2. Summary of Country Reports

A. Bangladesh

In order to incorporate ICT in governance, Bangladesh created a national ICT task force headed by the Prime Minister and members from the government, industry and academia. The Government’s National ICT Policy aims to build an ICT-driven nation and a knowledge-based society by the year 2006. A country-wide ICT infrastructure will be developed to ensure access to information for all citizens to facilitate their empowerment and enhance democratic values and norms for sustainable economic development by using the infrastructure for human resources development, governance, e-commerce, banking, public utility services and other online ICT-enabled services. The realization of e-government is heavily dependent on cost-effective and widespread ICT infrastructure without which online services will not be able to reach the desired targets. Bangladesh has begun to prepare for gradual proliferation of e-government services throughout the country. For example, since 1998 it has accorded duty–free status to the import of computers, software and accessories to encourage the ICT industry through software development and the launching of a new data processing industry. The Ministry of Science and ICT of Bangladesh has not yet been able to achieve the goals set out for egovernment in the National ICT Policy in 2002. Furthermore, strategic ICT planning skills are in short supply within the Government. Young graduates from computer science and engineering are not willing to join the government service because of the low salary structure and other reasons. Moreover, the SICT study listed the constraints for e-government, including lack of adequate training (69 per cent), hardware (59 per cent), telecom facilities (37 per cent), ICT awareness (22 per cent) and legal infrastructure (22 per cent).

B. China

In the past two decades, China’s overall economic strength has improved dramatically in terms of GDP volume. For nearly 20 years, the economy has grown at about 10 per cent per year. Despite such remarkable progress, China is still in the midst of two major transformations. The first transformation is changing the nation from an overwhelmingly agricultural economy to an industrial economy and thus from a rural society to an urban society. Second, China is moving from a highly central-planned economy to a well-operated market economy. In this context, the government system is faced with some challenges, the key challenge being how to transform the Government so that it will be more effective, efficient and transparent. The use of ICT in the governance system can help to facilitate these transformations. The vision of e-government in China is, “enabling governmental function transformation by informationization”. Some encouraging gains have been made in the area of e-government in China, for example its number of Internet users is second only to the United States and all central and local government portals have their own web pages. However, it is necessary to formulate a new e-government strategy in order to achieve overall economic and social goals in the next national development planning stage. The Government has begun to draft a new development plan, (its 11th Five-year Economic and Social Development Plan) and a long-term development strategy up to 2020 and beyond, and opportunities exist in these processes for further incorporating egovernment into the development process.

C. Fiji

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is providing Technical Assistance (TA) to support the Government of Fiji to develop and implement a national ICT strategy focusing on e-Government. Within the national context, the overall framework of the ICT strategy is defined by the Government’s Strategic Development Plan 2003-2005. One of the strategic priorities expressed in the Plan (section 7.9) is “universal access to internationally competitive ICT services”. The definition of a national ICT strategy is the responsibility of the Information Technology Advisory Council, which comprised representatives from government institutions, academia, and the private sector. It formulated the latest draft National ICT Strategy Plan, which was released in September 2003, and outlined three main strategic outcomes: government online (combining e-government and national information infrastructure); community e-empowered; and business e-enabled. e-government is still in its infancy in Fiji and is seeking to emulate international best practices whilst remaining geared towards the particular needs of the country. The ADB TA, with its findings and outcomes, is expected to provide the direction and thrust for this. The expectations of the public, as voiced through private sector leaders regarding Government and ICT development, are to promote its pervasiveness, geographic dispersion and, importantly, efficiency and affordability. The issue of affordability is a critical one as the Internet and international access services are controlled by monopolies, which is restricting its growth. Comparing Fiji's situation with various international benchmarks, the ADB TA found it at the lowest "plateau" of development – that of having an "online presence". By 2005, the country wishes to propel itself up two levels, to achieve "basic capability" followed by "service availability" online.

D. India (State of Uttaranchal)

E-governance was a major initiative for the government of Uttaranchal, India and it was committed to the programme management approach to implement e-governance. The deployment of e-government on such a large scale, was envisaged by the Government required trained human resources. Thus, the Government launched a human resources development programme to build capacities commensurate with its needs. The government of Uttaranchal also wants universal computer literacy. To achieve this, it will establish computer labs in all 1,623 government-aided Inter-colleges and high schools in the state. Thus far, hardware, including Pentium 4 machines, has already been installed in 1,139 colleges and 9,000 teachers and over 100,000 students have been trained in basic computer skills. A Wide Area Network is proposed to be established to enhance connectivity across the state. Given the difficult terrain of the state, the network would be a hybrid, primarily based on VSAT technology supported by Optical Fiber Cable and Wireless Local Loop. To ensure that all citizens have access to government offices and relevant information, the establishment of community information centres is also proposed in villages with a population of over 1,000; a pilot project is already under way.

One of the major challenges in implementing e-governance was the identity management of citizens to ensure the legality of electronic transactions. The Government was working on a smart card based common multipurpose citizen identification system, but was constrained due to lack of locally available expertise and coordination. Another major challenge was that of "expectation management". That IT is not a solution to all problems is a truism; at best it can be used as a tool to improve the efficiency in the delivery of services to the citizens. Lastly, the inadequate connectivity infrastructure, particularly in the rural and topographically difficult areas, presents a difficult choice for the Government. Should it invest in infrastructure and accept the consequence of a longer gestation period for delivery of projects, or should it implement e-Government initiatives in areas that were comparatively better equipped in terms of connectivity infrastructure? This would demonstrate the efficacy of e-governance, however it would also largely address the needs of only the more affluent sections, thereby creating another divide in the society.

E. Indonesia

The Indonesian Ministry of Communication and Information has conducted a study on the readiness of e-government implementation in Indonesia. The results revealed that much needed to be done to enhance Indonesia's e-utility where the community could access e-government services. However, currently only 4 per cent of Indonesians have a fixed telephone line and mobile phones are included, it still only reached nine per cent. Computer penetration in Indonesia is also very low. At only 1.7 per cent, it is the lowest in the Asian and Pacific region. In total, there are only 1 million Internet subscribers or 0.5 per cent of the population. Further, the implementation of e-government did not yet have legislation regulating e-commerce or e-government. A law on information and electronic transactions is currently being drafted and a special task force involving key ministries have been set up to pursue e-government. To overcome its low level of e-readiness, strong leadership from the Government was required. Presidential Decree No. 3 (2003) focusing on national policies and strategies of e-government development was a move in that direction. However, solutions for financing the setting up of IT infrastructure needed to be found before implementing e-government comprehensively. Through egovernment implementation, Indonesia seeks to increase its role and competitiveness in the international economy.

F. Kazakhstan

The construction of a national information infrastructure is one of the development goals of Kazakhstan. Such infrastructure would enable the introduction of new information technologies in all spheres of governing and the economy. Development of an information sphere in Kazakhstan arose within the framework of the State Programme on Formation and Development of the National Information Infrastructure. The programme aimed to use innovation technologies and digital communications in economic, governance, cultural and social spheres. A number of State initiatives have already been undertaken, including the drafting of new laws for electronic documentation and signing; development and piloting of a uniform system of electronic document circulation between the state bodies; development of the Government of Kazakhstan web site; and the introduction of an electronic archives system. Kazakhstan is in the process of designing and introducing a national master plan on e-government implementation. Working groups have been formed to define and plan the national strategy and conceptual approaches to promote this project.

G. Mongolia

The Government of Mongolia has made considerable advancements in ICT by focusing on the development of information infrastructure and implementation of other programmes and projects with foreign credit and assistance.All provinces are connected to the capital city by digital technology and highspeed fiber-optic transmission. Since 1994, Mongolia has had an international Internet network gateway, which has resulted in the rapid increase of Internet and wireless phone users. Every state agency and all city and provincial administrations have their own web sites. The Government and Parliament of Mongolia also included chapters on e-government in ICT development policy documents and, in 2003, a national project team was created to conduct research work related to building e-government. Enabling the most effective use of state management information resourses and the least expensive, yet highest quality state service to citizens, based on their demands, are the main strategy of e-government. However, preparing the legal environment for e-government has not yet been fully completed. Several laws are being drafted with the Prime Minister's initiation and support. In addition to preparing the legal environment, the training of state official employees in IT is also needed. Challenges expected with the implementation of e-government in Mongolia include legalization of the term "e-government", which has not yet been done, and raising public awareness of the term. Further, state services and state officers are still using traditional methods for processing data, and the source of funding for IT implementation is unknown.

H. Nepal

Recent advances in ICT offer new opportunities for Nepal to achieve and sustain economic and social development. Ever-evolving telecommunication and computing technologies are converging to provide unprecedented opportunities for developing education, health, agriculture, tourism, trade and various other sectors. Presently, the IT sector provides Nepal with the potential to overcome its geographical and economic challenges. This opportunity has been identified by the Government, which formulated the IT Policy 2000, the vision of which was "to place Nepal on the global map of information technology within the next five years." Private banks and financial institutions have been the leaders in implementing ICT. They are also the largest consumers of Nepalese ICT products such as software and services, contributing to the development of an indigenous industry. Computerization in manufacturing and other sectors range from 100 per cent in multinational companies to 10 per cent in state managed enterprises. Content service providers have emerged on the Internet to provide information in the shape of brochure-ware. Awareness of ICT has been growing rapidly, especially in urban areas. In addition, a sizeable human resource of different standards and base has been developed. However, the deployment of ICT in Nepal remains uneven, limited to selected urban areas, connectivity costs remains high for the majority of the population and other requisite infrastructure is not in place. Against this backdrop, focused government initiatives aimed at promoting e-governance have started. Development of a roadmap to provide direction and substance to initiatives to augment effectiveness and efficiency of government at all levels is now needed. Stable government, consistency in policy, and leadership and security are the biggest challenges for the development of ICT in Nepal. In addition to these challenges, mindset change is the key element.

I. Pakistan

In 2002, the Electronic Government Directorate (EGD) was established. The EGD is a dedicated cell of the Ministry of Information Technology. It was established to plan, prepare and implement e-government projects; provide technical advice and guidelines for implementation of e-government at the federal, provincial and district levels; and provide standards for software and infrastructure in the field of e-government. The Government's goal is to use ICT to facilitate more convenient government services, allow greater public access to information and make government more accountable to citizens. E-government initiatives include the launching of a Government of Pakistan citizen-information portal and web sites for all 35 ministries; and IT skills programme for government functionaries by establishment of IT labs at 12 academies of the civil services; and pilot projects for IT infrastructure within the Federal Government by establishment of LANs; and requisite IT infrastructure at Prime Minister’s Secretariat and eight ministries. However, a change from traditional office practices to an electronic office environment has meant that the Government experienced some challenges in business process reengineering, including limited capacity for use of ICT at federal, provincial and district levels, and resistance to change from a traditional office environment to an electronic office culture. To address the issue of staff capacity, training programmes are being introduced and EGD is in the process of hiring IT experts who will be deployed in various provinces. Standardization procedures of procurement and outsourcing procedures at government departments are also being developed. Plans for the next three years include automating citizencentric services; completion of IT infrastructure and electronic communications enablement through the establishment of a Federal Government Data Centre; implementation of common applications within Ministries to be housed at the secure Federal Government Data Centre; and institutional strengthening of agencies implementing e-government projects.

J. Papua New Guinea

E-government has not been implemented in Papua New Guinea. The Government WAN (GovNet) serves National Departments located only within Port Moresby, the capital city. The network is comprised of both point-topoint copper links, and wireless spread spectrum links, leased telecom data lines and a microwave link. The main use of this network is for e-mail and limited Internet access. However, recently, technical discussions have been initiated and are ongoing between the Deputy Head of the Department of National Planning and the Government of the Republic of Korea, which proposed to assist Papua New Guinea in implementing e-government. The goals of egovernment are to improve services to citizens; improve the productivity of government agencies; improve the quality of life for the disadvantaged; strengthen and maintain good governance; and broaden public participation. The foremost aim of e-government is to link all sectors within the country so as to promote effective communication among all, for a better Government. Future plans for e-government include building political support for egovernment; implementing the Government of the Republic of Korea-Papua New Guinea e-government project; and finalizing the country’s ICT policy which is currently in its draft stage.

K. Philippines

The number of Internet users in the Philippines increased from 1.1 million in 1999 to 1.54 million in 2000. The number of Internet users increased with the presence of more value added services (VAS) providers. With this growth, many local Internet service providers expanded their services to include not only access but also content provision and upgrading of facilities. Several laws, regulations and policies exist which spurred the further development of the ICT infrastructure, particularly the telecommunications sector. These include the Telecommunications Policy Act of 1995, the Satellite Communication Policy (Executive Order 467, s. 1998) and the Electronic Commerce Act or Republic Act 8792. The Information Technology and Electronic Commerce Council (ITECC) was formed in 2000 as the ICT policy-making body of the Government of the Philippines. It brought together government and private sector efforts in the development of ICT. One of its goals is the implementation of e-government. Based on the United Nations World Public Sector Report 2003: e-Government at the Crossroads, the Philippines was ranked seventh in the global web-quality index. This index indicated the degree to which the country's e-government potential was utilized, as determined by their telecommunications and human capital resources. The index also determined the level of maturity or sophistication of e-government services provided. Specifically, the Report indicated that the Philippines and others had made, "much faster and more effective progress in their e-Government programmes than some of the industrialized countries". However, despite that good result, much still needs to be done to implement e-government in the Philippines. One challenge to this is budgetary constraints. While government spending on ICT is rising, the amount is not enough for the ICT improvements required. Further, there is a need to expand the capacity of consumers to use ICT in dealing with the Government. Although efforts are being made to strengthen the telecommunications sector, the number of telephone subscribers is still low and telephone distribution is strongly tilted towards urban centres. Another challenge is the proliferation of government ICT committees and tasks which could lead to confused and overlapping policy decisions. The Philippines future plans include: the enactment of e-government legislation; the creation of a Department of Information and Communications Technology; institutionalization of the e-government fund; pursuit of government process re-engineering initiatives; and enhancements of a fiscal incentive package to match that being offered by competing investment sites abroad.

L. Sri Lanka

The Government of Sri Lanka initiated the promotion of e-governance in 2002. The private sector had started pursuing e-commerce even earlier. At present, e-banking is very popular. All commercial banks have transformed their transactions through electronic forms. However, state-owned banks still conduct their business transactions manually. To promote and accelerate egovernment in Sri Lanka, an Information and Communication Technology Agency was established in 2003, under the Information and Communication Technology Act, No. 27 of 2003. The Agency is given full autonomous status to implement an e-government programme, which is known as the e-Sri Lanka programme. The Agency is funded by the Government and managed by a Governing Council appointed by the Secretary to the Treasury. The e-Sri Lanka ICT road map was developed by ICT experts. Its vision is that, "by the Year 2007, e-Sri Lanka will be better known as the e-Sri Lanka miracle – a model achievement drawing global recognition, in the development of ICT towards the achievement of social and economic development." Through this initiative, the Government aims to deliver public goods and services electronically. The Population Registry, issuing of passports, expansion of activities of the National Operation Room for the monitoring of development projects and electronically storing criminal records are planned as pilot activities. Development of education programmes through the Internet is also planned under the project. There are, however, some constraints and issues that requires special attention, such as the gap between urban and rural areas. More than 70 per cent of Sri Lankans currently live in rural areas and their economic structure is based on agriculture, plantation or agriculture-related products. Although telecommunications and electricity facilities have been expanded significantly in recent times, there are still areas without telecommunications or electricity facilities. Further, cyber cafes, generally established by the private sector, are concentrated only in big cities and are provided at a cost. Although urban schools have modern electronic facilities, schools in rural areas often lack basic facilities, such as blackboards, desks and chairs. Some schools in remote areas do not have electricity or telecommunications facilities, hence school dropout rates are very high in those areas. Resource limitation is another issue, as a substantial proportion of available resources are consumed by urban centres, hence the rural sector suffers due to the lack of availability of resources. Perceptions and cultural barriers are another challenge. For this reason, the future plans for e-government in Sri Lanka place a high priority on increasing access to ICT in rural areas.

M. Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan is a post-Soviet country in transition. It achieved independence in 1991. Since that time it has made a gradual transition from a centrally planned economy to a market-oriented economy. At the end of 2003, the Government of Uzbekistan initiated a major administrative reform effort to decrease the functions of the Government in order to increase efficiency and transparency. The implementation of e-government was one of the tools to achieve this reform. ICT was declared as a main priority in the further development of Uzbekistan in 2002 by Presidential Decree. The implementation of ICT in government was identified as one of the priority directions of ICT development. The Government of Uzbekistan drafted a Programme of Introduction of Electronic Technologies into Governance for the Period of 2003-2010, which provides effective interventions related to a broad introduction of the electronic document circulation in governance, improvement of services provided to individuals and openness of government decision-making. The Government of Uzbekistan also passed a number of policies on the further development of the ICTs, for example, according to the policies, all public administration and government bodies are required to design their own active web sites, set up local computer networks and train their senior staff in ICT. Despite this, the development of the e-government is still in its initial phase. Compared to the development of e-commerce, the development of egovernment is at the stage of disseminating government information, and has not yet achieved interactivity, transaction completion and delivery. Further, on average, there are approximately 300 civil servants per computer. Overall, in state agencies there are approximately 2.5 per 100 staff members with access to the Internet from their computer, 2.8 with access to the Internet from other computers and 3.2 with an e-mail address. Therefore, major challenges to egovernment implementation in Uzbekistan include: the lack of access of many state agencies, and their staff, to the Internet; insufficient levels of ICT training of managers; insufficient development of databases in government departments; and lack of clear procedures and regulations for staff supporting egovernment applications. There are some positive developments, however, such as the existence of strong political commitment to e-government. Further, a State programme for ICT development and a Steering Committee are reviewing issues of ICT development.

N. Viet Nam

In October 2000, the Politburo of the Communist Party of Viet Nam issued Directive No. 58 CT/TW on Accelerating the Use and Development of Information Technology for the Cause of Industrialization and Modernization. The Directive put forth the goal of developing IT in Viet Nam to an advanced stage by 2010. IT application in Viet Nam is growing. More than 80 per cent of banking operations and 85 per cent of banking transactions are implemented electronically. More than 70 per cent of key professional units in the Finance Ministry apply IT in areas such as revenue, state property and state budget activities. About 50 per cent of enterprises use IT applications in business operations. Over ten per cent of enterprises, more than half of the government ministries and a third of the provincial governments have their own web site. IT is an official subject in all secondary schools and all of the 246 universities and colleges and 617 professional or technical secondary schools, and 1,923 secondary schools have Internet connection and use. However, the quality of training couses in general is not very high and training content on IT is, in general, not standardized.