E-governance for good governance through public service delivery: an assessment of district e-service centres in Bangladesh

Abstract

E-governance is widely accepted as an effective tool of service delivery and equated with good governance by all developed countries in general and developing countries like Bangladesh in particular. The purpose of this study is to assess efficiency and implications of district e-service centres of Bangladesh and validate the e-governance for good governance. Both the qualitative as well as quantitative research approaches were conducted. Data was collected using self-administered questionnaire from random samples drawn from the population of service providers individuals provide services and service receivers take receives from four different DESCs of Bangladesh. The constructs in this study were developed by using measurement scales adopted from prior studies. Data were analyzed using MS Excel and SPSS Program. Efficiency of DESC was assessed by choice & consultation, courtesy & consultation, openness & transparency, entrance & information, openness & transparency and value for money while the level of citizen satisfaction was measured through attenuation of corruption, intensity of clarity, efficiency of service, level of convenience, extent of accessibility and altitude of interaction. The good governance is assessed by accountability, transparency, responsiveness, rule of law, effectiveness and participation. Due to e-governance initiative entrance and information in e-governance service, extent of accessibility in citizen satisfaction and effectiveness in good governance showed the high level of advancement. The study results revealed that the DESC provides public services efficiently, the e-service delivery has positive impacts on citizen satisfaction and the e-governance initiative leads to good governance promises impending to validation of hypothesis. An understanding of the current status of e-governance service in Bangladesh can help to policy makers and policy implementers in persuasion of the public service delivery properly. This is believed the comprehensive analysis on e-service centres would be imperative for assessment the effectiveness for delivery of e-government services. This study and their results have some limitations and also indicate directions for further research towards better governance.