- Bhutan aims to build an ICT-enabled knowledge society as a foundation for Gross National Happiness. Its e-governance objectives include ensuring government services are online and accessible, efficient, secure, and sustainable. - Bhutan's digitization journey began in the 1990s and now includes initiatives like a digital identity service providing single sign-on for online services. - Key policies promote principles like digital by default, shared ICT assets, a single source of truth for data, information security and privacy, and need-driven initiatives. Infrastructure includes servers for data, services, analytics and identity. - Lessons from Bhutan include its citizen-centric approach, centralized infrastructure for efficiency, and rankings high in e

1. e-Governance in Bhutan
An ICT-Enabled, Knowledge-Society as a Foundation for Gross
National Happiness.
Suraj Katwal
MCA III
Date: 2022-03-14

2. Contents
● Bhutan At Glance
● Development Ideology
● e-Governance Objectives
● Digitization Journey
● e-Governance Policy Statements
● e-Governance Infrastructure
● Things to Learn from Bhutan
● References
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3. Bhutan At Glance
Area: 38,394 km²
Population: 771,612 (2020)
GDP Per Capita: 3,122.28 USD (2020)
National Flag of Bhutan
Total Districts: 20
Gewogs: 205
Currency: Ngultrum
National Language: Dzongkha
Democratic Constitutional Monarchy
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4. Development Ideology
An ICT-Enabled, Knowledge-Society as a Foundation for Gross
National Happiness (GNH).
4 Pillars of GNH
Pillar 1: Sustainable Socio-Economic Development
Pillar 2: Good Governance
Pillar 3: Preservation & Promotion of the Culture
Pillar 4: Environmental Protection
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5. e-Governance Objectives
1) Ensure all government services are made online, where possible, to transition
from a conventional paper based to a more convenient paperless environment;
2) Ensure online government services are accessible to all individuals, including
people with disabilities; efficient; secure; and sustainable;
3) Ensure robust delivery of online public services through a holistic approach to
reduce redundancy of ICT initiatives through consolidation and reuse;
4) Ensure adoption of ICT Standards and enable the use of emerging
technologies;
5) Ensure confidentiality and privacy of citizens are protected to increase trust in
online services.
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6. Digitization Journey
Source: e-Government in Bhutan, WSO2 Summit 2020
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7. e-Governance Policy Statements
1. Digital by default
2. Shared ICT Assets
3. Single Source of Truth
4. Information Security and Privacy
5. Need Driven Initiatives
6. Sustainability
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8. e-Governance Infrastructure
● Data Services Server
● Enterprise Service Bus
● API Manager
● Data Analytics Server
● Identity Server
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9. Things to Learn from Bhutan
● DIGITAL IDENTITY SERVICE - One pass for citizens to available online
services.
● A single source of truth.
● Centralized Infrastructure to Improve Efficiency.
● Improved transparency.
● Improved productivity and faster service delivery times.
● E-Government Policy of Bhutan is citizen centric.
● E-Government Development Index - Rank 103 of 193
● E-Participation Index - Rank 82 of 193
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(publicadministration.un.org - 2020)

10. References
1. https://www.mfa.gov.bt/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Bhutan-at-a-glance-2020-
1.pdf
2. https://www.moic.gov.bt/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/e-Governance-Policy-
Amednment-2021.pdf
3. https://wso2.com/blogs/thesource/2019/07/a-citizen-centric-e-government-
journey-from-bhutan/
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11. Thank You
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