A woman, striving to meet ends, can avail herself of the government’s social financial security program, offering old-age benefits. Yet, she faces hurdles in applying and fears government office complexities. Then, her grandson introduces the smart solution, the ‘MyGov App.’ Applying through the app using national ID information streamlines the process. Once verified, benefit notifications are accessible on her mobile phone. Now, thousands of financially struggling women receive allowances from the comfort of their homes. The entire process, from application to verification and ultimately receiving allowances, is streamlined through a paperless system, accessible from anywhere at any time. No more concerns about queuing or running errands. Government services are now conveniently available on your mobile phone, right at your fingertips.

Not just allowances, but a single platform will offer a host of government services in line with the needs of citizens. From health and education to land management, transportation, agriculture, immigration, revenue, judiciary, parliament, local government, diplomacy, government procurement, public security, and social security nets—all will be smart. This isn’t a mere dream; in the smart Bangladesh of 2041, government services will cater to individual needs—a smart government.

Led by artificial intelligence (AI), frontier technologies will provide government services according to individual citizen needs. This automated system will assist at every step. Citizens can share their experiences and feedback on service delivery, influencing automated adjustments. By adopting a paperless, data-driven, interconnected, integrated, and automated system, the future government ensures transparency and accountability. We won’t need to wait until 2041; the ‘MyGov’ platform is consolidating all government services on a unified platform.

The groundwork for a Smart Bangladesh has been started through the implementation of Digital Bangladesh. Digitization of government services significantly alleviated people’s struggles. A recent study by a2i on TCB reveals that, by June 2023, the average savings for service recipients nationwide are 82% in time, 78% in cost, and 85% in visits—an outcome of the simplification and digitization of services through innovative ideas.

The government has started working through e-documents to bring transparency and accountability to the work of various ministries or offices. This is a paperless online office management in which documents are disposed of electronically. Among these, it is impossible not to mention the land office. E-namjari (Mutation) has been launched to make land management easy, transparent, and citizen-friendly. Through this, about 22 lakh cases can be operated automatically every year. On the one hand, time, cost, and travel will be reduced, on the other hand, corruption and harassment in this sector will be reduced. At the same time, the number of lawsuits will also decrease.

To establish a transparent, accountable, innovative, and citizen-friendly judiciary, a comprehensive judicial information portal has been developed. This portal includes information on the Supreme Court and subordinate courts of Bangladesh. Currently operational in 64 district courts, 5 sessions courts, and 8 tribunals, this system aims to minimize the gap between the court and the citizens.

As part of its efforts, Aspire to Innovate – a2i is executing various citizen-friendly government service initiatives. An integrated digital service design lab has been established to convert government services into a digital format. Currently, 1,844 services have been earmarked for this transformation across all departments or organizations under 29 ministries or divisions, with 427 services already digitized.

The National Information Portal is a web platform that consolidates the websites of over 52,200 government offices, covering all unions, upazilas, districts, divisions, departments, and ministries in the country. This initiative aims to uphold people’s right to information and facilitate access to government services. To date, 813 e-services from government offices and over 1.1 crore subject-based content have been integrated into this portal.

Then there is the Natio­nal Helpline 333, a vital resource for citizens seeking daily services and information. Through 333, citizens can access a range of services, report social issues, express opinions on government services, and acquire information and solutions to various citizen related problems. The National Helpline 333 represents a smart solution in the government’s persistent endeavour to address social issues efficiently, overcoming challenges like inaccessibility, marginalization, traditional office hours, and relatively slow processes.

All of this is part of the initiatives taken to implement a smart government by 2041. The goal of a smart government is to enhance citizens’ quality of life, boost government efficiency, and propel economic development by leveraging information technology to automate and digitizediverse government activities. The government’s goals for building a Smart Bangladesh include, ensuring paperless, easy, and citizen-friendly services by 2025, making all services paperless and personalized by 2031, providing personalized services based on individual needs (personalized) through frontier technologies by 2041. This involves integrating various government services through a unified information technology platform known as the Smart Bangladesh.

Smart government will operate through an e-governance system. A tracking mechanism will oversee the status of all services, activities, and the attainment of various targets. An example of this is the SDG Tracker, designed to establish an information-based online database for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. By keeping everyone on the same platform to achieve SDG targets, all institutions can monitor their own and their partner institutions’ positions. As a result, ministries are finding it easier to set new realistic targets.

The citizen-friendly services of the Smart Government are taking form. By 2041, Bangladesh government will be transparent, responsible, paperless, information-based, integrated, coordinated, automated, and above all, intelligent.

Services will be swiftly accessible, just a click away on a mobile phone! Prioritizing citizen needs will be motto of government services, ensuring services are delivered promptly. No Bangladeshi citizen will be left out from government assistance.