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BIJF's roundtable on e-governance
To look back at our E-governance projects, Bangladesh ICT Journalist Forum (BIJF) organised a roundtable discussion on 'Review of E-governance and Some Recommendations' at the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) conference room on January 28. ICT experts from different fields, e-government specialists and implementers attended the discussion, where they analyzed the e-government implementation strategies in Bangladesh, identified the pitfalls and came up with valuable recommendations. Rafiqul Islam Rowly, president, BASIS said that "We must change our approach towards e-governance and consider it as an integral part of our lifestyle. It has to be a part of our culture." Mustafa Jabbar, president, BCS (Bangladesh Computer Samity) while speaking at the discussion said, "Nowadays the buzzword 'e-governance' is not relevant to define the electronic operations of the government. In this country e-governance means only websites that deliver basic information to the citizens." He mentioned the term 'digital government', which refers to a government whose operations are totally based on modern information and communication technology. "E-governance is a potential tool for the government to increase revenue and generate more employment at the same time. Our previous governments have failed to understand this tactics. We should be aware about the global hi-tech revolution and synchronize our activities with it", said AKM Samsuddoha, president of Dohatec. Ahmed Imran, a PhD student at National University of Australia apprised four aspects of e-governance such as G2G (government-to-government), G2C (government-to-citizen), G2B (government-to-business), G2E (government-to-employees). He also said that, "One of the main reasons why e-governance system has not been properly implemented in Bangladesh is lack of proper knowledge dissemination. Our tech experts failed to provide their technical assistances to the government to overcome the mission". He also suggested that we should focus more on G2G to enhance government operations at present. Karar Mahmudul Hasan, former secretary of the science and ICT ministry, in his speech acknowledged that proper fund allocation is a crucial factor to restructure government operations through ICT. Dr Hasan Babu, former chairman, CSE Department, Dhaka University said, "There is no coordination between government, academia and other organisations. Furthermore, governments segments also functions without internal coordination. This is a bottleneck and we must address this issue". Tarique M Barkatullah, senior system analyst, BCC (Bangladesh Computer Council) stated that, "We need a separate body to identify the problems monitor the projects and discover right solutions". Mohammad Ali, consultant, Support to ICT Task Force (SICT) project said that, "We are initiating pilot projects in various sectors of the government through SICT and so far have already materialized several plans that mainly encompass interactive and specialized service for the citizens." Dr Kazi Maruful Islam, e-government specialist, A2L programme, Chief Adviser's Office said, "We have already created an e-governance vision up to 2025 which mainly implicates agriculture, land, heath care and local government ministries". The entire roundtable session was moderated by Shahidul K K Shuvra, IT page in charge, The Daily Independent and M A Haque Anu, president, BIJF. Edward Apurba Singha
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