Information technology law and e-government: A developing country perspective

In recent years, there has been a worldwide wave of using e-government as a mechanism to improve government’s efficiency through transparency, openness and increasing interactions across governments, citizens, and the civil society organisations. However, Bangladesh has failed to progress towards achieving its target as envisaged in its information technology (IT) policy documentations. The inability of the national parliament to enact an IT law is primarily considered responsible for such a failure. This paper initially attempts to identify issues relevant to the use of information and communication technology (ICT) and e-government in Bangladesh. It is followed by a discussion on the legal aspects of the use of ICT in e-government activities and the country’s failure to enact the draft IT Act for more than four years. Subsequently, a framework of e-government and legal protection is introduced and major ICT related legal issues discussed with references to the draft IT Act of Bangladesh and other relevant legal code