I. UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

United Nations Development Programme Country: Bangladesh

Budget Revision of Initiation Plan

Project Title: Support to Digital Bangladesh

Expected UNDAF/CPAP Outcome(s):

UNDAF Outcome 1: Government institutions at the national and sub-national levels are able to more effectively carry out their mandates, including delivery of public services, in a more accountable, transparent and inclusive manner

Initiation Plan Start Date: Initiation Plan End Date:

01 July 2011 31 March 2012

Implementing Agencies: UNDP (in partnership with Prime Minister’s Office)

Agreed by (UNDP):

Brief Description

The UNDP funded Access to Information (A2I) project at the Prime Minister’s Office spearheaded the introduction of various

e-enabled services and setting up of decentralized service delivery points all across the country at union level in 2010 marked

some of the first steps in translating this vision in to reality and has gained momentum with the identification of the Strategic

Priorities of Digital Bangladesh (SPDB).The combination of the Union Information and Service Centres (UISC) and District e-

Service Centres (DESC) probably represents the most promising platform in the country to date for service delivery

improvement elevating citizens’ quality of life and leading to noteworthy socio-economic transformation.

With the completion of the first phase of A2I project in June, 2011, its success in mainstreaming ICT in Bangladesh’s

development discourse and popularize ICT as means/tools for delivering social goods needs to be followed through. This PA

aims to develop the next phase of UNDP led support towards implementation of ICT for Development vision as laid out in the

SPDB. The key undertakings of the Preparatory Assistance will be the: (1) Formulation of next phase of support; (2) Building

on the key elements of the One Stop Service Delivery model; (3) Delivering proof of concept for a decentralized NPR and (4)

Institutionalizing of the CIO Network and consolidating of e-leadership.

Programme Period: 9 Months CPAP Programme Period ________ Atlas Award ID: 00079339 PAC Meeting Date 23 June 2011 Management Arrangements NIM/NEX

Original Revised Increased/ Decr Total resources required $ 385,000 $ 415,890 $ 30,890 Total allocated resources:

Regular $ 385,000 $ 415,890 $ 30,890

Other: o Donor _________ o Government _________

Unfunded budget: _________ In-kind Contributions _________

II. SITUATION ANALYSIS

World over, the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in development is a

relatively new concept. In 2000 ICTs assumed a new prominence, when the United Nations and G8

group of industrialized countries flagged ICT for Development (ICT4D) as a global development

priority by declaring that, “everyone, everywhere should be enabled to participate in … the benefits

of the global information society”. The subsequent publication of UNDP Human Development Report

titled Making New Technologies Work for Human Development in 2001 was a landmark effort to

explore the use of new technologies for the benefit of common citizens of the world.

The government declared vision of ‘Digital Bangladesh’ is also an ‘ICT for Development’ vision that

seeks to leverage ICT as a tool to bring in social changes and human development. This unique

development approach aims to leverage ICT as a vehicle for delivering social benefits and uplift to

the poor and marginalized. Since the propagation of the vision, the government has moved forward

to establish ICT Policy 2009, ICT Act 2009, Right to Information Act 2009 and various local

government acts. These policies and acts have laid the foundation for identifying the Digital

Bangladesh priorities for the government.

Subsequently, introduction of various e-enabled services and setting up of decentralized service

delivery points all across the country at union level in 2010 marked some of the first steps in

translating this vision in to reality. The government is currently setting up e-service delivery points in

all DC offices and developing plans for e-services at the Upazilla offices of various ministries. The

combination of the Union Information and Service Centres (UISC) and District e-Service Centres

(DESC) probably represents the most promising platform in the country to date for service delivery

improvement elevating citizens’ quality of life and leading to the socio-economic transformation

envisage in the Digital Bangladesh Vision 2021.

Existing UNDP intervention

UNDP Bangladesh supported Access to Information (A2I) Programme at the Prime Minister’s Office

played a critical role in orchestrating and implementing many of the above activities across various

organs of the government. In the process, A2I also partnered with some private sector players too.

A2I catalyzed identification of over six hundred Quick Win digital initiatives across all Ministries and

Directorates of the government and provided technical assistance to tens of these initiatives. The

Quick Wins are small 6-9 month long initiatives mostly targeted to service delivery and not internal

automation. Over fifty have been launched so far. These initiatives have served four important

functions: a) demonstrate the power, cost-effectiveness and flexibility of enhancing citizens’ quality

of life by improving service delivery, b) develop confidence among the government policy makers

and officers that leveraging ICTs for service delivery is not a difficult concept and does not require

huge ‘MIS’ departments as pre-requisites, c) encourage risk-taking in government officers, a

vitalingredient for innovation, sometimes by providing seed fund for the innovation, and d) involve

the private sector and NGOs, not just as ‘outsourcing’ organizations, butas true partners and

investors in service delivery and.

Finally, the formulation of Strategic Priorities of Digital Bangladesh (SPDB) in priority sectors by A2I

and General Economics Division in early 2011 set the ground for the consolidation and

institutionalization of e-services and e-content initiatives which till now, were essentially sporadic in

scope. Implementing the priorities identified in SPDB is a critical direction of the government now.

SPDB analyses major development sectors of the country including education, health, agriculture,

disaster management, justice and law enforcement, social safety nets and the enabling institutions

such as the Parliament, civil service, local government, banking and finance, etc., identifies

challenges in each of these sectors. ICT-based interventions are considered only if they can address

particular challenges. These interventions have been prioritized as Strategic Priorities of Digital

Bangladesh, moving out of the piecemeal approach for inculcating technology as a development

tool.

The need for Preparatory Assistance

The Access to Information (A2I) project is slated to come to an end at June 30, 2011. A2I’s success in

mainstreaming ICT in Bangladesh’s development discourse and popularize ICT as means/tools for

delivering social goods needs to be followed through. However, to identify a meaningful UNDP led

follow-up intervention, prioritization of possible areas of support and identification of strategic need

is required. An evaluation of A2I activities to identify gaps, lessons learned along with a series of

dialogue with a wide variety of stakeholders is essential.

To address the issue of identifying possible intervention approaches initially a 2 day stakeholder

consultationwas held in March 2011 with the stewardship of Dr. Azzman, a celebrated ICT4D expert

from Malaysia which identified a broad framework for Digital Bangladesh. The strategic thrust for

next generation of Digital Bangladesh support as identified through the dialogue process can be

summarized as the following:

1. Building human capacity

2. Strengthening policy environment and institutional framework

3. Supporting IT and telecom infrastructure

4. Need-based programme development

To flesh out the above strategic thrusts into development intervention, the following way forward

was suggested:

Strengthen the Strategic Plan by gathering and analysing empirical data and by getting more

and wider feedback from stakeholders. Priorities have to be set, strategic goals drawn up,

and key performance indicators for the strategic thrusts and programmes determined, for

the entire five-year period and on a yearly basis.

Produce an Action Plan that assigns high level tasks to the main actors, especially the

ministries that will play significant roles in developing and offering priority e-enabled

services.

Identify and make available needed resources: human, financial, and otherwise. Form

dedicated teams in implementing ministries and agencies to lead and sustain intervention.

Build partnerships for solution development and implementation, not only with the

burgeoning IT industry, but innovative and visionary groups.

Facilitate and coordinate ministries and other implementers to develop an overall

Implementation Plan.

Additionally, development partners need to be mobilized to facilitate adequate resources to

implement the next phase intervention.

III. INTERVENTION FRAMEWORK

The key focus of the preparatory assistance would be to develop the next phase of UNDP led

support towards implementation of ICT for Development vision as laid out in the SPDB. The other

key priority for the Preparatory Assistance would be to pilot some of the key elements of the one

stop service delivery model. The key undertakings of the Preparatory Assistance will be:

1. Formulation of next phase of support

2. Build on the key elements of the One Stop Service Delivery model

3. Deliver proof of concept for a decentralized NPR (with BRTA, Bangladesh Police and the

Election Commission)

4. Institutionalization of the CIO Network and consolidation of e-leadership

Formulation of next phase of support

As indicated above, the key objective of the Preparatory Assistance would be to develop the next

phase of UNDP led support in the area of digital Bangladesh. Key activities to be undertaken to

achieve this output are:

1) Field evaluation mission

An independent evaluation mission would be fielded in early July 2011 to examine the outputs

produced by the Access to Information project to capture success, failures and lessons learned from

the project. The mission would also assess strength and weaknesses of the mandate and institutional

settings under which the A2I operated and identify remedies for future interventions.

2) Field formulation mission

An international formulation mission comprised of technical experts as well as programme

formulation experts would be fielded to design the next phase of support towards Digital

Bangladesh. The formulation mission would consult three key documents namely report to be

prepared by the evaluation mission, report produced by the A2I scoping mission of March 2011 and

the Strategic Priorities for Digital Bangladesh. Additionally, the mission would consult key

stakeholder groups including private sector specially SMEs, youth groups, media organizations,

government organizations especially local government and field administration and development

partners. The mission would also consult with on-going UNDP supported projects such as the

parliament project, Civil Service Change Management Project, Upazilla and Union governance

projects, Police Reform Project, CDMP-II, etc. to formalize scope for collaboration.

The key deliverable of the formulation mission would be a well consulted project document backed

up by support from key donor partners.

Build on the key elements of the One Stop Service Delivery model

Decentralized service delivery system in order to take public services ‘to the doorsteps of the citizen’

is the prime contribution of A2I project. During the lifetime of the A2I project some of the key

elements of the model were fully developed while a few were under development. Considering the

high probability that this particular service delivery model would be the cornerstone of any further

support and the fact that the government has already adopted the model in principle, it is essential

to complete the piloting of the model during the PA phase. The following key elements needs

further work

1) Consolidate the e-District model at Jessore district

The A2I project started the first District e-Service Centre (DESC) in Jessore which is being replicated

throughout the country in phases. It is expected that by June 2011, the first phase of

implementation would be completed. During the PA phase, support will be provided to the Cabinet

Division to equip 50 district offices and 22 upazilla offices with basic e-service facilities. Additionally,

software development to introduce 20 upazilla e-services would be completed so that at least 10

upazilla e-services can be delivered through Union Information and Service Centres (UISC). It should

be noted that the first version of the National e-Governance Architecture developed by A2I would be

piloted at this level as well.

2) Bolster UISC capacity to improve service delivery potential

While many of the Union Information and Service Centres are already becoming financially

sustainable, many more still need government support for sustenance. At the district and upazilla

level, Additional District Commissioners and UpazillaNirbahi Officers (UNO) are designated as focal

points for both monitoring and supporting these UISCs. During the PA phase, refresher

training/workshops for ADCs and UNOs will be organized to help them better monitor and support

UISCs. Additionally, technical support will be provided to LGD to organize next phase of training of

UISC entrepreneurs on online monitoring system, new e-services and marketing/product promotion

skills. At the same time, current support provided by A2I to broker new partnership with private

sector and government agencies for new e-services would also continue during the PA phase.

3) Provide technical support to complete selected on-going Quick-Wins

Access to Information Project has identified around 600 quick win initiative and technically

supported implementation of more than 50 of them. Of these 50, around 20 received financial

assistances too. Four Quick-win initiatives which are scheduled to be completed during the

preparatory assistance would receive support too. They are

Consular Management at MoFA

Online application for driving license, fitness, registration, route permit for BRTA

Knowledge Management System at PMO

e-Content repository/e-Thathyakosh

Of the above, the support needed for e-Content portal which was inaugurated in 26th February 2011

is for extending the content and extending the existing partnership base. Additionally, the

preparatory assistance would also support workshop for Directorate-level Focal Points on Quick Win

project design.

Deliver proof of concept for a decentralized National Population Register (NPR)

While National Population Register is not a necessary precondition for online service delivery, it is

considered as one of the key facilitator for some location and person sensitive services such as social

safety net payments etc. While the conventional system for establishing a National Population

Register for the 160 million people of Bangladesh may need more than $250 million, a decentralized

system involving district and upazilla administration may need half that amount. During the PA

phase a pilot will be conducted in one selected Upazilla to use the decentralized system to build the

NPR of that Upazilla only. A field study visit would also be organized to India and Korea to

understand the design and implementation of NPR.

Institutionalization of the CIO Network and consolidation of e-leadership

During the preparatory assistance, regular support to organize quarterly e-Government Focal Point

workshops would continue to maintain the engagement level of the focal points. Additionally, a few

orientation workshops for Members of the Parliament, Media, Youth, Business Associations, and

NGOs would be organized. Finally, a study visit to Thailand to design a full-fledged Focal

Pointprogramme /CIO Network for A2I Phase II would be organized.

IV. EXPECTED OUTPUTS

The key output of the preparatory assistance phase would be the fully consulted project document

for the next phase of Digital Bangladesh support. The other deliverables are described below:

1) A2I Project Evaluation Report: The report would capture key outputs of A2I project, areas of

strength and weaknesses in project implementation, mandate and institutional settings, lesson

learned from the project which needs to be factored in any further support in this area, etc.

2) Software systems to support e-District: It is expected that at the end of the PA a detail system

overview as well as software system would be available to support both District e-Service

Centres and Upazilla e-Service Centres. At least 20 e-services would be delivered through the

Upazilla e-Service Centre, 10 of which would be available from the Union Information and

Service centres.

3) Achievingoperational self-sufficiency in at least 50% of the UISCs: Partnership developed during

the PA would enable at least 50% of the UISC to achieve operational self-sufficiency so that they

would not require regular financial support from the government. For rest of the UISC, a

graduation road map would be developed which will identify measures to be taken by specified

stakeholders to achieve such operational sustainability.

4) Decentralized NPR feasibility report: Based on the pilot decentralized National Population

Register effort in one selected Upazilla involving the District, Upazilla and Union parishad

administration a feasibility report would be produced for the Statistics and Informatics Division.

5) Recommendation for institutionalizing CIO Network/e-Leadership: Based on study trip to

Thailand, a set of recommendation to institutionalize a CIO Network/e-Leadership would be

prepared and submitted to Cabinet Division for further consideration and action.

V. LEGAL CONTEXT

This document together with the CPAP signed by the Government and UNDP which is incorporated

by reference constitute together a Project Document as referred to in the SBAA and all CPAP

provisions apply to this document.

Consistent with the Article III of the Standard Basic Assistance Agreement, the responsibility for the

safety and security of the implementing partner and its personnel and property, and of UNDP’s

property in the implementing partner’s custody, rests with the implementing partner.

The implementing partner shall:

put in place an appropriate security plan and maintain the security plan, taking into account

the security situation in the country where the project is being carried;

assume all risks and liabilities related to the implementing partner’s security, and the full

implementation of the security plan.

UNDP reserves the right to verify whether such a plan is in place, and to suggest modifications to the

plan when necessary. Failure to maintain and implement an appropriate security plan as required

hereunder shall be deemed a breach of this agreement.

The implementing partner agrees to undertake all reasonable efforts to ensure that none of the

UNDP funds received pursuant to the Project Document are used to provide support to individuals

or entities associated with terrorism and that the recipients of any amounts provided by UNDP

hereunder do not appear on the list maintained by the Security Council Committee established

pursuant to resolution 1267 (1999). The list can be accessed

viahttp://www.un.org/Docs/sc/committees/1267/1267ListEng.htm.This provision must be included

in all sub-contracts or sub-agreements entered into under this Project Document.

Until modified, the programme will generally follow the National Execution guidelines, where

applicable. The general guideline of DCOS modality under NEX will be followed for all procurement

and recruitment associated with the programme. However, the NPD can procure items with spot

quotations in line with government rules and regulations.

UNDP enjoys exception from the payment of Custom Duty and Value Added Tax. However, if any

procurement for the use of project requires payment of CD/VAT, then such will be met up from

counterpart fund allocated for the project.

Upon completion of the project, unless otherwise agreed by both UNDP and Implementing Agency,

all project assets will be transferred to the Implementing Agency.

VI. CORE ORGANOGRAM

The core organogram of the PA Project would be as follows:

The staff of the erstwhile A2I Project who fit the SDB PA Project profile will continue to work for the

PA Project at their respective levels/grades. Additionally SSA/IC contracts will be awarded to cater

for specific requirements of the Project

VII. MANAGEMENT ARRANGEMENTS

Steering Committee

The major tasks of the Steering Committee are:

1) Provide overall direction and guidance for the Programme

2) Monitor and control progress

3) Review each completed stage

4) Track delivery of programme results and objectives

Project Manager/ Policy Adviosr

Policy Associate

Communication Associate / Assistant

Programme Associate

Local Development Expert / e-Service

Expert

System Analyst / Technology Innovation

Associate (2)

Technology Assistant

Capacity Development Associate

Capacity Development Assistant ( 2)

Content Development Associate / Assistant(2)

Finance Analyst

HR/Admin Associate

Finance Assistant

Office Secretary

The steering committee shall include all members of the A2I steering committee.

Project Implementation Committee

The Programme Implementation Committee will monitor and evaluate the programme progresses

and provide solutions regarding the effective implementation of the programme. The committee

would also discharge any other responsibility assigned by the project steering committee. The

committee will sit for meeting in every quarter. The committee will include all members of the

project implementation committee of A2I project.

Project Assurance

The project assurance function will be performed by the programme officer and programme unit

assigned by UNDP Bangladesh. When the programme undertakes monitoring and evaluation of its

projects in collaboration and support from other development partners, the programme assurance

team may incorporate new members as required facilitating such participation. The programme

assurance team will report to the sponsoring group on

1) Adherence to the business case

2) Compliance with user needs and expectations

3) Supplier Assurance based on spot-check of deliverables and outputs

4) Review of Deliverables via Quality Reviews

VIII. MONITORING

The project will be monitored on a quarterly basis and a quality assessment shall record progress

towards the completion of key results. Project reports shall be submitted by the Project Manager to

Project Board members through the UNDP Policy Support Cluster, which is responsible for quality

assurance.

Risk and issues will also be captured and updated by the Project Manager to facilitate tracking and

resolution of potential problems or requests for change.

Lesson-learned shall also be regularly updated as part of the quarterly reporting to ensure on-going

learning and adaptation within the organization, and to facilitate the preparation of the Lessons-

learned Report at the end of the project.

IX. PROGRAMME FINANCIAL AND TIME BUDGET

The proposed preparatory assistance would be for six months from July 2011 to December 2011. The estimated cost of the PA would be US$ 930,000 of which US$

385,000 would be from UNDP while the rest US$ 545,000 (equivalent amount in Taka) will be contributed by the government. The following table details financial

outlay by component and source of fund.

Results and Resource Framework for July 2011 till December 2011 Output indicators:

1. Next phase of support towards Digital Bangladesh designed through a consultative process

2. A2I Project Evaluation Report is in place

3. Key elements decentralized public service delivery piloted

Project title and ID (ATLAS Award ID): Access to Information (00045483)

INTENDED OUTPUTS OUTPUT TARGETS

INDICATIVE ACTIVITIES RESPONSIBLE PARTIES

UNDP INPUTS GoB Inputs

Output 1: Project Document for next phase of UNDP led support towards Digital Bangladesh is in place.

Targets (2011) 1 Field evaluation mission PA Project 71200-International Consultant

60,000

Support to Digital Bangladesh project developed

2 Field formulation mission Consultants (both local and international)

71300-Local Consultants

15,000

Organize stakeholder consultations and consultations with development partners

63400-Consultation Cost

20,000

71600-Local travel 5,000

Sub-total 100,000 0

Output 2: Build on the key elements of the One Stop Service Delivery model

Targets (2011) 1 e-District Piloted Equip 50 district offices and 22 upazilla offices with basic e-service facilitiesIntroduce 20 Upazilla level e-services 10 of which should be deliverable through UISCs 2. Deployment Of e-Content and information repository

PMO 71100-Software Development 71300 – Local Consultants

1,8766

55,301

e-District Piloted

UNDP 71600 - Travel 72100-Software development 72700 – Hospitality/Catering 74500 – Misc Exp 75700-Learning Cost (workshops, mobilization, etc.)

11,500

30,000

1,481

1,952

1,000

50% of the UISC made operationally self-sustained

Cabinet Division

Support four selected quick-winsconducted

3 Bolster UISC potential Organize refresher training/workshops for DC/ADCs and UNOs

Organize next phase of training of UISC entrepreneurs on online monitoring system, new e-services and marketing/product promotion skills

Ministry of Public Administration

Local Government Division

PMO

Cabinet Division

Consultants

4 Support implementation/finalization of the following quick-win initiatives

Consular Management at MoFA

Online application for driving license, fitness, registration, route permit for BRTA

Knowledge Management System at PMO

e-Content repository/e-Thathyakosh

Sub-total 120,000 400,000

Output 3: National e-Governance Architechture and proof of concept for a decentralized National Population Register (NPR)

Targets (2011)

Develop The national E-Goevrnance Architecture

1. Implement PoCs using the NEA Bus with different Government Agencies.

71300 – Local Consultants 71600 - Travel

12,824

8,700

Feasibility of decentralized NPR model

2 Pilot Study in one Upazilla to develop Upazilla National Population Register 71300 – Local Consultants 71600 - Travel

5,122

4,854

Sub-total 31,500 38,500

Output 4: Institutionalization of the CIO Network and consolidation of e-leadership & Digital Innovation Fund

Target (2011) 1 Continue support to develop capacity of e-governance focal points PMO 71600 – Travel 74200 – Printing 74500 – Misc. Exp

8,700

1,000

300

Organize workshops

Digital Innovation Fund

Sub-total 10,000 60,000

Output 5: Technical Assistance

UNDP 71300-Local Consultants

15,287

71400-Contractual Services- Individual

88,818

72500-Supplies 1,000

72200- Equipment 11,470

73400-Repair & M. 5,000

74500-Misc. Exp 1,926

Sub-total 123,500 46,500

Resources required for the PA

385,000 545,000