Measuring impacts of e-government support in least developed countries: a case study of the vehicle registration service in Bhutan

e-Government initiatives are increasingly mainstreamed in the development agenda, as means through which developing countries can achieve development objectives faster and, as experience from the developed world suggests, for less cost. However, little research has been carried out on the impact of such initiatives in the developing world, especially the least developed countries, and little attention has been placed on cost aspects. This research studies one such initiative, the computerization of vehicle registration, in one such country, Bhutan. After assessing impact on both efficiency and governance, it finds that improvements in governance and quality aspects greatly outweigh cost-aspects. Using activity-based costing method for internal costs, and assessing quality aspects through staff interviews and customer surveys, significant improvements were found in lead time and adherence to rules felt by citizen users. However, little benefit was found in terms of cost reduction.