On a humid morning in Dhaka, a young migrant worker stood outside a passport office long before sunrise. He had traveled overnight from another district, carrying a folder full of photocopies, passport-sized photographs, and handwritten notes reminding him which counters to visit. Like many Bangladeshis, he was not there for a new passport, but simply to renew an old one.
Inside the building, the process felt familiar to everyone waiting in line. One counter directed applicants to another. Payment had to be completed separately. Verification updates were unclear. Some people had traveled hundreds of kilometers only to discover that one missing document meant another trip on another day.
For many citizens, digital government still often feels partly digital and partly manual.
Bangladesh has undoubtedly made remarkable progress in expanding digital public services. Under the vision of “Digital Bangladesh” and the broader aspiration of “Smart Bangladesh 2041,” government services have increasingly moved online. From e-passports and digital birth registration to online tax services and mobile financial systems, the country has demonstrated strong ambition in modernizing governance.
Yet one important question remains: if systems are digital, why do citizens still experience so much fragmentation?
The answer lies in interoperability.
Digitization alone does not automatically create seamless public services. A citizen may fill out an online form, but if agencies cannot securely exchange information with one another, the process still becomes dependent on manual verification, repeated paperwork, and physical visits.
This challenge is particularly visible in services such as passport renewal. A single service often depends on multiple institutions working together, including identity verification, police clearance, payment systems, scheduling, document validation, and communication with applicants. When these systems operate independently, the burden shifts back to the citizen.
An interoperable digital government approach changes this experience entirely.
Imagine a different scenario. A citizen logs into a secure government portal using a digital identity. Personal information is automatically verified through connected databases. Payment is completed online. Appointment scheduling happens instantly. Police verification requests move securely between systems in the background. Real-time SMS updates inform the applicant at every stage. The citizen interacts with one connected service rather than multiple disconnected offices.
This is not simply a technology upgrade. It is a governance transformation.
Around the world, governments are increasingly adopting interoperable Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) models that use reusable digital components - often called “Building Blocks” - to create connected services. Instead of every ministry developing entirely separate systems, governments can share common digital capabilities such as identity verification, payment gateways, consent management, messaging systems, and secure information exchange platforms.
For Bangladesh, such an approach carries enormous potential.
First, it can reduce the everyday burden on citizens. People should not have to submit the same information repeatedly to different government agencies. Public services should adapt to citizens, not the other way around.
Second, interoperable systems can improve institutional efficiency. Shared infrastructure reduces duplication, strengthens coordination, and lowers operational costs while improving service delivery speed.
Third, interoperability can strengthen public trust. Transparent digital workflows reduce uncertainty, improve accountability, and limit opportunities for corruption and unofficial intermediaries.
However, building interoperable government systems requires more than software. It demands coordination among institutions, strong data governance policies, cybersecurity protections, legal frameworks, investment in digital skills, and above all, a shift in institutional mindset.
Technology may build systems, but governance determines whether those systems truly serve people.
Bangladesh already possesses many of the foundations needed for this transition, expanding internet connectivity, national identity systems, digital financial services, and growing experience in e-governance initiatives. The next phase is not simply to digitize more services, but to ensure that these services can work together intelligently and securely.
The future of digital government will not be measured only by how many services become available online. It will be measured by whether citizens can access those services easily, efficiently, and with trust.
For the migrant worker waiting outside the passport office at dawn, interoperability may sound like a technical term. But in practice, it means something very human: fewer queues, fewer journeys, less uncertainty, and a government that works as one connected system rather than many disconnected doors.
And perhaps that is what true digital transformation should ultimately mean.
Author is a communications and public diplomacy professional
