Access to Information(A2I)

Programme
e-Governance is a strategic issue that relates to redesigning the national
administrative process at the policy-making level to make the Government more
transparent, efficient, and service-oriented. It requires high level leadership and
participation from all stakeholders.
The Chief Advisers ffice !the then "rime #inisters ffice$, esta%lished an ICT Task
&orce 'ith representatives from all ma(or ICT stakeholders ) including the private
sector and industry. The office also undertook a pu%licly funded pro(ect named
*+upport to ICT Task &orce !+ICT$ to implement "ilot ICT pro(ect. The +ICT pro(ect
deals 'ith implementation of various pilot ICT pro(ects utili,ing pu%lic funds, various
other government organi,ations continue to undertake parallel initiatives mainly
utili,ing funding from development partners.
The outcomes of such rather scattered initiatives have resulted in the creation of
many e-governance applications 'ithin the government system. -o'ever, a%sence of
coordination meant most of these initiatives are incompati%le 'ith each other and
lack complementarities in %uilding a nation 'ide e-governance platform. Thus there
'as a felt need to esta%lish a coordinating agency to spearhead e-governance efforts
and to e.pedite e.ecution and improve coordination among initiatives of different
organs of the government. A committee 'as formed to strategi,e esta%lishment of an
ena%ling environment and develop a plan of action to spearhead implementation of e-
governance in the country. /ased on a series of national and regional consultations,
the committee made three strategic recommendations in their report su%mitted to
the "# in 0 1une 2334. ne of the strategic recommendations of the plan 'as to
esta%lishment of an *e-Governance Cell or 5ntity 'ithin "# to lead and provide
coordination support to all e-governance initiatives taken at various levels of the
government.
As a follo' up action of this recommendation an e-Governance Cell 'as housed 'ithin
"#6Chief Advisers ffice. It 'as also recommended in the *"lan of Action to
undertake an um%rella programme, 'ith 789" /angladesh as the lead development
partner, that 'ill provide technical and kno'ledge advisory assistance in the
formulation and implementation of e-governance pro(ects ) including the facilitation
of resource mo%ili,ation from %oth government and development partners sources.
The "rogramme A2I 'as %eing designed as a follo' up of the third recommendation
of the *e-Governance "lan of Action. A2I programme aimed at ensuring the
appropriateness of ne' initiatives and programmes for ICT for development 'ithin
the conte.t of national priorities. At the same time, this programme 'ill support the
development of ne' pro(ects and programmes for ICT for development 'ithin the
conte.t of national priorities. At the same time, this programme 'ill support the
development of ne' pro(ects and programmes for ICT for development and provide
technical assistances for monitoring and evaluation of these pro(ects. This
programme 'ill also identify, prioriti,e and mainstream ICT into the national
development policies and to assist in the development of national e-Governance
vision and strategy that can harness digital opportunities for development in
consultation 'ith the stakeholders: and dentify emerging opportunities for ICT for
development initiatives and programmes in support of national priorities in the
conte.t of national e )Governance vision.
The (ourney for esta%lishing e-governance system in /angladesh faced challenges
that can %e summari,ed %y three As; Access, A'areness and Applications. /eing a
developing country, it 'as al'ays a challenge for the country to finance capital
intensive endeavours like access %ack%ones and communication infrastructure. Also,
ne'er ICT tools remained %eyond the purchasing po'er of most /angladeshis.
<ith the proliferation of mo%ile, 'hile the communication infrastructure challenge is
some'hat resolved, the issues of a'areness among the pu%lic servants and citi,en
are still lo'. +uch a'areness !or lack of it$ among middle and senior pu%lic officials
remained a particular of concern in the conte.t of esta%lishing e-governance.
&inally, there are only a fe' applications that are availa%le to address specific
application needs of the civil services and other %ranches of the government. =ack of
soft'are applications as 'ell as lack of relevant digital content remained one of the
ma(or o%stacles to'ards attaining greater %uy-ins form government stakeholders.
Apart form the three ma(or issues that are descri%ed a%ove, lack of policy level
coordination and often fragmented mandate of various government agencies
represent another set of challenges in effective use of ICTs in %etter pu%lic
administration and efficient citi,en service delivery.
The scope of Access to Information !A2I$ programme is the provision of kno'ledge
advisory services and technical assistance to the e-Governance cell, 'hich is
mandated to provide leadership in developing the national e-Governance vision, and
to spearhead and coordinate the national efforts in achieving the vision. The
programmes scope also includes strengthening the capacity of key government ICT
championships-individuals or organi,ations- %y enhancing their ICT skills in promoting
the transfer of kno'ledge on pro(ect6programme management %est practices.


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