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1. .
ROLE OF E-GOVERNMENT TO PROMOTE
GENDER EQUALITY IN THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION

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The UN Project Office on Governance is a focal point of promoting citizen-oriented, efficient, effective governance among United Nations Member States. Key activities of the Office has classified into three fields: (i) Research and Policy Development is to compile research on ongoing trends in governance at any levels, analyze best practices public sector and provide useful policy recommendations on the basis of findings from research; (ii) Capacity Development is about organizing international conferences, and workshops building capacity of designing national policies for each UN member countries; (iii) through Advocacy and Outreach, it distributes materials related to governance which are obtained from research, workshop, conference.
Note
The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of Secretariat United Nations concerning legal status of any country, territory, city or area, its authorities concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
The views expressed are those of the individual authors and do not imply any expression of opinion on the part United Nations.

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Table of Contents
List of tables and figures ..................................... ii
Glossary .............................................................. ii
Acknowledgements ............................................ 2
Executive Summary............................................. 2
1. INTRODUCTION.................................................. 1
1.1 Research Objectives ............................................................... 2
1.2 Outline of the Report ............................................................. 3
2. CONTEXT OF E-GOVERNMENT IN GENDER EQUALITY ......................... 4
2.1 Expansion of e-Government ................................................... 4
2.2 ICT, e-Government and Gender Equality ................................ 6
2.2.1 Access to ICT ....................................... 8
2.2.2 ICT Capacity ........................................ 9
2.2.3 Contents and Services....................................................... 10
2.2.4 Participation and Advocacy for Empowerment ................................................. 11
3. MEASURING THE E-GOVERNMENT ENVIRONMENT .......................... 12
3.1 e-Government for Gender Equality: Analysis Framework .................................... 12
3.2 Infrastructure: Indicators of Women’s Access ...................................................... 14
3.3 Gender Development: Indicators of Women’s Capacity ....................................... 15
3.4 Outreach: Measurement on Service and Content for Women ............................. 16
3.4.1 Measuring the Outreach of e-Government for Women ..................................... 16
3.4.2 Methodology: Web Measurement Analysis ...................................................... 16
3.4.3 Evaluation Categories ....................................................... 18
3.5 Policy: Measurement of Advocacy and Participation for Women ........................ 20
3.5.1 Measuring perceived effectiveness of e-Government policy ............................. 20
3.5.2 Methodology: Policy Survey.............................................. 20
3.5.3 Responses ........................................ 22
3.5.4 Limitations and Verification of the Toolkit Framework ...................................... 23
4. COUNTRY ANALYSIS ......................................... 24
4.1 Bangladesh ........................................... 24
4.2 The Philippines ..................................... 31
4.3 Malaysia ............................................... 38
4.4 Korea .................................................... 46

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4.5 Indonesia.............................................. 53
4.6 Vietnam ................................................ 60
5. ANALYSING READINESS WITH THE TOOLKIT ...................................... 64
5.1 Findings of the Policy Survey ................................................ 64
5.1.1 Overview .......................................... 64
5.1.2 Service and Content for Women ....................................... 66
5.1.3 Network building and Participation ................................... 70
5.2 Recommendations: Toolkit Modules and Priorities.............................................. 75
5.2.1 Grouping of Countries ...................................................... 75
5.2.2 Recommendations on Infrastructure ................................ 77
5.2.3 Recommendations on Gender Development .................................................... 78
5.2.4 Recommendations on Outreach ....................................... 79
5.2.5 Recommendations on Policy and Institutional Readiness .................................. 81
5.2.6 Regional and International Exchange of Experience .......................................... 83
6. CONCLUSION ................................................... 84
7. REFERENCES ..................................................... 86

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List of Tables
[TABLE 1] E-GOVERNMENT: STAKEHOLDERS AND DOMAINS 4
[TABLE 2] POTENTIAL OF E-GOVERNMENT FOR GENDER EQUALITY 7
[TABLE 3] CHALLENGES TO WOMEN'S INCLUSION TO INFORMATION SOCIETY 8
[TABLE 4] ANALYSIS FRAMEWORK FOR E-GOVERNMENT FOR GENDER EQUALITY 13
[TABLE 5] MEASUREMENT OF INFRASTRUCTURE DIMENSION 15
[TABLE 6] MEASUREMENT OF GENDER DEVELOPMENT DIMENSION 15
[TABLE 7] CRITERIA FOR THE WEB MEASUREMENT ANALYSIS 18
[TABLE 8] ORGANIZATION OF SURVEY 21
[TABLE 9] POLICY SURVEY RESPONSE RATES 22
[TABLE 10] BANGLADESH: KEY ICT INDICATORS 25
[TABLE 11] THE PHILIPPINES: KEY ICT INDICATORS 32
[TABLE 12] MALAYSIA: KEY ICT INDICATORS 39
[TABLE 13] KOREA: KEY ICT INDICATORS 47
[TABLE 14] INDONESIA: KEY ICT INDICATORS 54
[TABLE 15] VIETNAM: KEY ICT INDICATORS 60
[TABLE 16] TOP TWO POLICY PRIORITIES TO PROMOTE E-GOVERNMENT FOR WOMEN 66
[TABLE 17] AREAS AND TYPES OF ONLINE SERVICE DELIVERY FOR WOMEN 70
[TABLE 18] FACEBOOK STATISTICS 72
[TABLE 19] SOCIAL NETWORKING OUTREACH 73
[TABLE 20] SELECTION OF TECHNOLOGY: ICT FEATURES 77

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List of Figures
[FIGURE 1] E-GOVERNMENT DEVELOPMENT IN ASIA 6
[FIGURE 2] PERCENTAGE OF INTERNET USERS BY GENDER 9
[FIGURE 3] ITU DATA ANALYSIS FRAMEWORK 12
[FIGURE 4] TOOLKIT FRAMEWORK AND DATA COLLECTION 13
[FIGURE 5] STAGES OF WEB MEASUREMENT INDEX 18
[FIGURE 7] POLICY SURVEY RESPONDENTS CATEGORY 23
[FIGURE 8] E-GOVERNMENT READINESS FOR GENDER EQUALITY - BANGLADESH 24
[FIGURE 9] MOCWA WEBSITE 26
[FIGURE 10] BANGLADESH: WEB MEASUREMENT ANALYSIS 27
[FIGURE 11] BANGLADESH: CURRENT E-GOVERNMENT POLICIES FOR WOMEN 28
[FIGURE 12] BANGLADESH: IMPACT OF E-GOVERNMENT TO PROMOTE GENDER EQUALITY29
[FIGURE 13] BANGLADESH: TOP TWO POLICY PRIORITIES 29
[FIGURE 14] BANGLADESH: EVALUATION OF MINISTRY WEBSITE 30
[FIGURE 15] E-GOVERNMENT READINESS FOR GENDER EQUALITY - PHILIPPINES 31
[FIGURE 16] PWC WEBSITE 33
[FIGURE 17] THE PHILIPPINES: WEB MEASUREMENT ANALYSIS 34
[FIGURE 18] THE PHILIPPINES: CURRENT E-GOVERNMENT POLICIES FOR WOMEN 35
[FIGURE 19] THE PHILIPPINES: IMPACT OF E-GOVERNMENT TO PROMOTE GENDER EQUALITY 36
[FIGURE 20] THE PHILIPPINES: TOP TWO POLICY PRIORITIES 37
[FIGURE 21] THE PHILIPPINES: EVALUATION OF MINISTRY WEBSITE 37
[FIGURE 22] E-GOVERNMENT READINESS FOR GENDER EQUALITY - MALAYSIA 38
[FIGURE 23] MALAYSIA: HOUSEHOLD USE OF INTERNET BY GENDER 39
[FIGURE 24] MWFCD WEBSITE 41
[FIGURE 25] MALAYSIA: WEB MEASUREMENT ANALYSIS 42
[FIGURE 26] MALAYSIA: CURRENT GOVERNMENT POLICIES FOR WOMEN 43
[FIGURE 27] MALAYSIA: IMPACT OF E-GOVERNMENT TO PROMOTE GENDER EQUALITY 44
[FIGURE 28] MALAYSIA: TOP TWO POLICY PRIORITIES 44
[FIGURE 29] MALAYSIA: EVALUATION OF MINISTRY WEBSITE 45
[FIGURE 30] E-GOVERNMENT READINESS FOR GENDER EQUALITY - KOREA 46
[FIGURE 31] MOGEF WEBSITE 48
[FIGURE 32] KOREA: WEB MEASUREMENT ANALYSIS 49
[FIGURE 33] KOREA: CURRENT E-GOVERNMENT POLICIES FOR WOMEN 50
[FIGURE 34] KOREA: IMPACT OF E-GOVERNMENT TO PROMOTE GENDER EQUALITY 51
[FIGURE 35] KOREA: TOP TWO POLICY PRIORITIES 51
[FIGURE 36] KOREA: EVALUATION OF MINISTRY WEBSITE 52
[FIGURE 37] E-GOVERNMENT READINESS FOR GENDER EQUALITY - INDONESIA 53
[FIGURE 38] MWECP WEBSITE 55
[FIGURE 39] INDONESIA: WEB MEASUREMENT ANALYSIS 56
[FIGURE 40] INDONESIA: CURRENT E-GOVERNMENT POLICIES FOR WOMEN 57
[FIGURE 41] INDONESIA: IMPACT OF E-GOVERNMENT TO PROMOTE GENDER EQUALITY 58
[FIGURE 42] INDONESIA: TOP TWO POLICY PRIORITIES 58

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[FIGURE 43] INDONESIA: EVALUATION OF MINISTRY WEBSITE 59
[FIGURE 44] VIETNAM: CURRENT E-GOVERNMENT POLICIES FOR WOMEN 62
[FIGURE 45] VIETNAM: IMPACT OF E-GOVERNMENT TO PROMOTE GENDER EQUALITY 62
[FIGURE 46] VIETNAM: TOP TWO POLICY PRIORITIES 63
[FIGURE 47] VIETNAM: EVALUATION OF MINISTRY WEBSITE 63
[FIGURE 48] PERCEPTION OF CURRENT E-GOVERNMENT POLICIES FOR WOMEN: MISSION65
[FIGURE 49] IMPACT OF E-GOVERNMENT TO PROMOTE GENDER EQUALITY 67
[FIGURE 50] FRAMEWORK ANALYSIS: COUNTRY GROUPINGS 75
[FIGURE 51] E-GOVERNMENT FOR GENDER EQUALITY: TOOLKIT MODULES 76
[FIGURE 52] E-GOVERNMENT AS A KILLER APPLICATION FOR TELECENTRES 79
[FIGURE 53] E-GOVERNMENT DEVELOPMENT PATH FOR GENDER EQUALITY 84

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Glossary (Usually a “Glossary” refers to the meaning of specific words. This section should be called “Abbreviations” or Acronyms”
APWINC Asia Pacific Women’s Information Network Center
CICT Commission on Information Communications Technology
CMA Communications and Multimedia Act
CMCA Communications and Multimedia Commission Act
DOST Department of Science and Technology
DPADM Division for Public Administration and Development Management
G4C Government for Citizens
G2B Government to Business
G2C Government to Citizen
G2E Government to Employee
GGGI Global Gender Gap Index
GII Gender Inequality Index
HDI Human Development Index
HNPSP Health, Nutrition and Population Sector Programme of Bangladesh
ICT Information Communication Technology
IDI ICT Development Index
IDRC International Development Research Centre
ITU International Telecommunication Union
KCC Korea Communications Commission
MDGs Millennium Development Goals
MOGEF Ministry of Gender Equality and Family Korea
MOSICT Ministry of Science and Information Communication Technology of Bangladesh
MOWCA Ministry of Women and Child Affairs of Bangladesh
MWECP Ministry of Women Empowerment and Child Protection of Malaysia
MWFCD Ministry of Women, Family and Child Development of Indonesia
NIPA National IT Industry Promotion Agency of Korea
NRI Networked Readiness Index
PCW Philippine Commission on Women
SKMM Suruhanjaya Kmomunikasi Dan Multimedia Malaysia
UNDESA United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
UNDP United Nations Development Programme
UNPAN United Nations Online Network in Public Administration and Finance
UNPOG United Nations Project Office on Governance
WEF World Economic Forum

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Acknowledgements
Sincere words of thanks go to the experts from 37 countries who participated in the policy survey.
The support is very much appreciated of: Haiyan Qian, Director of Division for Public Administration and Development Management (DPADM), United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA); Vincenzo Aquaro, Chief of e-Government Branch,DPADM, UNDESA; Jong-moo Choi, Head of United Nations Project Office on Governance (UNPOG); Sunyoung Chang, Associate Research and Policy Development Expert, UNPOG; Vijay Parmar, Senior Governance and Public Administration Expert, UNPOG; and
Jonas Rabinovitch, Inter-Regional Advisor, DPADM, UNDESA.
The survey and web measurement analyses benefited from advice and guidance provided by country experts Yatty Maryati, Ministry of Women Empowerment and Child Protection, Indonesia, Siti Fatimah Khiriah M.Amin, Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, Malaysia, Truong Thi Phuong Dung, Vietnam-Korea Friendship IT College, Yoo-Jin Han, Ph.D., Assistant Professor at Sookmyung Women’s University, YooRi Lee
Deputy Director of Asia Pacific Women’s Information Network Center(APWINC), Haley Hyun, Head of External Affairs, APWINC, and Ruksana Akter at Sookmyung Women’s University.
Editorial supervision was provided by S. Revi Sterling, Ph.D., Faculty Director of ICTD graduate studies at ATLAS Institute, University of Colorado at Boulder. Editorial assistance was provided by Jinyoung Park.
Creative design was executed by Kyungmo Yang.

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Executive Summary
Public service delivery and institutional capacity building are key areas for national development in many developing countries. Recently, the adoption of Information Communication Technology (ICT) for public sector delivery particularly through e-Government initiatives has become a policy priority for many developing country governments. E-Government services can play a significant role in development -- they can accelerate public service delivery, improve government accountability, encourage citizen participation in decision making processes, and contribute to strategies that aim to increase the representation of marginalized populations in the public sector, primarily women.
At the core, e-Government can improve opportunities for greater gender equality by reinventing how the public sector responds to women’s needs. E-Government can have a transformational effect on women’s levels of inclusion in three primary ways:
 Improve the applicability and efficiency of government gender programmes, thus improving institutional capacity to promote gender equality from within government structures. (Internal government change)
 Improve public service delivery targeted at women’s advancement, and strengthen gender- disaggregated monitoring and evaluation across all government agencies that have an outward service delivery component.(External government change)
 Leverage technology to expand women’s online participation in the public decision-making process, and establish a multi-stakeholder online network to support gender advocacy efforts. (Intra- government change)
While e-Government provides a new opportunity for inclusive public service delivery and citizen participation, it poses a significant challenge in terms of reaching marginalized members of society -- those who lack the socio-economic resources and abilities to engage in the networked information society. The majority of people isolated from potential e-Government services is women, who currently lack ease of access and relevant skills to utilize ICT to engage in e-Government efforts. Thus, there is a risk that improper or inefficient deployment of e-Government programs could further marginalize women from governance outreach.
In particular, the challenge of addressing women’s access and use of ICT and e-Government services can be divided into four specific aspects including 1) the access, 2) capacity, 3) contents and services, 4) participation and advocacy.
To provide a Toolkit Framework on e-Government for Gender to explore the readiness and commitment of e-Government programmes, this research adapts the ITU e-Government Implementation Toolkit as a main analysis framework and draws out the following four dimensions that warrant further attention.

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Aspects of e-Gov Challenges Toolkit Framework Dimensions
Access
Infrastructure
General accessibility and use of ICT in the society
Capacity
Gender Development
Capacity of women to utilize the e- Government services and information
Contents/ Services
Service Outreach
Availability of relevant e-Government services / online information for women
Participation/ Advocacy
Policy/ Institutional Capacity
Policy and institutional capacity to provide an enabling environment for the promotion of e-Government services for women
The data for the Toolkit Framework is pulled from three major data sources. Data for the dimensions of Infrastructure and Gender Development comes from existing indices available from major international organizations and research institutes. Data for the Outreach dimension was sourced from a Web Measurement Analysis conducted on the official websites of government agencies concerned with gender equality, such as a Ministry of Women. The data to support the Policy dimension was collected by a survey of country experts who spoke to the perceived effectiveness of gender development policies at the national level.
Out of the thirty-six countries originally invited to the Policy Survey, six countries exceed a 25% response rate were identified as partners for a feasibility study for the Toolkit Framework which includes a larger Web Measurement Analysis and a review of ICT infrastructure gender development. These six countries include Bangladesh, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines and Viet Nam.
The results from the Toolkit Framework feasibility study demonstrated important findings. First, respondents had a positive view to the potential of e-Government as an information sharing vehicle. The top recommendations for e-Government services included extended delivery of relevant content (quality and quantity of content) as well as providing a forum for social dialogue through which women may participate in public decision making process.
Second, respondents gave mixed results when answering if e-Government initiatives are “interactive” and if service provision has improved the overall public service quality for women. These results have dual implications: does the government, particularly Ministry of Gender as the national flagship of gender empowerment, have the institutional and human resource capacity to create online gender empowerment services, both technically and conceptually; and do current “interactive” e-Government services adequately reflect the needs of women?
In reviewing the results, it is important to consider how emerging countries with less-developed e- Government and gender equality programmes can utilize their Ministry of Gender websites as a two-way information source that women can interact with, supplying content as well consuming it. It is

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important to move towards a technical model that provides two-way interaction with citizens. While this requires a certain level of technical sophistication in website design and implementation, countries must strive to provide fully-functional participatory e-Government services. One solution may be the incorporation of popular social networking technologies.
While the scope of analysis in this research was limited to six countries, the following graphics highlight four countries that represent the four dimensions of Toolkit Framework on e-Government for Gender with respective priority areas -- infrastructure, gender development, outreach and policy competency. Further study of these four dimensions, when applied to a country-wide model, illustrated the need to create recommendation modules for each dimension.
(Comment: at this Point the reader may get confused. First the paper mentions three transformational effects that e-Government can have on women’s level of inclusion: (1) Internal government change; (2) External government change and (3) Intra-government change. Then the paper mentions four aspects to address the challenge of enhancing gender equality through ICT: 1) the access, 2) capacity, 3) contents and services, 4) participation advocacy. Then the paper mentions four dimensions of the Toolkit Framework: 1) infrastructure, 2) gender development, 3) outreach and 4) policy competency.
The question is: What concrete points is the paper trying to make? Are these sets of issues somehow interconnected? How to perform the transition from purely analytical tools to actual policy-making to address development goals?
The reader, particularly those without much knowledge on the connections between gender-related challenges and policy-making, would greatly benefit from more clarifications on these aspects and sharper focus for the paper.
Naturally the Executive Summary is not be the best place to elaborate on these issues. But considering that most busy policy-makers may only read the Executive Summary, my suggestion is that you make a reference in the Executive Summary to the page in which subject is further developed, with concrete examples.

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Dimension 1: Infrastructure
(Comment: the bullets below are extremely important as they highlight practical policy-making implications of what the paper is discussing. Whenever possible, as mentioned above, it would be

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tremendously beneficial for the paper and for the reader if you could make a reference to page in which examples could be found.
 While choosing an appropriate technology to enhance socioeconomic service delivery for women, issues such as access, cost, maintenance, interactivity, user-friendliness, availability, training and time should be considered. Example in page x ?
 Despite the disparities in mobile penetration world-wide, mobile phones are the most commonly used ICT in most countries. To this point, m-government, an extension of e-Government to mobile platforms, may provide additional advantages to women, such as emergency response services for domestic violence or other crimes, as shown in the case of Korea. In page “y” the Korean case is discussed, showing how this policy was implemented, including its main features and results.
Dimension 2: Gender Development
 Promoting women’s overall socio-economic capacity is a critical component to creating women’s demand for e-Government. ICT capacity building programmes need to be considered at both the level of the individual and larger networked society level. Example in page “z” ?
 Telecentres can serve as a location where capacity building and service provision intersect – telecentres may offer women a safe place to conduct online transactions as well access training. (a sensible analysis of telecentres in Southern Asia is presented the ECOSOC paper on gender and ICT and is summarized in page xx.)
Dimension 3: Outreach
 Gender-disaggregated data collection of ICT access and use is required to adequately understand the current gender gap and reflect any gender-specific o preferences for improved relevancy and impact.
 The quality, relevancy and diversity of e-Government services should be considered, based on need and demand. E-Government services may include:
a) Income generation: business management for women SMEs, market information, general agricultural extension services
b) Education: Informal and formal adult education, with special emphasis on women’s information needs
c) Health: AIDS, and STD awareness and prevention, child care and maternal general First Aid and advice, potential for e-Health opportunities
d) Financial services for individual and community needs, and
e) General public services including certificate issuance, taxes, land and voting records, and registration of businesses.
(Comment: what is the source of these recommendations? If there is a concrete case study that inspired this dimension/ recommendation, it should be cited and described in the body of paper with a page

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number referenced here. If the recommendations above are coming from the consultants’ observations but is not yet existing in practice, this fact should be mentioned as a pioneer recommendation. Moreover, if the recommendation can be found in any document containing internationally agreed development goals, such as the Beijing Declaration or the Millennium Declaration, then it should also be mentioned here.
In summary, as a reader it is not really clear to me the source of these recommendations, whether they reflect the conceptual thinking of those who answered the survey or whether they reflect state-of-the-art existing case studies or whether they respond to a model being proposed by the consultants advance issue of gender and ICTs. All these possibilities can be valid, but the paper should more transparent about it.
For each service topic area above, it is necessary that the appropriate technology and interface design are chosen; usability tests should also be conducted. (Comment: more information about usability tests are found in page “xx”).
 Technical development should reflect the available infrastructure and technical sophistication of the country. As suggested in the Toolkit, countries in emerging stages of e-Government development should consider utilizing existing social networks and established online-based services to promote usability, ease of use and convenience,
 E-Government service promotion is important to attract women’s participation and adoption. E- Government efforts should include active marketing strategies to promote e-Government for women as a “service,” particularly engaging with online women’s groups and established offline women’s networks.
Dimension 4: Policy
 It is important to establish a national model of interagency coordination (does this model exist anywhere? Could you describe it a case study in promoting gender equality?) and thus identify an entity across the government agencies to serve as a focal point of e-Government provisions for women. To successfully accomplish this, three options should be considered:
a) There should be a grassroots approach where governmental gender equality organizations take the initiative to provide initial information services for women and subsequently seek to establish networks with national e-Government integration;
b) Simultaneously, there should be a top-down approach where the agency responsible for national e-Government initiatives provides programmes relevant for marginalized citizens, including women as a major subgroup;
c) Advocate for interim approaches to “privatize” e-Government services for women, taking advantage of existing technical capacity online services and expertise women’s networks in order to expand service outreach.

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 These three approaches are not mutually exclusive and can be used in combination appropriate to each country. (In which countries were they used and with what results? Or are we talking in theoretical terms based purely on our common sense? If this is the case, should not we highlight “how” we propose that countries should develop it? If the body of paper contains this information it should be referenced here.
 Institutional readiness is a key component. Training should be offered that covers technical issues, content development, and e-Government service management among other topics. (Where is such training available? Are there examples of capacity development exercises for gender awareness programmes quoted in the paper? Or at least one example? The page where it appears should be referenced here.)
 From a legal and policy readiness perspective, e-Government services should be introduced as programmes targeted specifically at women.

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1. Introduction
Public service delivery and institutional capacity building is one of the key areas focus of national development strategies for many developing countries. Recently, the adoption of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in public sector -- particularly through the e-Government initiatives -- has become a policy priority for many governments in developing countries. E-Government services can play a significant role in development -- they can accelerate public service delivery, improve government accountability, encourage citizen participation in decision making processes, and contribute to strategies that aim to increase the representation of marginalized populations in the public sector, primarily women.
At the core, e-Government can improve opportunities for greater gender equality by reinventing how the public sector responds to women’s needs. Women, thus, are one of the important groups which warrant more attention in national and international policy consideration.
The Beijing Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have both encouraged the governments to adopt a gender perspective and to enhance women’s rights in the public sector (United Nations, 1995). The emergence of e- Government and online-based service delivery has created new opportunities for women’s participation in public decision-making processes. The physical presence of government is now being replaced by online participatory processes and information dissemination systems. This change creates new occasions for easier and more extensive citizen participation as information is mad available at the level of the individual. However, if not thoughtfully designed, e-Government initiatives can further marginalize women due to the inequities women face regarding ICT access and use.
Motivated by this fact, this research aims to observe and analyze the development of e-Government that mindful of content and service provision for women, identify the challenges and opportunities in utilizing e-Government to achieve greater gender equality in public service, and suggest policy recommendations.

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1.1 Research Objectives
This report seeks to gain insight into the current and future role of e-Government in Asia Pacific countries to promote gender equality in and through public services. Thus, it is important
a) To analyze the degree to which e-Government provides services and participatory channels for women in selected countries in Asian and Pacific countries;
b) To identify challenges and opportunities in utilizing e-Government to achieve gender equality in public affairs;
c) To provide a toolkit to assess national e-Government readiness in gender empowerment strategies.
In addition, this report aims to contribute to expanding the e-Government knowledge base from a gender perspective, particularly by looking at different types of e-Government services and participatory channels for women in six selected countries in Asia and the Pacific, including Bangladesh, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines and Viet Nam.
The findings in this report may be useful to gender equality and e-Government administration officials in countries where e-Government is either actively promoted to increase gender equality in public service delivery, or is still under limited capacity and aims for inclusive participation from women. Considering the largely scarce body of knowledge that addresses the intersection of gender and e- Government, this research can contribute to a better understanding of the following:
a) Varieties of appropriate services and content for e-Government for women;
b) Different mechanisms for promoting the e-Government to women, and promotion e-Government as an empowerment strategy for women;
c) Perceived effectiveness of e-Government in gender equality efforts in six selected countries;
d) Policy priorities suggested by experts from six selected countries to improve e-Government for greater gender equality in public affairs.
Finally, the report provides a foundation for future data collection and research, and advocates for a more gender-sensitive approach in e-Government development and assessment, including but not limited to the implementation of the United Nations E-Government Development Survey.

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1.2 Outline of the Report
The report is divided into six sections including the introduction and conclusion.
Following a brief introduction to this research, the report begins in Section 2 by looking at the overall context of e-Government and gender equality. Section 2 provides an explaination of traditional issues of gender equality in public affairs, and how the emergence of e-Government has the potentail to change this perspective. Section 2 also presents several known challenges to women’s inclusion in the emerging information and knowledge society, drawing on from previous research and their implications in providing pro-women e-Government content and services – especially in developing countries.
Section 3 introduces an illustrative model that demonstrated the various aspects of e-Government development for women. Adopting the ITU e-Government Implementation Toolkit (ITU, 2009), we present a framework with which countries can assess the level of their e-Government readiness for gender equality.
Section 4 reports on the actual application of the Toolkit Framework to six selected countries in the Asia and the Pacific, including Bangladesh, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines and Viet Nam, supplemented by an analysis of the accompanying policy survey by in-country experts. The section provides a snapshot of how e-Government services and participatory channels for women have been developed and implemented, and presents findings for broader regional and international application of the Toolkit Framework.
Section 5 included results of country-by-country analysis and presents policy recommendations based on the four dimensions of the Toolkit Framework.
The report concludes in Section 6 with a discussion of areas for further research and collaboration in e-Government development and promotion efforts that support greater gender equality in public affairs and governance.

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2. Context of e-Government in Gender Equality
2.1 Expansion of e-Government
The adoption of ICT in public sector particularly through e-Government initiatives has become a policy priority for the governments of many developing countries. For the purpose of this report, e-Government is defined as “the use by government agencies of information technologies such as Wide Area Networks, the Internet, and mobile computing that have the ability to transform relations with citizens, businesses, and other arms of government” (World Bank, 2009). These technologies can serve a variety of different purposes including better delivery of government services to citizens, improved interaction with business and industry, greater citizen empowerment through access to information, and more efficient government management (ITU, 2009). In this sense, e‐Government is more than just a government website on the Internet. The strategic objective of e‐Government is to support and simplify governance for all parties --government, citizens and businesses – through the use of ICT (Basu, 2004).
Areas Types Goals
Stakeholders and Relationships
G2C
(Citizens)
 To provide easier access to government information, improved delivery of services and welfare benefits
 To reinforce participation in the local community and networks
G2B
(Business)
 To allow transaction initiatives i.e. e-procurement and e- commerce for reduction of cost and bureaucracy
G2G
(Government)
 To integrate national, regional and local government services and policies in a single point of access for citizens
G2E
(Employees)
 To provide learning and knowledge sharing opportunities among government employees
Application Domains
Administration
 To automate and computerize administrative tasks
Citizens
 To support connections and interrelationships among governments and citizens
Society
 To enable relationships and interactions beyond boundaries, among public agencies, business and civil society
[Table 1] e-Government: Stakeholders and Domains
Source: Heeks, 2001

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Recognizing the impact of e-Government on human development as essential to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the international community has produced several publications that study e-Government implementations and promote knowledge sharing among countries. Notably, the United Nations E-Government Survey, published last in 2010, is representative of a wider endeavor to share the visions of global information society and the transformation of public administration (UNDESA, 2010). The composite E- Government Development Index provides a standardized instrument to measure and compare the functionality, characteristics and effect of e-Government across countries. Beyond the simple comparison of the strengths of national e-Government provision, the index aids countries in determining key factors in e-Government programmes such as technology, human resources, and policy frameworks, and to identify areas for further improvement in their national initiatives (UN DESA, 2010)
(Comment: Apart from references to the U.N. e-Government Survey, the World Bank and ITU, the paper could also acknowledge that the U.N. Survey does have a very pragmatic approach to assess e-Government development through four stages with corresponding indicators and concrete features in websites, including the degree of interaction with users.)
The growing international interest in promoting e-Government, combined with national efforts to streamline public services, has led to a dramatic expansion of e- Government provision worldwide. According to the UN E-Government Development Index 2010, 98% of governments have an online presence, primarily in the form of a national portal or ministry-specific websites (UNDESA, 2010). The overall quality of e-Government services has also changed significantly in recent years from one-way information provision to a more interactive, participatory forum, driven by the advancement of more inclusive technologies such as Web 2.0 and social networking.
In Asia, however, the growth of e-Government services reflects the income disparities within the region. Eastern Asia far exceeds the world average in e- Government development, while the Southeastern Asian countries lag behind the world average.

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[Figure 1] e-Government development in Asia
Source: UN E-Government Development Survey 2010
2.2 ICT, e-Government and Gender Equality
The Beijing Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals have both encouraged governments to adopt a gender-sensitive perspective in order to support women’s rights in the public sector (United Nations, 1995, 2000). The emergence of e-Government and delivery of services online have created new opportunities for women to participate in civil services and public decision-making processes.
The use of ICT is critical in reinventing relationships between the public and the public sector, and enables citizens and civil service employees to interact in new, more effective ways. The use of ICT can connect women and information in ways that significantly promote gender equality. The following Table summarizes the potential areas of transformation that an e-Government framework can provide to increase gender equality across myriad stakeholders, relationships and domains. (Ndou, 2004).

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Areas Types Goals Implication to Gender Equality
Transformation Areas
Internal
To improve the efficiency and effectiveness of internal functions and process of government by connecting different department and agencies
Strengthening efficiency of gender programmes in the government; improving the institutional capacity of national machinery of gender equality
External
To improve transparency of government to citizens and business, allowing greater access to information and creating more interagency collaboration
Improving public service content and delivery targeted for women;
strengthening gender monitoring across government agencies
Relational
To transform the relationship between citizens and government through vertical and horizontal integration, increasing democratic processes and structures
Expanding women’s online participation to public decision-making processes; establishing a multi- stakeholder online network for greater gender advocacy
[Table 2] Potential of e-Government for Gender Equality
Source: Ndou, 2004
Despite the growing significance and potential benefits of e-Government to improve gender equality, it is important to emphasize inclusiveness in e-Government programme design. It is important that new forms of public service reach all citizens regardless of their age, ethnicity, gender, and level of education. Much work has been done to explore the contributing factors that limit ICT access and use by marginalized groups in a society. It is well-documented that women who lack access to ICT are further in danger of social and political exclusion as the number of services and opportunities for participation are delivered through online spaces.
The challenges that women face regarding access to e-Government programmes are the same challenges women experience in relation to all ICT access and use. As the Table below outlines, previous research on the relationship between gender and ICT has identified major challenges, including the ICT access, capacity, contents and participation. ICT is affected by, and in turn affects the different opportunities that exist for men and women in relation to education, training and skills development, employment and working conditions, content development, access to power structures and decision-making processes (Hafkin & Huyer, 2007). As women tend

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to make up the majority of those who remain alienated from access ICT and who lack relevant skills to utilize the ICT tools, e-Government programmes may risk further marginalizing women (United Nations, 2010). The factors that affect women’s ICT access and use are discussed as aspects and challenges that all e- Government programmes should heed.
Aspects Challenges
Access
• Sociocultural factors (mobility, attitudes towards technology)
• Rural-urban divide/ infrastructure
• Literacy
• Income inequality (affordability)
Capacity
• Level of education/computer/technical skills
• Information literacy/ Trust in ICT artifact
Contents/ Services
• Language
• Content and information needs
• Gender patterns of technology use
Participation/ Advocacy
• Relevance of gender-friendly public admin. approaches
• Lack of gender analysis
[Table 3] Challenges to women's inclusion information society
Source: United Nations 2010
2.2.1 Access to ICT
One of the critical prerequisites for e-Government to support gender equality is women’s access to ICT. Women do not have the same degree of access to ICT, and thus use ICT less than men. This significantly limits women’s use of e-Government services. This digital divide is not only confined to availability and affordability of ICT, but is compounded by socio-economic factors such as cost, issues of mobility and social biases towards women’s use of technology. As shown in the figure below, women have lower access to ICT tools compared to men in both developed and developing countries, reflecting the existing gender gap in the society.

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[Figure 2] Percentage of Internet users by gender,
non-European economies, (Latest available year, 2008-2010)
Source: ITU
2.2.2 ICT Capacity
The use of e-Government also requires a certain level of ICT capacity by the user, which includes basic literacy and numeracy. However, the existing gender education gap is reflected in women’s opportunities to attain technological skills training and development. The majority of the world’s illiterate are women, and far fewer women than men possess computer literacy skills (United Nations, 2010). This lack of women’s ICT capacity limits women’s general use of ICT and further excludes them from the potential advantages of e-Government, including utilization of online-based services and channels for citizen participation.
Another important factor in building ICT capacity is information literacy, which centers on users’ critical thinking abilities to make adequate decisions while online (Dorner, 2006). This is critical in e-Government, where users may be accessing formal documents and personal information. As the density of the global network grows daily, the range and impact of cybercrimes and other negative side effects of the Internet have also increased. Thus, ICT users must be able to distinguish

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relevant information from malicious online content, and prevent any potential harm that can result from the adverse effects of ICT-based deception and crime. Women who only have novice ICT skills and low information literacy are disproportionately more vulnerable to such threats, which may further prevent and discourage women’s active use of e-Government services, which are often complicated until the user learns how to navigate and use the service. Combined with the challenges of ICT access, a lack of ICT capacity can significantly limit women’s access to e- Government services, and may even exacerbate women’s exclusion from the Information Society.
2.2.3 Contents and Services
Another important issue regarding women’s e-Government use is the availability of relevant services and content that adequately reflects women’s information and service needs. Information becomes knowledge when it is embedded into the local contexts (Avgerou, 2010). Thus, linking information to the users’ environments and cultural contexts is critical to knowledge exchange, which has implications for women and e-Government (Hafkin, 2003).
The relevance of content and services often serves as a strong incentive for users to adopt new technology (Avgerou, 2010). Amid the explosion of new ICT products and platforms, users often adopt technologies and services that they perceive as “killer applications” – an Internet-slang term that denotes a highly useful and widely adopted tool (Alampay & Umali, 2007). Additionally, the ease of use of the application also plays a key role in users’ decision of technology adoption and use, which echoes the need to understand the abilities, needs and concerns of target users.
The availability of content and information that is relevant to women is the key factor in e-Government service adoption and the critical element in nurturing women’s demand for e-Government services. However, in practice, the importance of relevant content is often neglected by a larger focus on technology, not data. The emphasis on technology over content may be one of the greatest barriers to women’s use of e-Government. Relevant content for women should be determined through a thorough needs assessment, as well as ongoing usability testing. However, these activities are often limited in quality and quantity due in part to the low demand from women, which results in a limited incentive for women to adopt e-Government efforts. This negative cycle of constraints presents dual challenges to the overall supply and demand for e-Government from women.

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2.2.4 Participation and Advocacy for Empowerment
The specific objectives of e-Government vary in each country, although e- Government is universal in its aim to increase efficiency of government services and processes, allowing social, political and economic transparency and thus supporting human development and social justice. The provision of more efficient services is not enough; nor is reducing the bureaucratic load of public institutions and designing a new architecture for state administrative processes (Betancourt, 2006). The true potential of e-Government lies in changing the paradigm of participation and representation, and ultimately, transforming the relationship between the government and its citizens.
Creating a mechanism for the participation for women in e-Government innovation represents a significant opportunity to addressing the deep socio-economic inequalities women face. However, with myriad obstacles including access, capacity, and contents and services, this potential is yet to be realized. Most e- Government applications are recent developments, so we expect that many developing countries are focused on deploying e-Governance strategies at a general level, and not yet addressing the specific needs of marginalized groups including the women. In summary, the potential of women’s online participation to transform the offline reality has not bloomed.
The following section provides an illustrative model that displays different aspects to consider when developing e-Government efforts that support gender equality, and presents a Toolkit Framework which can be tailored for use by other countries to assess their level of e-Government readiness and commitment to gender equality through e-Government.

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3. Measuring the e-Government Environment
3.1 e-Government for Gender Equality: Analysis Framework
This research adapts the ITU e-Government Implementation Toolkit as a main analysis framework to explore the capacity and commitment of e-Government programmes to promote gender equality (ITU, 2009). As e-Government efforts to improve gender equality are relatively new in many developing countries in the Asia and Pacific region, adopting and culturally contextualizing an established toolkit may increase the usefulness and adoption of the toolkit, as it is founded on well-researched indicators, case studies and other useful resources.
The ITU e-Government Implementation Toolkit was originally developed to measure the readiness of a national e-Government environment without a particular concern to a gender perspective. It uses the four dimensions already mentioned to understand different aspects of e-Government readiness including Outreach, Governance, Policy and Infrastructure (ITU, 2009). Each dimension is composed of a series of sub-indices and toolkit modules as shown in the figure below. Overall, the toolkit provides a composite measure to assess the level of country readiness on e-Government, making it easier to compare the relative strengths and weaknesses in each dimension and to identify priority areas for future action.
.
[Figure 3] ITU Data Analysis Framework
Source: ITU (2010)

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For the purpose of this report, analysis framework from the ITU e-Government Implementation Toolkit is revised to reflect the four dimensions of women’s needs in e-Government adoption as discussed in the previous section. The revised Analysis Framework for e-Government Readiness for Gender Equality as shown in the Table below aims to help identify a country’s willingness and readiness to integrate gender equality in e-Government strategies. To this end, we have renamed the four dimensions to Infrastructure, Gender Development, Outreach, and Policy. The Table below illustrates the Toolkit Modules that support each of four dimensions.
Dimensions of Women’s e-Government Use Dimensions of Toolkit Framework
ICT Access
Infrastructure
General accessibility and use of ICT in the society
ICT Capacity
Gender Development
Capacity of women to utilize the e- Government services and information
Services /
Contents
Service
Outreach
Availability of relevant e-Government services / online information for women
Participation/
Advocacy
Policy
Policy and institutional capacity to provide an enabling environment for the promotion of e-Government services for women
[Table 4] Analysis Framework for e-Government for Gender Equality
[Figure 4] Toolkit Framework and Data Collection1
1 Demand side of Outreach dimension was not included in the Framework. More details can be found under the 3.4.1.

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The Figure above summarizes the data analysis framework for Toolkit Framework and indicates individual variables that support each dimension, and the weight of each variable in the overall assessment.
The data for the Toolkit Framework is designed to pull from three major sources. Data for the dimensions of Infrastructure and Gender Development comes from existing indices available from major international organizations and research institutes, including the ICT Development Index (IDI) from ITU, and the Human Development Index (HDI) from the UNDP. Data for the Outreach dimension was sourced from a Web Measurement Analysis conducted on the websites of official government sites agencies concerned with gender equality, such as a Ministry of Women. Third, the data to support the Policy dimension was collected by a survey of country experts who spoke to the perceived effectiveness of gender development policies at the national level.
Further details on data collection for the four dimensions are discussed below.
3.2 Infrastructure: Indicators of Women’s Access
This dimension mainly concerns the general physical connectivity of e-Government services. Even though it would be ideal to utilize gender-disaggregated data for the purpose of this study, the lack such comparable data availability significantly limits this possibility.
According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), 72 countries out of 192 ITU's total membership countries havecollected ICT use data through official surveys from 2010 forward. 34 developing countries have collected ICT use data between 2008 and 2010; most of these countries collect data disaggregated by gender (ITU, 2010). However, the dataset available does not fully reveal the different dimensions of the gender divide in ICT access and use between countries with sufficient details.2
Due to this limitation, the Infrastructure dimension data adopts the non-gender-
2 AL-Rababah and Abu-Shanab suggest the gender-ICT data should be placed within the policy environment, with historical information, the policy context, comparative information from other jurisdictions and community-based information and studies, where appropriate (AL-Rababah & Abu- Shanab, 2010). Such lack of data availability leads to the lack of gender analysis in telecommunication and e-Government policies, resulting from the assumption that men and women have equal access, capacity and similar needs.

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disaggregated statistics on ICT access and use from the ITU ICT Development Index (IDI) 2010 as shown in the Table below.
Dimension Variables Measurement Sources
Infrastructure
ICT Access
- Fixed-telephone lines per 100 inhabitants
- Mobile subscriptions per 100 inhabitants
- International Internet bandwidth (bit/s)
- Percentage households with a computer
- Percentage households with Internet
IDI, 2010
ICT Use
- Percentage individuals using the Internet
- Broadband Internet subscriptions per 100
- Mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100
IDI, 2010
[Table 5] Measurement of Infrastructure Dimension
Source: ITU 2010
3.3 Gender Development: Indicators of Women’s Capacity
This dimension measures women’s empowerment in each country as a proxy to assess women’s capacity to use ICT to access e-Government services. These data have been mainly derived from composite indices from the Global Gender Gap Index (GGGI) published by the World Economic Forum (WEF), and the Gender Inequality Index (GII) published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The table below shows the specific composition of indices used to measure the gender equality dimension.
Dimension Variables Measurement Sources
Gender Equality
Economic Participation
- Labor force Participation rate
- Wage equality
GII, 2010
Education Attainment
- Primary/secondary education for women
- Tertiary education for women
- Women’s literacy rate
GII, 2010
Political Empowerment
- Women’s freedom of movement
- Seats in parliament
- Women in ministerial positions
GII, 2010
GGGI, 2010
[Table 6] Measurement of Gender Development Dimension

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3.4 Outreach: Measurement on Service and Content for Women
3.4.1 Measuring the Outreach of e-Government for Women
The Outreach dimension refers to the status of e-Government services offered by a government and its administration (ITU, 2009). It can be further divided into two aspects: the supply side, which refers to the country government’s supply of outreach activities to promote gender equality and; the demand side which refers the patterns of usage such supply e-Government services.
For this study, the supply side of Outreach dimension has been further operationalized to discuss the extent to which ICT supports national gender equality agendas. This is determined by looking at the relevant information and products/services that the national government provides to women3. Adopted from the UN e-Government Development Index4, these dimensions have been measured by analyzing the web content of national government gender equity offices and programmes. The analysis examines the type and scope of e-Government services for women, the effectiveness of provision of content and services reflecting women’s needs and interests, and the provision of opportunities for women to participate in policy making process. However, due to the lack of data availability and standardization across countries, we have not included demand-side services in the calculation of the Toolkit Framework.5
3.4.2 Methodology: Web Measurement Analysis
As discussed, this research adopted the Web Measurement Analysis methodology from the UN e-Government Development Survey to conduct an assessment of the
3 Regarding the importance of ICT to support national machineries for gender equality, refer to “ICT and Gender Equality: New opportunities and challenges for public administration to implement internationally agreed development goals including MDGs” (United Nations, 2010). Even though the official titles of such machinery differ from country to country, this report will use “Ministry of Gender” as a general term indicating the central machinery of gender equality in country.
4 UNDESA’s “UN E-Government Survey Web Measure Index” presents data collected from the assessment of online government services offered through the websites of the Ministries/Departments of Health, Education, Social Welfare, Labor and Finance.
5 Out of the six countries surveyed, data for this dimension was available only from Korea and partially from Malaysia. Due to the differences in their data collection level, a meaningful international comparison of these statistics was not possible. For future application of the framework, this dimension may address the actual usage data of the e-Government services including but not limited to the number of site visits, page views, visitor profiles and feedbacks received.

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Ministry of Gender websites from six selected countries in the Asia and Pacific including Bangladesh, Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Viet Nam.6 The Table below outlines the criteria used to evaluate the four categories.
Aspect No. Criteria
Information dissemination/
Outreach
(Emerging State)
1
Existence of ministerial websites pertaining to gender equality or any institute performing equivalent functions
2
Existence of an effective and useful portal for women
3
Existence of an e-Government section under the ministry website
4
Sources of archived information
5
News and/or updates on government policies relating to women
6
Access to back-office applications
7
Information concerning government officials responsible
Entre409
8
Personal accounts/profiles of women, with the objective of enhancing dialogue between government and women
9
Information /contents
10
Information for citizens/women on how to use the website
Access/Usability
(Enhanced Stage)
1
Search feature
2
“Contact us” feature
3
Audio and video features
4
Multiple languages available
5
Use of wireless technology to send messages to mobile phones or devices
6
Security (secure link) feature available/indicated
7
Electronic signature feature
8
Online payment by credit, debit, or other card methods
9
E-mail sign-up option, either as a formal list-serv or simply for news items
10
Existence of features to enable access for people with disabilities
Service Delivery
Capability
(Transactional
Stage)
1
Downloadable/printable forms
2
Online forms
3
Job opportunities
4
Online transactions/ services
5
E-mail alerts for e-participation
6 The country analysis was conducted by researchers from the respective countries who are knowledgeable in the gender development issues. Details of analysis will be provided following section.

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[Figure 5] Stages of Web Measurement Index
Source: UN e-Government
Development Survey
6
Real Simple Syndication (RSS) use for e-participation
7
Set turnaround time for government to respond to submitted forms
Citizen participation/
Interconnectedness
(Connected Stage)
1
E-participation policy or mission statement
2
Calendar listings of upcoming participatory activities
3
Archived information about past participatory activities
4
Participatory tools to obtain public/women’s opinion
5
Provision for publishing the results of users feedback
6
Archive of responses by government to citizen’s questions
[Table 7] Criteria for the Web Measurement Analysis7
The four different aspects are divided into specific categories by function: 1) information dissemination, 2) access and usability, 3) service delivery capacity, and 4) citizen participation and interconnectedness. The first category looks at features that would likely appear on an official gender ministry website. The second category is concerned with access and usability. The third addresses the e- service delivery capacity of the website. The fourth category is concerned about factors related to citizen participation and interconnectedness.
3.4.3 Evaluation Categories
Overall, the measurement analysis looked at the ease of use and usefulness contents/services provided through the Ministry of Gender website. This evaluation revealed the degree to which the website serves as an effective e- Government site for women. The results of the Web Measurement Analysis have been categorized according to the four stages of e-Government development suggested by the UN e-Government Development Survey as shown in Figure 5. The result of each individual country assessment is presented in Section 4.
7 Adopted from the UN E-Government UN E-Government Survey Web Measure Index (2010)

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Box 1. Characteristics of e-Government Development (UN e-Gov Survey 2010)
Stage I - Emerging: Government web sites provide information on public policy, governance, laws, regulations, relevant documentation and government services provided. They have links to ministries, departments and other branches of government. Citizens are easily able to obtain information on what is new in the national government and ministries and have links to archived information. Stage II - Enhanced: Government web sites deliver enhanced one-way or simple two-way e-communication between government and citizen, such as downloadable forms for government services and applications. The sites have audio and video capabilities and are multi-lingual. This also includes some limited e-services where citizens can request non-electronic forms and request for personal information, which will be mailed to their house. Stage III - Transactional: Government sites engage in two-way communication with their citizens, including requesting and receiving inputs on government policies, programmes, regulations, etc. In this stage, transactions require some form of electronic authentication of the citizen’s identity to successfully complete the exchange. Stage IV - Connected: Government sites have changed the way to communicate with their citizens, and they are proactive in requesting information and opinions from the citizens using web 2.0 and other interactive tools. The e-services and e- solutions that are available cut across the departments and ministries in a seamless manner. Information, data and knowledge is transferred from government agencies through integrated applications.
Excerpted from UN e-Government Survey Homepage at
http://www2.unpan.org/egovkb/egovernment_resources/Spotlights_2010.html

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3.5 Policy: Measurement of Advocacy and Participation for Women
3.5.1 Measuring perceived effectiveness of e-Government policy
The Policy dimension addresses the perceived effectiveness of a country’s e- Government policies on gender equality in terms of integrating gender concerns into public administration and improving the overall gender equality in the society through participatory measures. It also measures the extent to which current national e-Government initiatives reflect gender concerns in their service design and provision. Additionally, this dimension gauges the perceived readiness of institutional capacity -- such as the ICT competitiveness of its human resources, commitment from top leaders, as well the degree to which mission is shared among the Ministry staff.
3.5.2 Methodology: Policy Survey
The perception of policy effectiveness and institutional readiness was measured five ways, including: 1) scoring the goals and perceived effectiveness of e-Government policies; 2) e-Government’s stated impact on gender equality; 3) visual or conceptual obstacles to women’s use of e-Government services; 4) gender policy priorities and; 5) activities promoted by the Ministry of Gender websites. The formation of survey questions reflected the challenges and opportunities discussed in the Section 2, and integrated past research about gender equality in the public sector and the general use of ICT by women. The table below outlines the survey questions.

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Section No. Content
Policy Goals of current
e-Government policies
1
ICT access
2
ICT capacity building
3
Linkage to e-Government
4
Women's equal access to government services
5
e-participation
6
Networking building
7
Online service development
8
Gender advocacy
9
Monitoring of gender impact
Perception of effectiveness of current
e-Government policies for women :
Effectiveness
1
ICT access
2
ICT capacity building
3
Linkages with e-Government
4
Women's equal access to government services
5
e-participation
6
Networking building
7
Online service development
8
Gender advocacy
9
Monitoring gender impact
Impact of
e-Government to promote gender equality
1
Overall contribution to gender equality in public sector
2
Improved women's access to government services
3
Delivery of online social services for women
4
Strengthened the service quality of Ministry of Gender
5
Promoted women's participation in political process
6
Supported women parliamentarians
Obstacles to women’s use of
e-Government
1
Socio-cultural factors
2
Rural and urban divide
3
Income inequality between women and men
4
Lack of language support
5
Lack of content relevancy
6
Different gender patterns of technology use
7
Attitudes of women towards technology
8
Lack of gender analysis in the telecom industry
9
Lack of gender framework in public administration
Policy priorities
1
Identify women's e-Government service needs
2
Design online public services reflecting women's needs
3
Improve delivery of e-Government services for women
4
Develop institutional/ staff capacity
5
Build a stronger alliance with national e-Government strategy
6
Monitor gender impacts of e-Government services
[Table 8] Organization of Survey

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3.5.3 Responses
The data were collected via online survey sent to 722 experts with sufficient knowledge in the current gender and ICT development their respective countries from thirty six Asian and Pacific region countries8. Recipients received an initial email and up to two reminder emails depending on their completion status. If available, the research team called experts to remind them about survey completion.
The research team set the threshold response rate at 25 percent for each country, and excluded countries from the final analysis based on a response rate below this threshold. Six countries surpassed this threshold and were included in the research. The six countries finally selected -- Bangladesh, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, and Viet Nam – accounted for 38 percent of the overall response rate.
Country Total Sent Total Received Response Rate
Bangladesh
22
8
36%
Indonesia
68
28
41%
Korea
56
24
43%
Malaysia
48
14
29%
Philippines
55
25
45%
Viet Nam
40
22
55%
Total
322
121
38%
[Table 9] Policy Survey Response Rates
Due to variability of response rates per country, the results are insufficient to establish generalizable conclusions at regional level, although country-specific analysis was conducted. In addition, different types of experts responded in each country. In Bangladesh and Indonesia, participants from the government accounted to the majority while in Korea and Viet Nam, representation from the academia formed the majority. In Malaysia and the Philippines, majority of respondents had affiliation with civil society organizations.
8 The pool of 722 survey recipients was identified in a variety of ways. The research team tapped into 1) the existing network of gender and ICT experts maintained by Asia Pacific Women’s Information Network Center where the principal researcher of this report serves as the Executive Director, 2) gender and ICT focal points from ASEAN APEC, 3) direct contacts to the Ministry of Gender in other Asia Pacific countries where adequate quantity and quality of respondent pool was not established from the use of first two methods.

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[Figure 6] Policy Survey Respondents Category
3.5.4 Limitations and Verification of the Toolkit Framework
Due to the limitations of the methodologies used, as well regional differences, the Toolkit Framework on e-Government for Gender Equality cannot claim definite conclusions. Despite the limitations, formation of this assessment and policy tool with its targeted advice and action plan may serve as a starting point for future research in gender-sensitive e-Government research.
In the following section, data collected from six countries and analyzed with the Toolkit Framework are discussed in detail to examine important implications for policy recommendations. Additionally, the analysis section serves as a pilot assessment to evaluate the feasibility and validity of using the Toolkit Framework in a broader context.

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4. Country Analysis
This section provides an analysis of six country cases including Bangladesh, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, and Viet Nam. Adapting the Analysis Framework for e-Government Readiness for Gender Equality discussed in Chapter 2, each country-based case study examines the overall climate of e-Government strategies and their focus on gender equality, as determined by the four dimensions (ICT access, gender empowerment, e-Government service outreach for women, and the availability of participation and advocacy measures via policies). Each country case is structured in four parts: a brief description of the country’s ICT infrastructure as measured by key international indicators, a discussion of the status of women, the web measurement analysis of the national official gender websites, and the results of the subsequent policy survey conducted with in-country experts to determine the perceived effectiveness and contribution of e-Government programmes that promote gender equality.
4.1 Bangladesh
Overall, Bangladesh displays a comparatively low level of readiness in terms of gender equality programmes delivered through e-government efforts. Though Bangladesh scored below the mean of six countries across the four dimensions, the infrastructure and outreach dimensions warrant further study and improvement over the others.
[Figure 7] e-Government Readiness for Gender Equality - Bangladesh

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ICT Infrastructure
The country’s ICT infrastructure is among the lowest in world. According to the IDI 2011, Bangladesh is part of the low-development group, ranked 137th out of 152 countries. The percentage of individuals who use the Internet is 3.7%. The percentage of active mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants was 0.2%9. The governing agency of ICT in Bangladesh is the Ministry Science and Information and Communication Technology (MOSICT). Notably, the National Information and Communications Technology Policy (2002) has outlined a number of measures for the introduction ICT education in public and private universities, teacher training in ICTs, the deployment of virtual ICT teachers and web-based services (Tandon, 2006).
Source Indicators Score Rank
IDI 2011*
Overall
1.52
137
ICT Access
1.91
130
ICT Use
0.13
140
UN
e-Government Index 2010**
Overall
0.3028
134
e-Readiness
0.3028
Web Measurement
0.3556
e-Participation
0.1000
102
[Table 10 ] Bangladesh: Key ICT Indicators10
Gender Development
According to the 2010 Gender Inequality Index (GII), which is part of the UNDP Human Development Index (HDI), Bangladesh is ranked 112th out of 187 countries. This score is relatively high considering that the overall HDI rank of country 146th, but the value nevertheless places Bangladesh among the low development group.
The national mechanism of gender equality in Bangladesh is the Ministry Women and Child Affairs (MOWCA). MOWCA was established in 1978 to fulfill government commitments toward women’s development. In the same year, the
9 ITU IDI 2011 index
10 The rank in the IDI 2011 is out of 152 countries. The rank in the UN e-Government Index 2010 is out of 192 countries.

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[Figure 8] MOCWA Website
country-wide development plan recognized the unique needs of women and provided gender-disaggregated allocation programmes. The main goals of MOWCA to promote gender equality are four-fold:
• Undertake a social audit and analysis to determine the poverty status of women in all sectors and rural urban settings.
• Reinforce the mechanism to implement laws affecting women to encourage women’s full and equal participation to social activities.
• Advocate for implementation and allocation of resources Gender Equality Strategy and Maternal Health within the Health, Nutrition and Population Sector Programme (HNPSP).
• Creating effective safety-net programmes for distressed and vulnerable women and children through social protection programmes
Outreach: Web Measurement Survey
Overall, the analysis of the MOWCA website revealed that e-Government content and services targeted towards women in Bangladesh remains at the emerging level.11
As shown in the Figure below, the website is structured in four categories: News and Updates, Ministry Information, Policy Archives and Feedback. However, beyond simple information dissemination, the website does not offer basic search features and does not support interactive communication. Under a separate feedback section, citizens can electronically submit an online form to the Ministry on general topics, but the feature supports only text submissions and citizens can not directly contact officials responsible for a specific programme or project under the Ministry. The site offers one text-based service that lists of job opportunities; however, the information is not up-to-date. .
11 http://www.mowca.gov.bd

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[Figure 9] Bangladesh: Web Measurement Analysis
Policy: Expert Survey
The result of the policy survey from experts in Bangladesh revealed that basic ICT capacity building and provision of ICT access should be the key to government’s effort to promote e-Government services to women. The experts also believed that overall, the presence of MOCWA website as a focal point of women-specific information services contributed to increased gender equality in public service, but did not contribute to increasing opportunities for women to be involved in public participation.

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[Figure 10] Bangladesh: Current e-Government Policies for Women
To the question regarding policy goals of e-Government for women, all of the responding experts replied that the enhancement of women’s ICT capacity and access to ICT are very critical (Figure 10). Such unanimous result is notable as it shows that the experts from Bangladesh place a strong emphasis on the strategic use of ICTs to promote women’s inclusion in the knowledge-based society.
The experts identified interagency monitoring of gender as a key aspect in promoting gender equality in public affairs. Interestingly, the MOWCA website provides, in text-only format, achievement reports of a number different agency programmes containing quantifiable gender-based outcome statistics. Overall, experts ranked e-Government participation and advocacy as least important, indicating that the key e-Government strategy for women should be in providing expanded access and capacity building for women.

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[Figure 11] Bangladesh: Impact of e-Government to Promote Gender Equality
When asked to identify the top two policy priorities, respondents from Bangladesh identified the importance of needs assessment and service delivery (Figure 12). One reason for these selections is that Bangladesh at the initial stage of the national ICT promotion and e-Government development, and policy priorities are commonly clustered around the needs assessment and service development. The selection of the two tasks, usually conducted at the beginning stages of a policy cycle, echoes with some of the recommendations suggested by survey participants that “e- Government should be a means to an end” and “ICT can help delivering the programmes to more women.”
[Figure 12] Bangladesh: Top Two Policy Priorities

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Participants were asked to rate the effectiveness of the MOCWA website in disseminating relevant information to women and extending the outreach of Ministry’s activities (Figure 13). The review was generally positive, reflecting the belief that the site is useful for improving gender equality in public sector. However, the data revealed two areas where the experts thought website fell short of expectations -- interactive engagement with women through participatory measures, and monitoring evaluation of women’s online usage.
[Figure 13] Bangladesh: Evaluation of Ministry Website

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4.2 The Philippines
The Country profile of the Philippines displays relatively high competency in the area of gender development and policy, but scores lower in ICT infrastructure and service outreach.
[Figure 14] e-Government Readiness for Gender Equality - Philippines
ICT Infrastructure
ICT development in the Philippines is in the medium country level, according to the IDI 2011. The country is ranked at the 92th out of a total 152 countries. The percentage of individuals over 25 using the Internet was 25% of the total population in 2010. The broadband Internet subscription rate per 100 inhabitants was 1.8 whereas active mobile-broadband subscription per 100 inhabitants was 16.612. Considering the geographic constraints of this archipelago country, infrastructure readiness remains the weakest link of overall ICT development, as access sub-index of the Philippines is 101th, one of the lowest in medium development group countries in the IDI.
However, other aspects of ICT and e-Government development in the Philippines exhibit a strong upward trend in recent years, as exhibited Table below. Even though such index cannot capture the entire picture of ICT usage in population,
12 ITU IDI 2011 index

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it gives a strong indication of governmental effort to promote ICT for public service initiatives. The Information Communication Technology Office (ICTO) is the central body governing the ICT development in the country.13
Source Indicators Score Rank
IDI 2011*
Overall
3.22
92
ICT Access
3.14
101
ICT Use
1.49
83
UN
e-Government Index 2010**
Overall
0.4637
78
e-Readiness
0.4637
Web Measurement
0.3937
e-Participation
0.1857
64
[Table 11] The Philippines: Key ICT Indicators
Gender Development
The Philippines is one of the most gender-equal societies in the Asia and Pacific region, with high index scores across economic, education, health and political indicators. The GGGI of the Philippines in 2011 was 0.769, which ranked country 8th among 135 countries. More specifically, the country has the highest GGGI score among the 33 lower-middle income countries. In particular, the country has a reputation for strong representation of women in managerial and leadership positions, especially in the public sector. However, the Gender Gap sub-indexes display that the weakest link in country’s overall strong performance gender equality is the women’s labor force participation rate, which has been decreasing in recent years and is currently ranked at the 94th place in GGGI 2011.
The Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) is the government agency that serves as the national entity for the promotion of gender empowerment and women’s rights. PCW was established in 1975 by a Presidential Decree, and is responsible for planning, implementing and assessing the National Plan for Women as well providing cross-agency monitoring of gender-responsiveness.14 In 2009, the Magna Carta of Women was signed by the President. It presents comprehensive
13 The shaping of ICTO as a new body ICT coordination has occurred very recently, with a change in its legal status from formerly as a presidential commission to standing committee under the Department of Science and Technology (DoST).
14 http://pcw.gov.ph/

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[Figure 15] PWC Website
women’s human rights laws that aim to eliminate discrimination against women. The bill emphasizes women’s inclusion in society, women’s rights to information and participation. This climate may help promote e-Government services that support gender equality.15
The major functions of the PCM are as follows:
• Track gender responsiveness of national development plans and coordinate the preparation, assessment and updating of National Plan for Women, ensure its implementation and monitor the performance of government agencies in the implementation of Plan at all levels.
• Undertake continuing advocacy to promote economic, social and political empowerment of women and provide technical assistance in the deployment and strengthening of mechanisms on gender mainstreaming.
• Ensure that the gains achieved by Filipino women due to Philippine culture and tradition shall be preserved enhanced in the process of modernization.
Outreach: Web Measurement Analysis
The PCW website is an example of a site at the Enhanced Stage of e-Government development. It offers enhanced one-way and simple two-way online communications for citizens. The website, which serves as the “Gateway to Gender Development in the Philippines,” provides information on women-related policy, governance, laws and regulations, and relevant documents. Citizens can view and download relevant programme documentations with relatively ease. The website also provides a search feature to help users retrieve relevant information, adding to the overall usability and accessibility of the website. Another user- friendly feature e includes the FAQ menu to help with troubleshooting.
15 Republic Act 9710 or the Magna Carta of Women 2009

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The website provides job and bidding opportunities, where users can view vacancies and bidding invitations, send the posting to their personal email, obtain contact information for the hiring manager, and download application forms. Users can also share posting via the social networking service Facebook.
However, the website is limited in its interactive features. Users cannot submit forms online or register to receive automatic updates on PCW activities. Currently, the features that allow a minimum level of two-way communication are the “Contact Us” form, a simple electronic form to send text-based messages to the webmaster and a link to Facebook where users can share links and add comments.
[Figure 16] The Philippines: Web Measurement Analysis
Considering the strong gender development track record of country as well the variety of programme information on site, , the PCW website seems ready to move towards the next level of e-Government development by furthering efforts to strengthen “transaction” and “interaction” with citizens and other organizations. This may include developing specialized public services and content-, e-learning options, and electronic form submission systems. In addition to service delivery, the PCW homepage could better serve as a central platform for all gender related issues. Two-way communication functionality such as forums, email alerts, and

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discussion boards are essential to provide a formal but open space for citizens’ participation.
The PCW website is not linked with other government agency websites. It would be advantageous to users create these linkages so that PCW can share content with other agencies and monitor gender equality integration on other sites. This could be an essential part of the PCW’s work as the central body responsible for the gender- responsiveness of public policies in the Philippines.
Policy: Expert Survey
The result of the policy survey in Philippines revealed that experts perceive the national e-Government strategy for gender equality is effective and contributes to women’s participation in political and democratic process. While the level of e- Government sophistication still remains at the bottom second phase of Web Measurement Index, the largely positive responses from the experts may come from the strength of Philippines’ gender development policy development and implementation records itself, rather than the advancement of electronic delivery measures represented by the e-Government per se.
[Figure 17] The Philippines: Current e-Government Policies for Women
Experts identified a variety of e-Government and gender topics as equally important,

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from improving basic ICT access and capacity building for women to monitoring and advocating for gender-sensitive public service and participation. The experts highlighted “building women’s online communities and networks” as an important goal of e-Government policy (Figure 17).
[Figure 18] The Philippines: Impact of e-Government to Promote Gender Equality
In general, respondents valued the effectiveness of e-Government provisions very highly (Figure 14). Particularly, the respondents stated confidence in the system’s contribution in promoting women’s participation in political and government service, as well providing information on women-related government services. The PCW website currently does not provide extensive participatory “online” features and thus the positive results may reflect country’s underlying emphasis on gender equality and participation in civil service rather than a simple review of the PCW site. Under this context where gender concerns are first addressed by a strong network of local civil society organizations, it may be less critical to upgrade the PCW website. As revealed in the Web Measurement Analysis, PCW website provides an extensive list of partnering NGOs with which PCW jointly shapes policies and programmes for gender development. Combined with the fact that survey participants chose “building women’s online networks” as an important goal of the e-Government provision, the survey sheds light to an alternative model of e- Government development for women that utilizes the networking aspects of ICT to promote participation and improve service delivery.16
16 This aspect will be discussed further in the Section 4.

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[Figure 19] The Philippines: Top Two Policy Priorities
The survey respondents replied that institutional and human resources readiness should be the top two policy priorities for gender-sensitive e-Government strategies. They stated that this is critical both within and across PCW and other government agencies (Figure 20). One of the respondents mentioned that the ICT capacity of programme managers should be improved to facilitate better design and delivery of online services for women. Considering that the e-Government development in the Philippines has been vigorously pushed forward by the government, more seamless interconnectedness of inter-agency e-Government services may further facilitate the efforts for effective system integration as well as wholesale gender development.
[Figure 20] The Philippines: Evaluation of Ministry Website

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4.3 Malaysia
The Framework Analysis of Malaysia demonstrates that the country supports strong service outreach efforts geared towards providing gender-specific online services to women. The country also shows above-average readiness in terms of the ICT access (infrastructure), overall gender development and policy institutional competitiveness as shown below.
[Figure 21] e-Government Readiness for Gender Equality - Malaysia
ICT Infrastructure
ICT infrastructure in Malaysia has exhibited a significant advancement in recent years, and is currently ranked at 58th in the IDI index with score of 4.45. In 2010, the percentage of individuals using internet was 55.3%. Broadband internet subscriptions per 100 inhabitants was 7.3 and the active mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants was 27.2%17.
17 ITU IDI 2010

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Source Indicators Score Rank
IDI 2011
Overall
4.45
58
ICT Access
4.70
65
ICT Use
3.15
50
UN
e-Government Index 2010
Overall
0.6101
32
e-Readiness
0.3028
Web Measurement
0.3556
e-Participation
0.6571
12
[Table 12] Malaysia: Key ICT Indicators
Notably, the government of Malaysia collects basic sets of gender-disaggregated ICT data. According to the Household Internet Survey conducted by the SKMM of Malaysia in 2009, 51.3% internet users were male and 48.7% were female. The percentage use of cellular phone in 2007 was 56.4% male and 43.6% female (SKMM, 2008). The number of internet users in the household has increased from 2.26 per 100 inhabitants in 2008 to 2.75 2009 (SKMM, 2008).
[Figure 22] Malaysia: Household use of Internet by Gender
Malaysia was ranked 31st in the e-Government development Index 2011, which places it in the high development group of 192 total countries. The Malaysian government’s strong drive to promote ICT is evident from closer examination of NRI; the scores for government’s readiness, use and promotion of ICT are among the top 15. However, gender-based usage of e-Government data is not available at the national level. As a proxy, according to household use of the Internet

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in 2008, Malaysian Internet users count information acquisition as the most important purpose (94.4%) ,and an increasing number of users engage in e- Government transactions (19.8%) (SKMM, 2008).
Currently, the Malaysian government is actively promoting the online services through the official government portal.18The portal includes an e-transaction center where individuals can access online services and download forms required to interact with various government agencies and local authorities. There are approximately 1,000 forms available for download. The portal also has “quick links” to the government directory, government tenders, job vacancies, laws and policies, weather information, as well a place for public complaints, feedback and inquiry, and immigration customs service feedback.19
Another notable policy is the ICT Policy for the Ministry of Women, Family and Communication Development (MWFCD) of Malaysia. The Policy, enacted in 2007 by the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (MICT) of Malaysia, sets ICT guidelines and programmes for the MWFCD to develop the ICT capacity of its staff and to improve service efficiency. The Policy has three components: the ICT Public Policy, the Equipment Policy and the Security policy. The policy serves as a means to encourage institutions to actively promote e- Government initiatives.20
Gender Development
Malaysia was ranked 97th out of 135 countries in the 2011GGGI report, with an overall score of 0.653. Among its upper-middle income peer group countries, the country’s gender equality score from the GGGI is lower than the average. It falls in the lower 25% quintile.
The national organizational mechanism for gender equality in Malaysia is the MWFCD. Following the Beijing Declaration in 1995, efforts to establish a cabinet- level body to elevate the status of women led to the establishment of MWFCD on January 17, 2001. Among the four departments under Ministry, Department for Women’s Development serves as the main hub for women’s development, with its mission to integrate the needs of women into the mainstream
18 Malaysian National e-Government Portal at www.gov.my
19 Data provided by county focal point for this report.
20 For details, see http://www.kpwkm.gov.my/documents/10156/57314f9d-6c79-452f-9164- 699c7e87134f

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[Figure 23] MWFCD Website
and strengthen the family institution for increased social welfare. In particular, the Ministry has the following objectives: 21
• Increase the participation and active role of women, families communities as contributors and beneficiaries of development.
• Preserve the rights of women, families and communities with fair equitable treatment
• Extend equal opportunities to women and society in social, economic political arenas
• Strengthen the family institution.
Outreach: Web Measurement Analysis
The results of the MWFCD Web Measurement Analysis show that it has currently reached at the Enhanced Stage, and is in transition towards the Transactional level development.
Even though there is not yet a standalone e-Government portal for women, the MWFCD website provides a number of online content and services tailored to the needs of women.22 The website is organized into five main categories, including News and Updates, Policy Archives, Ministry Information, Services and Citizen Participation. The first three categories focus on information dissemination and outreach, outlining the core work areas of Ministry. It provides documentation, multimedia features, statistics about women and children’s development and information about the Ministry’s organizational structure. Under the Service category, the MWFCD website offers a number of links to information where citizens can directly receive online-based services including e-learning courses on reproductive health and online forms for
21 Ministry website http://www.kpwkm.gov.my/
22 http://www.kpwkm.gov.my/

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financial assistance. The services provided include programmes for women’s economic participation, education, health, social inclusion child care. Additionally, usage statistics of such services are also available through a separate Transaction Statistics page.
[Figure 24] Malaysia: Web Measurement Analysis
However, in order to transition from the third for fourth and top phase of e- Government development, the MWFCD website would need to increase its capabilities to support seamless citizen engagement between the MWFCD website and the national e-Government portal23. There is no significant integration at this point. Such a low level of insitutional connectedness may be due to the nascent nature of the site, and site does feature citizen feedback inetragiotn with social networkign services like Facebook and Twitter.
Policy: Expert Survey
The result of the policy survey showed an overall positive perception of e- Government as a mechanism of women’s empowerment.
23 www.gov.my

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[Figure 25] Malaysia: Current Government Policies for Women
In particular, the respondents considered ICT diffusion a key goal of e-Government promotion for women (Figure 25). More than 70% of respondents identified that the enhancement of women’s ICT capacity and access should be a top policy goal, compared to the relatively low level of importance placed on the policy integration, application development, and policy monitoring (29%). As noted, the access to technology, combined with the capacity to utilize technology forms a multi- faceted challenge of women’s ICT access. Considering that the ICT access serves as a basic requirement of women’s e-Government usages, such emphasis put on the ICT diffusion resonates with the overall policy priority in Malaysia.

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[Figure 26] Malaysia: Impact of e-Government to Promote Gender Equality
When asked to determine the two most pressing policy priorities to promote e- Government for women, the greatest number of respondents stated that it was essential to identify women’s ICT and e-Government service needs (Figure 27). In this case, where the level of e-Government for women is near the transaction level, this result may indicate a key need for policy development. Another notable result is the respondents’ desire (43%) for the site to offer stronger linkage with other national e-Government strategies, and to provide a seamless, integrated service for its citizens.
[Figure 27] Malaysia: Top Two Policy Priorities
The majority of experts responded that the MWFCD website has contributed to

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enhance gender equality in the public sector, particularly through the delivery of online social services and dissemination of information on government policies and programmes (Figure 28). Notably, the Ministry provides a variety of online-based services and content for women in reproductive health social safety online. The respondents from Malaysia valued the role of ICT in improved information delivery and outreach, but they did not rank participatory engagement features very highly, implying a perceived low level of effectiveness in this area.
[Figure 28] Malaysia: Evaluation of Ministry Website

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4.4 Korea
Overall, the Framework Analysis of Korea shows that Korea is actively pursuing e- Government service provision for women, as the country scores high on all four dimensions, particularly in ICT infrastructure. The Outreach and Policy dimensions are well above the average of six countries sampled in this report.
[Figure 29] e-Government Readiness for Gender Equality - Korea
ICT Infrastructure
Korea was ranked at 1st in the 2011 IDI 2011, with a score of 8.40. ICT use, one of the sub-indexes, is by far the highest as well, although the score for ICT access is lower -- 10th place out of the 152 countries. The percentage of individuals using Internet was 83.7% and the broadband internet subscription per 100 inhabitants was 36.6 while active mobile broadband subscription per 100 inhabitants was 91.24 The Korean government is committed to supporting e-Government initiatives, which explains way the country is at the top of 2010 e-Government Index.
Source Indicators Score Rank
IDI 2011
Overall
8.40
1
ICT Access (Infrastructure)
8.21
10
ICT Use
7.85
1
24 ITU IDI 2011