Modernizing Bangladesh public administration through e-governance: Benefits and challenges

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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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    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 (KIMEP), 4 Abai Avenue, Almaty 050010, Kazakhstan. He can be contacted at: [email protected].

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