Technology vs. Institutions: Towards Institutional Reform in Digital Bangladesh

1. Technology vs. Institutions: Towards Institutional Reform in Digital Bangladesh Associate Professor and Director Master of Public Administration Program, Department of Government University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1401 University Blvd., HHB 412, Birmingham, AL 35294USA ahaque@uab.edu

2. Premise • How public institutions should be reformed to improve public service delivery is a formidable question of the day. • Technology has played an important role in increasing the capacity of public organizations to reach out to citizens, but has played a very limited role in reforming institutions. • Public institutional reform requires changes in human mindset– their ability to think differently so they can act differently. Haque, Akhlaque

3. The goal of the paper Meaningful public institutional reform requires culture to play the central role to refocus institutional attention towards a deliberative democracy. We should rely on actors themselves who make decisions rather than upon technology that efficiently acts on those decisions. Haque, Akhlaque

4. Points to ponder • What is the relationship between information technology and public institutions? • Can information and communication technologies influence institutional reform? • Does the type of technology affect the way institutions perform? What about human skills? • How does culture play a role in institutional reform? Haque, Akhlaque

5. Agenda • Why technology? • What is the role of IT in reforming institutions? • Technology and its adaptability for public institutions. • Using culture as a resource for institutional reform in a digital environment • Implications for institutional reform in digital Bangladesh. Haque, Akhlaque

6. Why technology? • Efficient transfer of information. • Data driven approach to monitoring and control of organizations. • Faster connectivity and sharing. • Closing the information gap within institutions and with the citizens. Haque, Akhlaque

7. Conditions for technological implementation • Information Technology works best to supply a product based on a standardized protocol (example, transaction of well defined products). • Ambiguity about the product (what it is that one is buying/selling) is problematic. Technology is mute in this regard. • Technology requires certainty in the environment under which it operates. Haque, Akhlaque

8. Role of institutions • Public institutions are created for two general purposes: • “The major role of the institution in a society is to reduce uncertainty and a stable (but not necessarily efficient) structure of human interaction.” (Douglas North) • Public institutions act as an intermediary between citizens and the government on the precept of political justice through compromise (John Rawls, Habermas). • Therefore, public institutions not only embody public purpose but also, overtime, emanate a fundamental value to society in terms of economic rationality and in the form of trust. Haque, Akhlaque

9. Technological myths • Technology cannot create or nurture human values (trust, cooperation, empowerment etc.) • Technology is considered important tool for executing routine actions, it does not change behavior already embedded in the system. • An efficient system can become routinely inefficient with the power of information technology. Haque, Akhlaque

10. Technology adaptability is based on type of institutions Haque, Akhlaque

11. Where is the disconnect? • Institutional reform should first deliberate the positive human and social elements within institutions and find ways to utilize technology to improve the public institutions and service to citizens. For meaningful institutional reform, the central theme is to rely on the actors themselves who make decisions rather than upon technology that efficiently acts on those decisions. Haque, Akhlaque

12. The conflict with IT in the current institutional setting • Principal-agent model • Hierarchical institutional structure where superior polices subordinate agents to ensure maximization of principal’s interests. • Public administrators are subservient to the political regime. • Principal (i.e., the master) value must match with the agent (i.e., the slave) for the system to operate smoothly? • Citizen’s are bystanders in the system. Haque, Akhlaque

13. Holistic vs. piecemeal reform: Affecting the human mindset • Mindset is a way of accepting the norm through routinized action. It is not a belief in values but acceptance of a routinized action. • “Culture is more like a style or a set of skills and habits than a set of preferences or wants.” (Swindler, 1986) • Action and values are organized to take advantage of cultural competence. Haque, Akhlaque

14. Culture as a resource for institutional reform • Culture is not a value. Culture provides the materials from which individuals and groups construct strategies for action. • There is nothing inherent in Bangladeshi culture that limits their ability improve institutional apparatus for better governance. • Culture is a strength and resource for a nation. It is a resource-skill. Haque, Akhlaque

15. Bengali cultural tradition • Rich cultural heritage is the identity of the people of the country. • Grounded in historical roots (food, clothing, symbolic rituals, life style etc.) • Language • 5th most spoken language in the world. • Only language considered to be used as a civil rights struggle. • UNESCO declared February 21 as the International Mother Language Day. Haque, Akhlaque

16. Revival of cultural spirit • In recent years there has been a revival of cultural traditions. The traditional clothes, handicrafts, and folk songs that were once regarded somewhat as relics of the past are now appreciated as part of the modern culture. Despite the fact an overwhelming majority of the population is Muslim (more than 80%), most people maintain a cultural identity that has its roots in the Hindu religious tradition. Culture is often used to shore up support for a cause, to fight against injustice and even to topple oppressive regimes. Haque, Akhlaque

17. Government and civil society • The civil societal impact through BRAC and Grameen at the global scale provides evidence that Bangladesh has been culturally stabilized to guide action towards empowering marginal class. • The culture is settled and has developed its own ethos for the citizens. Haque, Akhlaque

18. How can technology help in using culture as the resource • Successful technological adaptation depends on how well institutions have been able to define their goals and how well they have been able to match the type of technology to achieve those goals. • Technology usage in public institutions should be based on how well the “product” can be defined by the collectivity. Haque, Akhlaque

19. Where to invest technology in Bangladesh for reforming institutions • Using culture as a resource IT should be the catalyst for reforming institutions. • ICT should not be used to make institutions more powerful, but to make agency the deliberators of shared values to its citizens. How are values deliberated to citizens through information technology. Haque, Akhlaque

20. Connect to citizens to exemplify shared culture • Ministry of Education released all public school textbooks in e-book format and delivered online (See http://www.ebook.gov.bd/). Free public education is a policy that is expected to educate its citizens, but free e-books in the hands of the citizens is the direct action for improving education. • The Ministry of Agriculture through its Agriculture Information Service (AIS) provides hands-on knowledge and skills and timely information to farmers through multi-media and interactive web-based tools (http://www.ais.gov.bd/bn). Haque, Akhlaque

21. Corruption is not a value it a mindset • Corrupted mindset is in direct conflict with the rich cultural heritage. • Protect the integrity of the cultural heritage should be a motto by created a hatred for the corrupted and the corrupted mindset. • Technology today can be the best enabler for that cherished goal for the people of Bangladesh. Haque, Akhlaque