Providing better services through E-Governance

COUNTRIES around the world are now pushing for national development driven by technological advances. Competitive efforts can be seen in many sectors including political, economic, administrative, and social. E-Government plays a vital role in increasing access to and delivery of government services to benefit citizens, business partners, and employees.
E-government (short for electronic government) is the use of electronic communications devices, computers, and the Internet to provide public services to citizens and other persons in a country or region. The term covers digital interactions between citizens and their government (C2G), between governments and other government agencies (G2G), between government and citizens (G2C), between government and employees (G2E), and between government and businesses (G2B). By utilizing Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) and other web-based telecommunications technologies, E-Government can improve and increase the efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery in the public sector.

Myanmar has been trying to adopt e-government services within the current decade, but there has not been widespread coverage so far. At the first E-Government Steering Committee meeting, the State Counsellor, who is also the patron of the committee, said that for E-Government to be implemented speedily and to achieve progress, there are three requirements: skills, investment, and cooperation.
Setting up an E-Government system is an objective included in the Union Government’s 12-Point Economic Policy. The government has promised to successfully implement this system and is speeding up processes related to it. E-Government is one measure of the level of development of a nation and hence, we must follow the guidelines set by the State Counsellor to effectively implement it.
Myanmar ranked 169 out of 193 countries on the E-Government Development Index in 2016, and has climbed to the 157th spot in 2018. At the E-Government Conference and ICT Exhibition 2018 in Nay Pyi Taw on 28 November, Vice President U Myint Swe, in his role as Chairman of the E-Government Steering Committee, said there were five requirements for establishing a successful E-Government system. He said first, there must be an open government; second, the government must be competent; third, it must allow sharing and using news and information; fourth, it must be a service-oriented government; and fifth, it must develop the nation’s ICT Industry sector.
Through the implementation of the State Counsellor’s advice on the three requirements for an E-Government, we can see vast improvements in the government and private sectors as well as in the public. For investments, important communication networks have been established or expanded and arrangements were being made for the establishment of a government data centre.
In terms of cooperation, everyone must invest their attention and efforts into developing the nation and people’s livelihoods. Our combined efforts and active participation will ensure the success of the E-Government system which, in turn, will raise Myanmar’s ranking on the online services index, the telecommunications index, and the human resource development index.
Ref; The Global New Light of Myanmar