In the recent E-Government survey, Bhutan has evolved from the medium E-Government Development Index (EGDI) to an advanced-level EGDI group. According to the study, Bhutan had moved up to the 115 position in the ranking from its rank of 126 in 2018 and 133 in 2016 amongst the 193 UN member states.
With this current standing, Bhutan is now considered a leader in digital government development among other underdeveloped countries. The Bhutan government could achieve this feat because it has invested in telecommunications infrastructure, enabled Internet connectivity, and allowed access to online services.
Also, another contributor to this significant leap is that government officials and teachers were trained in digital skills resulting in the development of e-Government systems across the country.
Bhutan has been able to exhibit a higher online service index (OSI) level as against the human capital index (HCI) and telecommunication infrastructure index (TII), which has enabled them to rank higher than other least-developed countries for the EGDI.
What is the way forward for the Bhutan digital government?
Although the Bhutan government has performed excellently in its e-Government ranking, there’s still much to learn from other countries. Other developing countries are more advanced in digital skills, and as such, the Bhutan government can keep up by prioritizing digital skills.
Most leading countries in the EGDI have invested in modern technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, and deep machine learning. That’s why they can rank higher than others in digital government. These countries gather feedback on the quality of services and collect and share e-Government statistics which has helped them keep track of and improve on the success of their digital governance.
For the Bhutan government to advance in its digital governance, it must learn from these leading countries and up its game.
What is Bhutan’s e-Governance Strategy?
The Bhutan Government launched its e-Government master plan in 2014, and the master plan includes ICT initiatives and projects. However, a detailed plan is needed so that one project doesn’t thrive at the expense of another.
In light of this, officials from IDA International (Singapore) have been invited to help shape Bhutan’s e-Government master plan with their experience in executing Singapore’s e-Governance model.
Bhutan’s e-Government master plan serves as a road map to improve on their previous efforts for digital governance. The master plan hopes to establish a more transparent and efficient government and an advanced society by leveraging ICT for both the government and private sector.
How have digital technology improved lives and opportunities in Bhutan?
The Kingdom of Bhutan has not always been a developed one. The country was isolated from the world and only started experiencing modernization about 20 years ago. Bhutan’s first television broadcast was in 1999, which shows how late they were exposed to technology.
However, there has been a sudden improvement and advancement in information communications technology (ICT).
The internet access in Bhutan has significantly increased to 53.5% of the population from around 14.4% in 2011.
Over the years, the Bhutan government has invested so much in ICT to improve its services to the people, as stated in the Bhutan ICT road map and e-government master plan.
How has digital technology been improving Bhutan?
In 2005, the government launched the Government to Citizen (G2C) program, a one-stop-shop for over 100 services, including acquiring a passport. The national ePayment Gateway Infrastructure has enabled citizens to make payments and perform online transactions. Also, the National Land Commission (NLC) launched the Citizen Portal, an online platform for transferring properties.
This has enabled property owners to transfer their properties seamlessly and has reduced the number of days to transfer properties from 90 to 62 days. The NLC also uses the Interactive Voice Response (IVR) tool to get feedback and responses from the private sector on improving its usability.
With all these achievements, Bhutan has the potential to attain greater heights in technology and innovation. Bhutan ranked 117th among 175 countries in the 2016 ICT development index. Bhutan still has a long way to go; there’s still so much to be done regarding digital literacy and increasing Internet accessibility. Also, there’s a need for more professional training (regarding this, the country established its first ICT college in 2017, which is a good start.
The best move the Bhutan government can take in building a strong digital government is investing in the next generation to become ICT professionals. This means reducing the cost of accessing ICT training. The IT companies in Bhutan face the challenge of high prices and a lack of support from international broadband connectivity. Addressing these issues will help Bhutan build a better digital government.
Conclusion
Bhutan is an upcoming digital country, but there’s still so much to be done to improve the level of digital transformation in the country.
A country with so much digital potential such as Bhutan can develop the best digital government in the world if more effort and investment is put into digital transformation.
Sources:
https://kuenselonline.com/bhutan-improves-on-the-new-e-government-development-index/
