A Process Model for Successful E-Government Adoption in the Least Developed Countries: A Case of Bangladesh

Least developed countries (LDCs), have been struggling to find a workable strategy to adopt information and communication technology (ICT) and e-government in their public sector organizations. Despite a number of high-level initiatives at national and international levels, the progress is still unsatisfactory in this area. Consequently, the countries are failing to keep pace in the global e-government race, further increasing the digital divide. This chapter reports on an exploratory study in a least developed country, Bangladesh, involving a series of focus groups and interviews with key stakeholders. A lack of knowledge and entrenched attitudes and mindsets are seen as the key underlying contributors to the lack of progress. The analysis of the relationships among the major barriers to progress led to a process model, which suggests a pathway for e-government adoption in an LDC such as Bangladesh. The chapter introduces important directions for the formulation of long-term strategies for the successful adoption of ICT in the public sector of LDCs and provides a basis for further theoretical development.