Uncovering the Hidden Issues in E-Government Adoption in a Least Developed Country

Abstract

Bangladesh, in common with many least developed countries, has been struggling to find a workable strategy to adopt information and communication technology (ICT) and e-government in its public sector organizations. There has been no satisfactory progress in this area despite a number of high-level initiatives. As a result, the country is failing to keep pace in e-government advances compared with other developing countries. This paper reports a study that involved focus groups and interviews with key stakeholders in Bangladesh. A process model is developed to show the interrelationships amongst the major barriers in the adoption of ICT in Bangladesh public sector. A lack of knowledge and entrenched attitudes and mindsets are seen as the key underlying contributors to the lack of progress. The paper introduces important directions for the formulation of long-term strategies for the successful adoption of ICT in the Bangladesh public sector and provides a basis for further theoretical development.

TQM implementation in a least developed country: an exploratory study of Yemen

“…LDCs face economic challenges, which prompted many entrepreneurs to seek opportunities to improve their financial status and satisfy their necessities (Abbas, 2014; Eijdenberg and Masurel, 2013). Therefore, in LDCs such as Uganda, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Yemen, a high percentage of organizations are family businesses, which, usually mean the organizational culture is shaped by the owner (Eijdenberg and Masurel, 2013; Herath et al , 2006; Imran and Gregor, 2010; Aamer, 2015). The quality culture in these organizations is highly influenced by the founder of the family business.…”

In Search for Holistic ICT4D Research: A Systematic Literature Review

“…A series the search was undertaken using Scopus citation database by several combinations of keywords: 'information technology', 'information systems', 'information and communication technologies', ICT, 'developing countries', and 'least developed countries'. In addition, similar terms with ICT4D were used in searching process, including ITID -Information Technologies and International Development [29], ISDC -Information Systems in Developing Countries [15], ICTD -Information and Communication Technologies for Development [16,27], and LSD -Least Developed Countries [30]. The combination of these keywords helped us cover all publications related to ICT 'in developing countries' and ICT 'for development' [31].…”

Curriculum Design and Delivery for E-Government Knowledge Transfer in a Cross Cultural Environment: The Bangladesh Experience

“…The broad objectives of the project were to improve transparency and efficiency in the public sector in Bangladesh with enhanced benefits to citizens. This activity addressed an important problem area identified through prior research, a lack of fundamental knowledge and awareness of the strategic use and implications of ICT systems for government business processes; a major barrier to e-government adoption in Bangladesh (Imran and Gregor 2010). This lack of knowledge inhibited responses to a range of other barriers such as poor infrastructure, low socio-economic conditions and lack of leadership.…”

“…The approach in our project, in contrast, emphasized 'human-ware' as the precondition or major driver for successful adoption of e-government. Often, managers' lack of motivation, fear of the unknown, resistance to change and negative attitudes are significant obstacles for such innovation (Imran and Gregor 2010).…”