TechFocus
Streamlining Govt websites
With the whole world bustling towards the information superhighway, Bangladesh is not far behind. And at this point, our government is also making sure that it finds its place in the middle of the gigantic dot com traffic. But then, when I started out to do this article, it took me some time to reach the actual authentic official website of the Bangladesh government. Since there isn't much publicity in the media, not many people know the address, so the common man is forced to try their luck on various search engines to give them a link to the website. The downside to that is that you are also presented with a number of links to non-official government sites, which may end up confusing you. Anyhow, for your information, the official web address of the Bangladesh government is http://www.bangladesh.gov.bd. Keep a note of that now. Finally, I got hold of the webpage and following were my observations: The interface of the website is quite simple, nothing flashy, just pictures of the national symbols and a whole list of links to websites of the various government ministries. You may say, what's the problem with that? Well, the problem is that the list is just too long and cumbersome. So one has to sift through a huge list of government ministries, divisions and departments to find what they are looking for. So if you want let's say information on having dual nationality, and you are one of those people who don't know much about which ministry does what, then be prepared to spend some time to find your target. Moreover, the list is not even sorted in alphabetical order. Once you start clicking through the various links, you'll find a few websites that have incomplete web pages, featuring only two words… "Text here". And some links don't even open! The English used in the web pages are just not up to the mark, in both spelling and grammar. I actually found one of the web pages providing a link saying "Contract Us"! As a government website, which might be viewed by foreigners, it doesn't give much of a good impression about the country. The Disaster Management Bureau website is quite flashy with animations and submenus. However, the popping-up submenus tend to become a little annoying and the page has to keep getting refreshed whenever the mouse even so much as grazes past the menus. The Ministry of Education's homepage is just anything but impressive and far from organised. There is just too much information for a homepage. All the details about various scholarship exam results don't need to be on the homepage. A good homepage is one that would have only a paragraph about the Ministry of Education in General and then provide links to the other details. The funniest bit was, after all details about scholarship exam results and what not, I find a small paragraph speaking of what this website is all about…something that should have been put right on top! Anyway, since SSC results had recently come out, and I had heard that the results are available online, I tried looking for it on the website…none in sight. Even if it was available, it must have been hidden in such a place that after twenty minutes of searching, I still couldn't find something that is of so much public interest. Now before you make any judgments, let me add that I'm not out to just criticise the government's efforts. I do understand how much hard work must have gone into building these pages and I do accept that there are things that deserve recognition. The government's initiative in starting such a project for one does deserve approbation. It really was a good idea to provide a platform such as this for the common public to get in touch with important government-related information. A very important and actually quite impressive website is the Digitized Government Forms website. This website allows users to access government forms for various purposes, like Birth Registration, Internet Connection, Passport Application, etc. I didn't even know that such a thing existed and used to often mention why the government doesn't put its forms on the internet. Apparently, this was started by the Prime Minister's Office as a part of the government's e-citizen services initiative. Whoever designed the website truly deserves a big hand. Right at the top, it gives an option for users to view everything in English or Bangla. It even allows users to choose their required form by category, or by ministry, or by simply typing in and searching, and provides a handy list of frequently used forms for a faster search. The forms are available in two varieties one which can be downloaded and printed, and one which can be downloaded, filled electronically and then printed. This certainly saves you from the ordeal of waiting in the long lines of government offices, just to get hold of a form and eventually wasting a whole day. Unfortunately, a lot of Bangladeshis are unaware of the existence of such a useful website. The government should take efforts to make this known to the public through extensive advertising on the various media. For the time being, let me make the first, tiny step by providing you with the address: http:// www.forms.gov.bd/. Keep this bookmarked, because, you're surely going to need it sometime or the other. All said and done, the websites could do better with a few major adjustments. The interface could be made more appealing and functional by arranging links by category, either according to the kind of user (foreigner, citizen, senior citizen, government officer, etc.) or by type of information one may be looking for (land-related, politics-related, travel and tourism, etc.) This will also allow the user to find what they want, without having to know the name of the government agency. The links should also be more descriptive, i.e. they should include a short line saying what the link is all about. This could ease a lot of pain, especially for laymen. Although Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for most of the linked websites are provided, a list of FAQs in general could be added to the main page. The government could actually provide an online platform whereby the citizens could provide their suggestions to the government on various issues. This is something that is done by governments in many countries. This would make the website quite interactive and would provide an opportunity for the government to be even more accessible to the citizens' reach. A forum could also be included, where users could interact with one another on issues of interest related to the government and its online pursuits. Digitised forms could be taken a step further by allowing users to electronically fill in their details and submit the completed forms online. Of course, in doing this, a number of security and validation issues would need to be tackled. Other forms of media could also be included, like videos, audio recordings of important speeches, etc., which would spice things up a bit. In today's era, use of the internet is becoming imperative at all levels personal, social as well as the government level. The Bangladesh government has taken an initial step and as such, shortcomings are bound to happen, as in the case of any new venture. But there is always room for change. It must be acknowledged that the Government has developed quite reasonably within a short period. Here's hoping that the benefit of this online venture will be able to benefit a larger portion of the common masses.
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