Electronic Governance in Asia: State of Play, Impact and Bridging Internal Divide

This paper attempts to provide deeper insight into the e-government landscape in Asian region. First, the paper highlights the state of e-governance in Asia. Second, it determines the structure of the existing e-governance divide in the region from two different perspectives. Third, the paper investigates the possible impact of e-governance on the quality of governance in terms of: (i) voice and accountability and (ii) government effectiveness in the region. Our results show significant divide between sub-regions, particularly in the area of e-participation. In addition, results also reveal strong positive correlation between e-readiness indices and government effectiveness indicators of countries in the region. However, no relationship could be established between the e-participation indices and the voice and accountability indicators for countries in the region. To address the divide issue and the overall regional capacity in e-governance, the paper proposes concrete strategies partly based on patterns of strategies of leading countries in the region. Finally the paper suggests the cultivation of Communities of Interests made up of countries of similar development status, challenges and priorities to complement the usual top-down regional and sub-regional actions.