This book examines the background and impact of e-government in rural Bangladesh.
Focusing on the Union Digital Centers (UDCs), established by the Union Parishad, this book analyzes how such centers influence rural communities. The UDCs were created to afford electronic access to a wide range of public and private services, thereby transforming the delivery of public services. This study examines easy access to services, reduced waiting time, and the elimination of bureaucratic barriers. Data based on interviews, case studies, and focus groups show the UDCs' effect on service delivery, efficiency, governance, and citizen satisfaction and the challenges these sectors face. This book discusses how technology has eased municipal governance by removing middlemen and, in essence, making citizens and officials happier. It concludes with recommendations using a gender and stakeholder perspective approach and shows how governance and service delivery could be improved to enable a full examination of UDCs' social and economic impacts on rural communities.
This book will be of interest to researchers in the fields of public administration, public policy, development studies, good governance and leadership, and local government, especially in the context of South Asia.