Questions/Answers

ICT Division with the guidance of Cabinet Division has launched an e- filing (e-Nothi) Solution for ensuring faster movement of files through the different layers in government offices with increased transparency throughout the organization and increased accountability in governance. It has been driven by an overarching philosophy to put citizens first by means of cutting red tape, improving service delivery and getting faster results for citizens. ‘e-Nothi’ system aims at making the government administrative duties more efficient and effortless along with the goal of establishing paperless government offices while diminishing the present time-consuming, complex and corruption-prone manual filing process. We can say, e-Nothi (Electronic Filing System)’ is a single online platform for 19,000 government offices & 150,000 officials to serve 160 millions of people in Bangladesh. ‘e-Nothi’ is one of the most important interventions to facilitate Digital Bangladesh initiative by ensuring e-Administration under e-Governance in the government arena. It is to transform the public administration as a digital one to significantly reduce Time, Cost and Visit (TCV) for availing the public services. The ultimate goal of e-Nothi is to ensure streamline processes, reduce red tape, and improve coordination and other measures to increase effectiveness and efficiency in rendering quality and affordable public services to all. It aims to introduce monitoring mechanisms through which citizens can hold the government accountable in the delivery of public services.

The e-Nothi system is aligned with Category 3: Developing transparent and accountable public institutions. It is fostering transparency and accountability in the public service sector of Bangladesh using digital technologies in the government offices, transforming from the previous analog hardcopy based decision making system. It fosters proper supervision of sub-ordinates by monitoring their activities through a real time dashboard. Even people can make the government. accountable for delaying service delivery as they can see the real time update. As a whole, the e-Nothi process has successfully addressed the gaps and challenges of service delivery and introduced a digitally transparent way.

SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions 16.5. Substantially reduce corruption and bribery in all their form 16.6 develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels.& 16.10. The ‘e-Nothi’ system strictly adheres to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development targets and indicators under SDGs 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions. It mitigates corruption and bribery by reducing direct communication between service provider and service seeker which is associated with SDGs target 16.5. Transparency and accountability are ensured through customizable smart monitoring dashboard. The system provides information and applicants can track their application real time, superior can monitor the activities of subordinates and officers can perform duties efficiently by less time, less effort which pair with target 16.6. And by aligning with the target 16.10, it ensures the public access to the information as citizens can see the status of their application and get timely notifications from this system. By benefitting the all walk of life most, it will ultimately contribute to the overall 2030 agenda of sustainable development. Furthermore, this initiative is aligned with SDG 10: Reduced inequalities. The system ensures equal opportunities and reduced inequalities of outcome regardless of gender, socio-economic standing and financial solvency, perfectly fitting with target 10.3.

The ‘e-Nothi’ system is centrally managed by Information and Communication Technology Division. Required manpower and finance are allocated for this purpose. A central Helpdesk (24/7) is also run by the system administrators. Online training/ video tutorials/ user manuals are available. Furthermore, ICT Act 2006 (amended in 2009 & 2013), Secretariat Instruction 2014, National ICT Policy 2015 (amended in 2018) also provided legal obligation for electronic filing management system. Along with these, Cabinet Division has included e-Nothi compulsory in Annual Performance Agreement. Thus the system gets proper policy back up for sustainable implementation. This system also ensures a less-paper office which is environment friendly

After the inception of this ‘e-Nothi’ system, citizens have become empowered and got the privilege of electronic/virtual communication with the government offices sitting at home. It allows them to lodge their demand/requirement, application and track them real time online which was literally impossible in traditional filing systems. It helps them to get the service without visiting that also reduces cost and time. The typical challenges of the manual system were many. The process was time consuming, huge number of files were stuck on different tables for long period of time, knowing the status of a file was extremely difficult, required frequent visits among office staffs to have the file move along (sometimes speed money) and files were misplaced leading to restarting the process or even lengthier delays. The result was a delay in decision that is the reason for the sufferings of the people. The ‘e-Nothi’ system mitigates all these challenges. In Bangladesh (even in South Asia), a centralized digital office management system is a unique idea/innovation. The culture of corruption and bureaucratic procrastination was addressed by the system as the ‘e-filing’ system enforces the officials to work more efficiently and abide by the law, which increases accountability and transparency.

Before implementing the initiative it was difficult for women to access Work from Home facilities during any emergency need. Now without hindering the regular official activities, the women public servant can avail flexible work time if necessary. Ago it discouraged women to take the services from government offices. Because it was too time consuming and required several visits to offices far from home. Now any woman can apply for any service to any government offices from anywhere using the eNothi platform and easily can get the service at doorstep. The other thing is due to using the eNothi system now we can easily count the number of female employees that helps us to increase the number and their participation in the government sector.

e-Nothi’ system is “an electronic file management system where a file in a soft form is processed and disposed off electronically.” So, here the initial target group is the government employees but the main beneficiaries are the citizens for whom the service is prepared and provided. So the main concern is to provide the service at the citizen's doorstep efficiently within the shortest possible time. Both web and App applications of e-Nothi offer the opportunity to work from anywhere anytime abolishing the physical boundary of an office. Quick disposal of file speeds up quick service delivery. It also helps the government officers to be technology savvy whereas they were enigmatic to any digital change before. Red Tapism becomes a history as transparency and accountability are ensured through real time monitoring dashboards. Modern, proactive and citizen centric service delivery is the greatest outcome of e-Nothi system. Citizens can apply for their required services that reach to the e-Nothi ID of the concerned officials. After completing the whole required procedures using the eNothi system, decisions/service/output can be sent to the service seeker through this system. Thus time, visits, effort and cost are minimized from both service providers and service seeker’s end.

The use of ‘e-filing’ in Govt. offices in Bangladesh started a few years ago and has a comparatively short history. Building a modern, efficient and service-oriented public administration requires the best application of information and communication technology in government work. The National e-Service System (NESS) was launched in 2012 with the support of the a2i program of the Department of Information and Communication Technology. Initially, NESS's activities started at the Jashore District Deputy Commissioner's Office, and was limited to service within 64 district offices only. Later on Access to Information Programme (a2i), ICT Division with the guidance of Cabinet Division has transformed NESS to e-Nothi system in March, 2016 for ensuring faster movement of files through the different layers in government offices from ministry to field level offices with increased transparency throughout the organization and increased accountability in governance. According to the monthly report of the e-Service team prepared in November 2020, 96000+ users from 8200+ govt. offices are now using the system to manage their official files. E-Nothi started its journey on March 2016. Piloted in Jamalpur DC office. In 2018 the number was: Live Office: 3493 User: 50856 Beneficiaries: 4,195,271 Currently the number is: Live Office: 8200+ User: 96000+ Beneficiaries: 19,795,271+ Our Goal: Vision 2021 Live Office: 19000 User: 150,000 Beneficiaries: 160 million The ‘e-Nothi’ system has a dashboard where the head of the office has access to monitor the progress of specific files which plays a part to improve bureaucratic efficiency and public service delivery. Along with this, the superior office can monitor the subordinate office to ensure accountability and transparency. The users of ‘e-Nothi’ system are government service providers who have a unique ID to log in to the system. Besides the web application, there are also two Mobile applications (both Android and IoS) for mid to top level officials with the total number of users at 45,000+ as of October 2020.

Besides positive effectiveness, some challenges of the ‘e-Nothi’ system have been revealed such as giant Infrastructure, ensuring server stability, ensuring necessary hardwares, capacity development of the government officials, lack of motivation, proper policy support etc. To mitigate those challenges and make this system sustainable, the ‘Team Nothi’ has taken necessary mitigation plans and all required actions like, new procurement of latest server, engagement of infra management company, allocating budget and resources for capacity development, making policy guidelines etc. Moreover, a new version of e-Nothi has been developed with latest tools and technologies like AI (artificial intelligence), OCR, Speech to text, Bangla Spell checker) etc along with offline activities making the system more user-friendly and up-to-date.

Conventional file management is an office-based manual management. In contrast, ICT-based eNothi is a new invention to build a new Digital Bangladesh. Because the concept of a centralized digital file management system for all government offices ia a unique one. e-Nothi - * Introduced a completely new practice * Made positive changes in administrative procedures and service delivery * Has created and continues to create new benefits for the people through quality improvement of services * Helps to do more in less time, less effort, less cost * Saves citizens time, cost and visit compared to before

The idea of ‘e-Nothi’ is original as this is a part of the government’s large agenda of Digital Bangladesh. The system is a cluster of research, monitoring and evaluation systems, different from other contemporary systems. Some of the countries like India, Singapore, Korea, Japan and others are using digital office management systems discreetly or separately for each office while Bangladesh is using it centrally and widely. For instance: the other countries have enabled such a system for specific provinces or states or specific offices while Bangladesh has introduced it all over the country. It got inspiration from the integrated systems in the developed world but the ‘e-Nothi’ is unique regarding contextualization and implementation.

This initiative is not replicated anywhere so far but it may be transferred and/or adapted to other contexts as far as our organization’s knowledge.

This initiative is not replicated anywhere so far but it may be transferred and/or adapted to other contexts as far as our organization’s knowledge.

The initiative is an idea of introducing digital technologies replacing the archaic file management system. The other countries with similar context in the public sector can replicate the idea after customization. The initiative hasn’t been transferred or adapted to other cities, countries or regions yet but it can be globally followed by other countries as per their filing procedure. It can be a model globally.

The ‘e-file’ system mobilizes financial, human and technological resources to implement the system in 8k government offices of Bangladesh. 75000+ users had participated in user training in different offices. This training was conducted in collaboration with the DoICT, Cabinet Division and other ministry/ divisions. The respective ministries had distributed the hardware like – desktops, laptops, printers, etc. to facilitate the ‘e-Nothi’. The server is managed by and stored in Bangladesh Computer Council(BCC) and 4Tier Data Center of ICT Division. There are few private companies like development partner, infrastructure management partner and Helpdesk Management partner for smooth development, management and implementation.

Some policies and guidelines of the government support the e-Nothi system which make it sustainable: 1. Instructions 15 (1) (a), 15 (1) (c) and 15 (6) of the Secretariat Instructions 2014 edition. 2. Information and Communication Technology Act-2006 (Amended 2009&2013) 3. Information and Communication Technology Policy-2018. 4. Also some indicators in the Annual Performance Agreement that is a mandatory for the government employees. 5. Notifications from Cabinet Division (5 Notifications so far) for fostering implementation of e-Nothi. There is a positive trend among government offices to modernize and digitize service delivery now-a-days. Considering all these prospects we can say this is a sustainable initiative.

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External: 1. Nothi – Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing Report Submitted By: Dr. Touhid Bhuiyan, Professor and Director of Cyber Security Center Daffodil International University Dr. Ahmed Wasif Reza, Associate Professor, Dr. Shamim H. Ripon, Associate Professor Md. Shazzad Hosain, Associate Professor Internal: 2. “A TCV+ Study on E-Filing Service of DESC” Prepared By Results Management Team,a2i, ICT Division 3. “An Evaluation of ‘e-Nothi’ System in Government Office Management” by Project Management Team, a2i, ICT Division

This study has been conducted by deploying qualitative mode of inquiry based on quota sampling technique. Information has been gathered from the primary and secondary sources. Under Quota Sampling technique, all the 3,439 live offices have been categorized into four quotas based on the types of government offices in e-Nothi. These are; 1) Ministry/Division, 2) Directorate, 3) Department/others office 4) special category/regional office. Sample size, in each quota, has been characterized based on the proportion of the offices under each category. According to the resources and time, a total of 30 offices with 63 officials was covered in this study.

This study has collected information from thirty government offices in different category who are the user of ‘e-Nothi’ system. After collecting information, the following results have been revealed: · The system is cost effective as it is saving money by transforming the manual system into electronic system. · As pending files can be tracked down in electronic filing system, officials can’t keep any file pending. This means that citizens do not need to visit offices for file disposal. This is saving their time and costs related to office visit as well as increasing the response rate, productivity and engagement of officials. · The initiative enhances the capacity of employees through ensuring transparency and overall quality management. · It takes little effort to real time monitor through customized ‘Dashboard’ that increases accountability of the responsible person. · Through e-Nothi, different offices are connected with each other. As a result, physical distance is not a barrier in matter of communication. · The mobile application of e-Nothi system has eased the office work that made workplace portable.

The e-Nothi system works in an integrated manner while it adjoins different government offices under one umbrella. And the system works both horizontally and vertically across different levels of government. The ICT Division and Cabinet Division are the central authority that develop, maintain, coordinate and monitor the implementation of e-Nothi system. Cabinet Division instructs all ministries to use e-Nothi through APA (Annual Performance Agreement) whereas all ministries do the same with its subordinate offices. As a result, ministry to field level offices become obliged to use e-nothi. Through a hierarchically customized dashboard, appropriate authority can monitor the subordinate offices. Moreover, the e-Nothi system coordinates all these government offices while all the stakeholders including the citizens and officials could see and trace down the applications from any office. The most important feature of the system is, it ensures a transparent service for all citizens irrespective of their class, economic status, and social condition.

In designing the system, the stakeholders i.e. the Cabinet Division, the ICT Division, and the Ministry of Public Administration worked in collaboration after completion of several workshops, meetings, and seminars to develop the ‘e-file’ system. Competent officers from field level offices to ministry level were engaged in several workshops for collecting software requirements. After completing the first version in 2016, several updates have been given to satisfy the clients demands to make the application more user-friendly and workable. To make the system globally standard, a new robust version has also been developed with suggestions from both national and international experts (users, technical resources from ministries, members of IT industry, foreign experts etc.). It already has positive impacts on the implemented organizations. The system also auto-generates reports on various indicators like the monthly comparison between-Nothi using offices which also creates a healthy competition among offices to rank higher in several indicators . Citizen’s participation was ensured through Focus Group Discussion(FGD) and their opinions were taken into account during the design and implementation of e-file. Citizens can take part in evaluation of the system by reporting dis/satisfaction dialing helpline numbers. There is a e-Nothi official Facebook Group where users can share their opinions, suggestions and grievances if any.

We have learned that An electronic system can be more transparent than the conventional file processing system. To keep up the pace of the Fourth Industrial Revolution in this ever-changing world, we need to keep us updated with the Electronic system and en route to this; the e-Nothi could be the best solution as it is the single platform for one stop solution for the citizens in Bangladesh. The technological innovation and promotion of this system would be helpful to make ‘eNothi’ more reachable to the mass people. It will need support from related public entities under a common policy framework. Continuous research and user engagement is needed for further system enhancement. The initiative continuously learns from the results and challenges. *Yet inadequate infrastructure including Server Capacity, internet, electricity and ICT infrastructure is a barrier to the system implementation. * Lack of literacy including ICT literacy among the citizen and also in user level by analyzing the results and addressing different challenges the major learnings are: *Steps need to be taken to increase ICT literacy among the user through training and sensitization; * Commitments from Government (responsible ministries) is vital for policy and infrastructure issues; and * Periodic mass promotion using 360 degree communication approach was very helpful to inform the citizens about e-Nothi and get feedback from them.