness, transparency and accountability, networked structures of public
administration, information management, and

Control of corruption through e-governance

Corruption–defined by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) as
the abuse of public power for private benefit through bribery, extortion,
influence peddling, nepotism, fraud, or embezzlement–not only undermines
investment and economic growth; it also aggravates poverty (Quah, 2006, p.
176). In the same vein, Caiden (1988, p. 19) observes: “All corruption is a
deceit, a lie that sacrifices the common good or the public interest for
something much less.” This is an age-old phenomenon,

Poverty reduction through e-governance

Unequivocally, it is recognized that no meaningful development of a country
can be achieved without the improvement of the standard of living of the poor.
The GoB along with non-government organizations and donor agencies have
made extensive efforts through the implementation of various plans and
programs to improve the living condition of millions of poor people. As a result,
Bangladesh has made considerable progress in reducing poverty over the
years, despite the series of climatic and
Problems and challenges
During the first decade of the twenty-first century, it is estimated that some
3 trillion US dollars will be spent on information technology by governments
across the world (Gubbins, 2004, p. 28). Hitherto, much of this investment
seems likely to go to waste with estimates of the proportion of the e-
Government projects failing in some way ranging from 60% (Gartner, 2002) to
60–80% (UNDESA, 2003) up to 85% (Symonds, 2000). Similarly, Bangladesh
public administration faces multifaceted problems

Next steps
Having identified the key constrains, which becomes challenges for the future,
the GoB needs policy design to implement and subsequently evaluate
strategies that address these important imperatives.

Conclusion
The agenda for modernizing public administration through e-governance is a
contemporary phenomenon in many countries as this promises a people-
centric, accountable, and transparent government, and lessens transaction
costs. From the experiences of other developing countries, Bangladesh can
learn a great deal. In order to achieve the articulated development goals of
“Vision 2021,” the GoB has begun to establish “Digital Bangladesh.”
“Corruption” and “poverty” are two powerful factors that seem

Shahjahan H. Bhuiyan holds a PhD from the University of Bonn and

currently teaches Public Policy, Public Financial Management, and
Governance and Development at the Kazakhstan Institute of Management,
Economics, and Strategic Research (KIMEP). He is the author of Benefits of
Social Capital: Urban Solid Waste Management in Bangladesh,
Münster/London: LIT, 2005. His contact details are: Department of Public
Administration, Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economics, and
Strategic Research
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