Quickening e-Governance in Myanmar

In a climate of economic, social, and political change, Myanmar's young population, fertile lands, plentiful endowment of natural resources, and strategic location in Southeast Asia presage a prosperous future. Beginning 2011, the government has launched an array of reforms to speed the transition to a market economy. For sustained growth and poverty reduction, however, much depends also on augmenting physical and human capital on a par; information and communication technology (ICT) for development is central to achieving that.

Beyond factor productivity, ICT can also, for instance, quicken initiatives for enhanced access to and delivery of services. In the form of e-governance, it is a potent enabler of administrative performance by effective, transparent, and accountable institutions, and encourages the participation of citizens. Specifically, it can help streamline government-to-citizens, government-to-business, government-to-government, and government-to-employees processes.

In the context of the ICT master plan covering 2011–2015, the government in 2013 asked the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to formulate a multipronged technical assistance to integrate approaches to development of government applications and online services, and capacitate these with human and institutional capital.

This publication shows how the outputs of the ICT masterplan would conduce the following desired outcomes: (i) an e-governance master plan and related action items; (ii) a sustainability action plan for ICT capacity enhancements in identified ICT academic institutions; and (iii) demonstration initiatives and knowledge transfer in ICT academic institutions. ADB's assistance to the project showcases that it is able to link technological change, systems development, operational innovation, and organizational adaptation for subsequent uptake.