Author: Rinchen Pelzang, Technical Advisor, Bhutan Seedlings, Bhutan & Md. Fouad Hossain Sarkar, Professor, DIU, Bangladesh

As computer and internet services become more prevalent and easier for people to access, the necessity of understanding how people perceive their use of  internet services, as well as how they are delivered in the country, becomes more critical. Thus, this study aimed to gain a better understanding of the ways in which  local governments  deliver   e-services in Bhutan.

A stratified random sampling of 10 districts and 20 blocks was conducted with 405 respondents, including 171 females and 234 males, representing 42.2% and 57.8%, respectively. Most of the respondents (53.1%) were between 31 and 45 years old and most had a bachelor's degree. E-service awareness levels  in local governments were reported to be highest among 31-45-year-old adults (193), while younger people had little understanding of e-service availability (192).

A chi-square goodness-of-fit test   was performed to analyze awareness variation among age categories. A significant interaction existed between the awareness level of the different categories (χ2 (3) = 24.67, p < .001). The likelihood of mid-age respondents knowing about e-services is higher than that of very young or very elderly respondents. G2C initiatives  undertaken by the government were well known to 66.91 percent of respondents. Respondents have difficulties accessing e-services due to a low literacy rate (28.15%) and low awareness of e-service options (24.69%).

The Local Government Community Center e-service  has never been utilized by almost half of the population (46.42%). In Bhutan, 54.32% of respondents said that e-service delivery needs to be improved. Most people use e-services to process their identity cards (mean = 2.74) and make online payments (mean = 2.58). Additionally, most people in the country use WhatsApp (mean=3.07), and respondents believe more towers are needed to boost internet speed (mean = 4.07). Thus, this study provides insight into the people's perceptions and challenges they face in delivering e-services in Bhutan, as well as recommendations on how to improve in the future.