97

The concept of “Electronic Governance” using ICT to modernise public administration and foster good governance is now well established and accepted by governments, regardless of their development status and region. Various international benchmark reports have been published on the global e-governance landscape, but they seldom provide a detailed picture or analysis of any specific country or region that would encourage politicians and decision-makers to adopt practical measures. This paper offers a more detailed view of the e-government landscape in Asia. We first report on the state of e-governance in Asia, in terms of regional competitiveness and intra-regional performance. Secondly, we determine the structure of the existing e-governance divide in the region from two different perspectives, at sub-regional and country levels. Thirdly, we investigate the possible impact of e-governance on the quality of governance in terms of civil society participation, accountability and government effectiveness in the region. Our results show a significant divide between sub-regions, particularly in terms of e-participation. They also reveal a high positive correlation between e-readiness indices and indicators of government effectiveness in the countries of the region. However, no relationship could be established between the e-participation indices and the voice and accountability indicators for these countries. To address the divide issue and overall e-governance capacity in the region, we propose practical strategies, drawing partly on the strategies of leading countries in the region. Finally, to encourage intra-regional knowledge sharing and collective e-governance action by Asian countries, we suggest that “communities of interest” should be fostered between countries with similar development status and facing the same challenges and priorities. This would help to strengthen the usual top-down regional and sub-regional actions.