The daylong inception workshop of the UNDP-supported programme "Access to Information (A21) programme" was held in the press briefing room of the chief adviser's office.
Principal Secretary of the Chief Adviser's Office Ali Imam Majumder chaired the workshop addressed by Secretary-in-charge Kazi Aminul Islam and UNDP Deputy Country Director Larry Maramis.
National Project Director Mahbub Sarwar gave the welcome address.
About 120 high officials of the government, including the Secretaries and the ICT stakeholders, took part in the workshop.
Majumder said practice of e-governance will make the administration more efficient, transparent and service oriented.
Referring to technological changes in the global perspective, he said the focus of ICT should be changing the fate of the poor and marginal people.
The government offices should effectively use ICT to increase professional skills and competence of the officers and employees so that they can contribute more to national development, he added.
Governance means delivery of services to the people as they need, Aminul said and added e-governance is a higher-level process of reaching services to people.
He laid emphasis on formation of legal and institutional framework for introduction and expansion of e-governance in the country.
Maramis said practice of e-governance will make public service better and smarter and ICT should be used to change the fate of common people.
UNDP sources said an "e-Governance Cell" in the chief adviser's office has been established to lead and provide coordination support to all e-governance initiatives taken at various levels of the government.
An umbrella programme with UNDP Bangladesh has also been formulated and now is under operation to support this cell, the sources added.
Autor(en)/Author(s): Bss
Quelle/Source: The Daily Star, 16.05.2007
