National Workshop on Data-Informed ICT & E-Government Policies in Bangladesh

From 6-7 June 2017 a national workshop will be held in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on the theme of evidence-based and data-informed ICT/e-government policies for advancing public service delivery and accountability in supporting the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals. The workshop is organized by the Prime Minister’s Office of Bangladesh, Access to Information (a2i) and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA).

Bangladesh is among the top performing least development countries in e-government development. The role of information communications technology (ICT) including e-government in national development is recognised at the highest level of its administration, with H.E. Mrs. Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh’s Prime Minister, advocating for its “Digital Bangladesh” strategy as a main driver of the national 7th five-year plan that is also integrated to implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In view of the priority and commitment of digital government, the Government has made remarkable progress in e-government development and digital innovation, for example, in establishing over 4,500 “Digital Union Centres” to provide more than 200 online services such as enrollment to primary education, with a view to bring inclusive online services to the rural communities.

There are, however, several data gaps in sectoral areas such as education, health and employment. While some targets have clearly defined indicators including the adoption of global indicators and nationally defined complementary indicators, there are institutional and capacity challenges in defining other indicators, such as the quality of public service delivery.

To this regard, the workshop in Dhaka from 6-7 June aims to build institutional capacity to collect, analyse and publish e-government data and related sectoral data, with a view to develop e-government policies, directives, laws, legislations, etc., to support the SDGs. This workshop will also support the first deliverable of the project, in identifying and supporting a set of SDG targets and indicators that the Government of Bangladesh seek to strengthen in this project, with relevant data and implementation road map to guide the next phase of project implementation.