eGovernment capacity building through knowledge transfer and best practice development in Bangladesh (PSLP eGov)

Supported by the Australian Government, AusAID

Website: http://www.ictforldc.com/PSLP/p1.htm

The National Centre for Information Systems Research (NCISR) of ANU has secured funding from the competitive AusAID Public Service Linkage Program (PSLP) to implement an applied research project in Bangladesh. The project was initiated based on an ongoing PhD research on ICT adoption in public sector of a least developed country at ANU. An agreement was signed between AusAID and the Australian National University (ANU) on 15 January 2008, with the Ministry of Science and Information & Communication Technology (MOSICT) of Bangladesh as the lead counterpart organization and the Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS) as a third party organization.

This project has the potential to be of considerable benefit to the country of Bangladesh, one of the world's least developed countries, in iimproving transparency and efficiency in the public sector, improving services and reform in the public sector, increasing productivity and reducing poverty. It also aims to facilitate good governance in Bangladesh through the implementation of eGovernment. Lessons learned in this project could also have broader application in other least-developed countries.

This one year project will be implemented in three phases, which will include development of know-how among key decision makers and government officials for effective use of ICT, development and delivery of training package to bridge the knowledge gap on eGovernment processes, and the development of strategies for the effective uptake of ICT. Ongoing projects and championship in this area will be encouraged and supported.

This activity is expected to build the capacity of the officials who are expected to deal with future eGovernment projects undertaken by the government. It will also equip officials with knowledge to prepare requirement documents for software developers, pre and post evaluation procedures, ICT governance, ICT auditing and project management skills specifically for eGovernment projects. The proposed activity is an initial step towards adopting sustainable and workable eGovernment in the context of Bangladesh. Institutional strengthening is a long process but the right direction and progress toward this is extremely important. The project is expected to play a significant role in this aspect. Adoption of eGovernment will not only improve the internal efficiency of the Bangladesh public service, but will also facilitate international business connectivity.

Contacts:

Professor Shirley Gregor, Project Director, Email: Shirley.gregor@anu.edu.au
Mr. Ahmed Imran, Project Manager, Email: ahmed.imran@anu.edu,au