Information for Social Innovation: An Evaluation of Government and NGOs Initiatives in Bangladesh

Abstract

Purpose The modern development process cannot go far without digitalization and mutual cooperation between Government and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). As part of the development process, both the organizations have set up a goal. For fulfilling this goal, the Government declared “Vision 2021” to build Digital Bangladesh, the demand of our time. That is why, the Government launched diversified innovative initiatives in Bangladesh through several projects. NGOs have also been playing an active and vital role in this regard since the beginning. This study is to identify various initiatives taken over the course of time by the participating organizations. The core objectives of those initiatives are to make information services available to the people at all levels, such as the people in Union Parishads. They established the service centers around the country from where people would get their needed information services from Government and NGOs. Therefore, the researcher attempted to evaluate the existence of the initiatives in terms of importance and popularity of services. This study evaluates the performance of the organizations’ initiatives by using SWOT analysis which would help to determine the extent, how far the objectives are being fulfilled. Methodology This is an evaluative study. Three methods and techniques were applied for the questionnaire-based survey, interview, and observation. This evaluation of the initiatives is based on primary data which have been collected using the two sets of a qualitative and quantitative questionnaire covering Union Digital Centers and NGOs service centers across Bangladesh. To enrich other parts of the study, especially literature review section, researcher reviewed relevant articles, thesis, books, booklet, reports and search websites. A sample of 102 participants, where 34 facilitators and 68 users’ opinion was collected from 34 different service centers across Bangladesh. A 7-point Likert scale was used to analyze the relevant collected data and rest of the data were analyzed by using simple MS Word, MS Excel, SWOT, etc. The analyzed data were represented in the thesis by the researcher using tables, charts, percentage, etc. Major Findings The findings of the study have explored how Government and Non-Governmental Organizations provide information services that contribute towards developing our society as well as social innovation in Bangladesh. It focused on identifying the current status of Government and NGOs initiatives in Bangladesh. A good number of people have been benefited from those initiatives. They can receive services from very close to their residence saving their money, energy and time. Parent organizations are trying to spread their initiatives at union parishad level. These efforts will help reduce the service gap and establish decentralization of services. The study also found that the majority of the participants do not know about the term ‘social innovation’. The SWOT analysis reveals some mentionable points before us exploring the major strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Finally, this thesis offers some suitable recommendations and suggestions which will encourage further research work. Originality This evaluative research creates a new horizon for the researchers. It is the first time attempt that has been made to evaluate the Government and NGOs initiatives in a single frame in Bangladesh. The results of the study and our proposed model could be used by the policy and decision makers, higher authorities of the respective organization will be able to improve, sketch and adopt new services for the greater interest of citizens, creating awareness as well as social innovation in Bangladesh.