The government of Bangladesh has identified the ICT as a vital tool for achieving more efficiency and transparency in the governance system. In light of this, the government is in the process of introducing ICT systems at different public offices throughout the country. The SICT project under the Planning Division, Ministry of Planning has been entrusted to coordinate and implement these initiatives. The SICT mainly operates outside the Planning Commission Campus. ASICT, a supplementary project to SICT is carrying out the implementation of comprehensive ICT systems within the Planning Division, ERD and IMED. The ASICT is a joint collaboration of Government of Bangladesh and UNDP.

The common ground among the three separate divisions constitutes the operational boundary of ASICT. The three divisions work separately. However, they do work with common data and information. Additionally, the inputs of these divisions in government initiated projects and development activities require close interaction among them. Through comprehensive integration, ASICT aims to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the work processes and procedures.

Implemented ICT infrastructure, better capability among government officials and enhanced transparency through e-Government applications are the expected outcomes of the project. However, given the complex nature of tasks, ASICT takes a phased approach in addressing different goals. The first phase, which starts prior to the actual activity intends to assess the informational and decision making needs of three divisions and to determine the software requirements based on the need assessment.

The objective of the consultancy service is to determine what software systems and e-Government applications are required for three divisions of the Government, namely, the Planning Division, ERD and IMED that will enable them to share information and communicate electronically between and among themselves with a view to enhancing the overall efficiency of their decision making and work processes.

• Conducting a business process analysis of the work systems and procedures existing in the three divisions which will include identifying and mapping the systems, evaluating these to determine how they could be improved with the help of ICT systems to optimize e-Government
• Conducting a review of existing ICT systems in place in the three divisions and identifying which are being used to what extent
• Identifying and detailing information and data requirements
• Defining requirements of databases for optimal storage and retrieval of data
• Designing the system architecture and plan for integration of the databases
• Defining plans for metadata standardization
• Determining and defining systems for interconnectivity and interoperability
• Evaluating communications issues for inter and intradepartmental communications and recommending e-mail, planning, scheduling systems
• Determining issues and defining systems for data exchange, security and backup
• Defining issues of access, control and audit
• •  Defining standard interfaces that make it easier for applications to work together and to share information
• Defining categories of users, authorization and levels
• Identifying and describing in detail specific software applications that need to be developed for each division to enhance efficiency of work processes.
• Developing requirements list of the features and specifications of the software applications
• Producing an end user needs analysis