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1.1 ICT (Information and Communications Technology)

ICT is an umbrella term that includes any communication device or application, encompassing:

radio, television, cellular phones, computer and network hardware and software, satellite

systems and so on, as well as the various services and applications associated with them, such as

videoconferencing and distance learning.

The ICT sector of Bangladesh is one of the fastest growing sectors of its economy. ICT has been

declared as the thrust sector by the Government. A comprehensive ICT Policy has been

formulated and a National ICT Task Force, headed by the Honorable Prime Minister, has been

formed. The Government organization entrusted for the development and promotion of the ICT

sector is the Ministry of Science and Information & Communication Technology. Bangladesh

Computer Council (BCC), the apex body for promotion of all kinds of ICT activities in the country,

works under the Ministry of Science and Information & Communication Technology.

1.2 ICT Policy of Bangladesh

National ICT is headed by the Honorable Prime Minister. ICT has been given considerable

importance from the Prime Minister’s Office in the last few years. The Ministry of Science and

Technology has been renamed as the Ministry of Science and ICT which has been entrusted the

duty of working as the primary hub for ICT policy and implementation in the country.

Broad Areas of ICT Policy:

ICT Infrastructure

ICT Capacity Building

Support to ICT Industry

Applications of ICTs for Socio-Economic Development

Regulatory Issues

Financing of ICT-Related Projects

Research and Development in ICT

The council of ministers endorsed the draft national information and communication technology

(ICT) policy-2015, which clams “The ICT policy will be less regulatory but more developmental

and promotional”. The policy will be implemented in three phases -- short goals are expected to

be attained by 2016, mid-term goals by 2018 and long-term ones by 2021.

1.3 Objectives of ICT

This Policy aims at building an ICT-driven nation comprising of knowledge-based society by the

year 2006. In view of this, a country-wide ICT-infrastructure will be developed to ensure access

to information by every citizen to facilitate empowerment of people and enhance democratic

values and norms for sustainable economic development by using the infrastructure for human

resources development, governance, e-commerce, banking, public utility services and all sorts of

on-line ICT-enabled services. The objectives are:

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– Provide effective incentives for development of ICT sector to both local and foreign entrepreneurs

– Develop an efficient ICT infrastructure that provides open access to international and national

network

– Promote and facilitate use of ICT in all sectors of the economy for transparency, good governance and

efficiency improvement

– Establish legislative and regulatory framework for ICT issues like IPR, data security and protection,

digital signature, e-Commerce, ICT education etc. as well as to ensure quality ICT education provided

by different private organizations

– Set up national databases that are reliable and easily accessible to all the people of the country

– Promote use of ICT by providing special allocations for ICT project implementation in the public sector.

Train the decision makers in ICT use and promote a ICT culture

– Develop a large pool of world class ICT professionals to meet the needs of local and global markets

– Set up a very high quality ICT institution to continuously promote and foster ICT Industry

– Enact Laws and Regulations for uninterrupted growth of ICT, in conformity with World Trade

Organization (WTO) stipulations.

1.4 Importance given to ICT

This Policy aims at building an ICT-driven nation comprising of knowledge-based society by the

year 2021. In view of this, a country-wide ICT-infrastructure will be developed to ensure access

to information by every citizen to facilitate empowerment of people and enhance democratic

values and norms for sustainable economic development by using the infrastructure for human

resources development, governance, e-commerce, banking, public utility services and all sorts of

on-line ICT-enabled services.

The executive committee of the national ICT task force, headed by the honorable principal

secretary, administers the implementation of decisions taken by the task force.

A program called the support to ICT task force (SICT) has been initiated, with financial support

from the government, to provide implementation and monitoring support to the task force.

The ministry of science and ICT has come up with a comprehensive ICT policy in 2002.

The ministry of post and telecom has also come up with a national telecom policy in 1998

(time for a revised policy).

Bangladesh government adopted the national ICT policy in 2008. It includes action items for

realizing the goals of national development. The constitution of Peoples republic of Bangladesh

has edified social equity. The national ICT policy of 2008 has clearly indicated the development

goals for Bangladesh. The vision and objectives are aligned with the general national goals while

the strategic themes are areas within the broad objectives that can readily benefit from the use

of ICT. The action items are generally meant to be implemented either in the-

Short term (18 months or less)

Medium term (5 years or less) or

Long term (10 years or less)

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1.5 ICT Vision 2021 (Digital Bangladesh)

The Government of Bangladesh has declared ‘Vision 2021’ with a target to make Bangladesh as

a middle income country using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and

development of favorable business environment for innovative companies. ICT has been

considered as a thrust sector. Vision 2021 lays down goals and strategies together with a

framework for mobilizing our natural and human resources to achieve those goals. Vision 2021

calls for Bangladeshi socio-economic environment to be transformed from a low income

economy to the first stages of a middle-income nation by the year 2021, when poverty would

have all but disappeared, where society would be full of caring and educated people living healthy

and happy lives.

The Digital Bangladesh vision, arguably, runs parallel to the Information Society vision advocated

by the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS). The Honorable Finance Minister of

Bangladesh elaborated on the concept in his budget 2009-10 speech as a socio-economic

transformation process, enabled by information and communication technologies. In the same

year, the Honorable Prime Minister outlined the Digital Bangladesh having four key priorities –

(a) Developing human resources ready for the 21stcentury

(b) Connecting citizens in ways most meaningful to them

(c) Taking services to citizens’ doorsteps

(d) Making the private sector and market more productive and competitive through the use of

digital technology

(e) Expand and diversify the use of ICTs

– to establish a transparent, responsive and accountable government

– develop skilled human resources

– enhance social equity

– ensure cost-effective delivery of citizen-services through public-private partnerships

– and support the national goal of becoming a middle-income country within 2021

– join the ranks of the developed countries of the world within thirty years

1.6 ICT Policies and Regulatory Framework

A plethora of acts, policies and guidelines are in place, some are more robust than the others,

which is guiding the nation towards the realization of Digital Bangladesh. Hence, it was only

natural that the 6th Five Year Plan (6FYP) places an equal importance to Digital Bangladesh as

part of the nation’s development strategy. During the 6FYP period, the country has made

important strides in utilizing technology to bring in tangible transformation in all four areas

mentioned by the Prime Minister. Progress made in bringing government services to the

doorsteps of citizen is probably the area where Bangladesh registered most significant progress.

Vertical (with government ministries and agencies) and horizontal (i.e., with citizens) policy

advocacy and development interventions have resulted in a number of citizen-centric e-

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initiatives and services such as multimedia classroom and teacher-led education content

development in public schools, mobile phone based health service from Upazila Health Complex,

agricultural and other livelihood information and services (e-Tathyakosh) online through

grassroots outlets.

Because of the cross-cutting nature of the vision, these work plans encompass priorities in almost

all development sectors. Hence, the 7th Five Year Plan (7FYP) needs to consult and align with

those—at the same time, it also needs to identify scope for revising those documents in light of

changes in the national priorities set in the 6FYP.

2.1 Contribution Towards Middle Income Country

The Perspective Plan targets annual real GDP growth rate to rise to 8.0 per cent by 2015, and

further to 10.0 per cent by 2021, significantly improving living standards of the population by

drastically reducing unemployment and poverty, riding on substantially higher output and export

growth. Per capita annual income is projected to rise to about USD 2,000 (at constant 2013

dollars) by 2021, thus crossing the middle income threshold. Among others, a prudent

macroeconomic policy will be required to ensure internal and external stability, low inflation and

high economic growth. Accordingly, this chapter presents a macroeconomic framework, spelling

Digital BD policies and regulatory framework

ICT policy 2009

Right to Information Act 2009

Perspective Plan

ICT Act 2013 (amended)

Strategic Priorities of Digital Bangladesh

Cyber Security Policy 2010

Rural Connectivity Policy Guideline 2010

Broadband Policy

Mobile Keypad Standardization Policy

Guidelines for Utility Bill Payment

e-Krishi Policy

National e-Governance Architecture

Mobile Banking Policy Guideline

National Telecom Policy 2010

Guidelines on Mobile Financial Services (MFS) for the Bank

Secretariat Instructions 2014 (amended)

Proactive Information Disclosure Guidelines 2014

Innovation Team gazette

National Portal management gazette

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out the key targets, and articulating strategies and policy guidelines underlying the Perspective

Plan FY2010-FY2021.

2.1.1 Macroeconomic Framework

The macroeconomic framework of the Perspective Plan will support the strategies and policy

guidelines to achieve the development vision through ensuring of macroeconomic stability over

the long-term. For Bangladesh, the journey to middle income country and high HDI status

requires sustained growth and its equitable and inclusive nature. The technical framework

designed to achieve growth and related dimensions of the macro economy shows that the

economy needs to grow at a consistently high rate over the next eleven years for the vision to be

realized.

Key Macroeconomic Indicators

Benchmark FY10 Target FY15 Target FY21

Real GDP Growth (%) 6.1 8.0 10.0

CPI inflation (%) 7.5 6.0 5.2

As per cent of GDP

Gross Investment (%) 24.4 32.5 38.0

Gross National Savings (%) 30.0 32.1 39.1

Total government revenue (%) 10.9 14.6 20.0

Total government expenditure (%) 14.6 19.6 25.0

Exports (billion US$) 16.2 38.8 82.0

Imports (billion US$) 21.4 52.8 110.5

Remittances (billion US$) 10.9 17.8 38.5

Unemployment rate (%) 30.0 20.0 15.0

Poverty (head count, %) 31.5 22.5 13.5

Source: Perspective Plan projections

2.1.2 Inflation control

Bangladesh has generally succeeded in maintaining reasonable price stability. Occasional spikes

in the inflation rate arose mainly as a result of supply disruptions due to natural disasters, and

global price shocks. Since high inflation, especially led by food price inflation directly hurts poor

people, the target will be to maintain a moderate rate of inflation of around 5-7 per cent per year

by ensuring well-coordinated monetary and fiscal policies; improvements in productivity;

attention to supply augmentation; enhanced public sector role and strengthened competition

policies.

2.1.3 Reducing Poverty and Inequality

The poverty profile measured by head count ratio using the cost of basic needs approach

revealed that 31.5 per cent of the 2010 population, lived below the poverty line. It also indicated

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a 1.8 per cent annual poverty decline between 2005 and 2010. At this rate, the head count ratio

of national poverty will stand at 22.5 per cent of the population in 2015, thereby achieving one

of the major MDGs. The projected higher growth of around 9.2 percent during FY16 and FY21 is

expected to reduce head count poverty rate to about 13.5 percent of 2021 population.

Antipoverty, anti-inequality measures need to target removal or reduction of inequalities in

advancing opportunities for people in different income brackets. This particularly includes

targeting the opening of blocked advancement opportunities for disadvantaged rural and urban

poor people.

2.1.4 Agricultural Development

Agricultural land is limited and is reducing at 1 per cent per annum. Modern methods of

production, including water resource management, high yielding drought and submergence

resistant seeds, increase in land productivity through efficient irrigation, flood control and

drainage, are among the key factors in achieving a higher level of self-sufficiency in food

production to feed the ever increasing population and to save foreign exchange for food imports.

With a view to enhance agriculture production and ensuring food security, the target is that, by

2021, food deficiency will be eliminated and the country will attain self-sufficiency in food

production enabling to meet nutritional requirement of the population.

2.1.5 Remittance Inflows

Besides strengthening our balance of payments position, remittance inflows have had significant

impact on poverty reduction. Remittance inflows in 2011, at $11.5 billion, were about 10 per cent

of GDP. Sustaining the growth of remittance inflows could be a major source of external finance

in the march up to the country’s middle income threshold by 2021. Government is strengthening

institutional arrangements to facilitate remittance. However, increase of remittance flow will

depend on the speed of economic recovery of the labor taking countries.

2.1.6 Foreign Direct Investment

Bangladesh’s projected needs for investment in infrastructure for an expanding transport

network and burgeoning urban centers cannot and need not be met from domestic resources

alone. With improved economic management and a highly liberalized investment regime, and

with strategic locational shifts in labor-intensive industries, Bangladesh could become an

attractive destination for private capital flows over the next decade.

2.1.7 ICT and Science and Technology for National Development

The new Science and Technology Policy focuses on scientific research and production using

indigenous resources as much as possible. It focuses on finding solutions to the emerging

problems in agriculture, health, environment and climate change. The new Policy suggested

access to quality educational materials for studying science, mathematics, engineering and other

subjects requiring instruments. To encourage innovation and production of new technology a

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proper institutional system of copyright and patent should be established. In view of the

expanded agenda for research in science and technology, a higher share of GDP will be allocated

for research and development.

2.1.8 E-Governance

Digital democracy is the computerization of political discourse, policy-making and the political

process. It ultimately increases, enhances and deepens citizen participation in government policy

and decision-making processes through electoral campaigns, voting, consultation, public opinion

polling and communication exchange between elected officials and constituents.

2.1.9 Company Productivity

Technology enhances company productivity in multiple ways and the rapid growth of cloud-

based computing has reinforced the impact and expanded the possibilities. The early impact of

technology in emerging markets on company productivity was at the basic level of greater PC

usage, office software, and email. The rapid decline in the cost per unit of computing power as

microprocessors become faster and cheaper is growing at an exponential pace as well.

Technology has helped companies improve how they interact with and take feedback from their

customers. The cloud gives companies of any size access to capabilities and services that

previously were available to only the largest enterprises, at a fraction of their historical cost.

2.1.10 Internet Facility

The Internet has become a big leveler allowing small companies to operate on a level playing

field with large ones. The Internet has made it easier for producers to procure inputs (raw

materials) for their production processes and reduced production costs. Price discrimination

(targeting marketing, products, and prices to specific individuals) has been made much easier by

the Internet.

2.1.11 Social Networking

In developed countries, ICT has transformed the print, movie, music, and gaming industries with

an increasing number of consumers now creating their own content through blogs, wikis,

podcasts, Facebook, Instagram, and Vine. Authors can publish their books digitally on Amazon

for a fraction of the cost of using traditional publishers. Musicians and filmmakers likewise have

web-based access to potential customers through YouTube and other online platforms.

2.1.12 Banking sectors

By using various types of ICT services banking sectors of Bangladesh make their task easy in

different sectors that take long time in the past. Now bank can easily transfer money from

anywhere in the country. Now banking system can maintain the database for their clients and

make easy access when it is needed. Also, verify the sign of the accountholders by maintaining

the digital signature of the clients.

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3.1 Improvements from ICT Policy

In 2021, Bangladesh will take its place amongst middle income nations of the world, where

progress is not just reflected in higher living standards but also in a wide range of human

development indicators. And all this will be achieved with the recognition that the state must

play a key role in sustaining economic development. Bangladesh intends to use ICT as the key-

driving element for national development.

3.2 ICT and Economic Growth

3.2.1 E-Commerce and online/mobile transactions

Mobile phones and internet have the potential to inter alia expand market access and level the

playing field for small producers. At the same time, consumer prices will be driven down and the

quality will increase due to increased competition. Specific focus on rural e-commerce and low-

cost online transactions must be devised and popularized.

3.2.2 No one left behind – civil registry and financial inclusion

The vision for Digital Bangladesh is to establish an equitable, inclusive society and economy.

Development of a comprehensive civil registry that is linked to all service delivery by the

government, and preferably also by non-government service providers, will ensure inclusion. A

whole-of-government approach, possibly steered by the Cabinet Division, will be necessary to

establish and use the civil registry across all service delivery organizations. True financial inclusion

mechanisms that provide extremely low-cost mechanisms at citizens doorsteps for banking,

money transfer including safety net payments and local and foreign remittances, credit including

microcredit, insurance including crop, health, life, disaster and other kind, must be formulated

and popularized.

3.2.3 Business productivity

ICTs have proven to increase productivity in virtually all sectors of economy and business ranging

from agriculture, manufacturing and services. Appropriate productivity tools must be adopted

alongside incentives for quick adoption.

3.2.4 Rapid expansion of the IT industry

ICTs hold immense promise for a country like Bangladesh which boasts a booming youth

population, with a sharp interest to learn ICT tools and put them to the purpose of gainful

employment. A collaborative approach is necessary to develop technical and soft skills necessary

for the sector, generate employment for local, foreign and outsourced jobs. Additionally,

establishment of necessary infrastructure, international brand image of the country, and access

to finance for entrepreneurs is required to tap into the imminent demographic dividend.

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3.3 ICT and Education

The 6FYP envisaged restructuring the education system to make it more attuned with the

technologically evolving global landscape. “The role of ICT in boosting the quality of education

will be emphasized and steps will be taken for narrowing the ICT skills between urban and rural

people”. Steps taken for enriching the education system are:

3.3.1 Education quality improvement through IT-enabled learning

All classrooms in primary, secondary, tertiary and professional education must be turned into

multimedia classrooms with appropriate infrastructure consisting of reliable power, high-speed

internet and necessary equipment with teaching staff well equipped to use them to improve

teaching-learning. Massive local content generation must be undertaken through industry

participation and crowd-sourcing of teachers, teacher trainers and learners. MOOCs may become

a viable, low-cost, high-outreach form of educational content delivery which is participatory and

learner-centered.

3.3.2 Teacher empowerment in primary and secondary education

Experiences of introducing technology in education in the world over have produced a consensus

that no amount of technology can replace or marginalize the teacher’s role. Thus, technology

should be used to empower teachers with on-demand and on-the-job capacity development,

peer collaboration and learning. The Teachers’ Portal has played a particularly effective role in

developing both collaboration amongst teachers and competition for educational excellence.

Other innovation avenues must be explored to incentivize teachers for modulating their behavior

and preparing them to improve teaching-learning in classrooms.

3.3.3 Strengthening vocational stream

Vocational stream is not attractive for the youth, as was explained earlier in the document.

However, there is a national target to increase enrolment in the vocational stream to 20 per cent

of the entire student cohort. This will require re-branding of the vocational stream in order to

ensure that the curriculum is market-ready, linking graduates to the job market more effectively

and making appropriate use of ICTs for training purposes.

3.3.4 Expanding IT graduate pool

If Bangladesh has to meet the increasing demand of local and outsourced IT jobs in the world,

tertiary educational institutions, industry and the government must work together to rapidly

increase the number of qualified IT graduates who are industry-ready every year. In-house

training may need to be established in companies (perhaps funded by the government) and

accreditation mechanisms must be in place to ensure high quality with regard to the

establishment of a National Certifying Authority.

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3.3.5 Building E-learning infrastructure

A model is being implemented meeting two interrelated objectives:

(a) Creation of smart/multimedia classrooms

(b) Training teachers to create digital contents for their use in classrooms.

The Ministry of Education (MoE) and Ministry of Primary and Mass Education (MoPME)

undertook two initiatives multimedia classroom (MMC) and Teacher-led Digital Content

Development after successful prototypes. Two separate projects under MoE and MoPME are

currently underway aimed at establishing 20,500 MMCs and 7,000 MMCs at the secondary and

primary level respectively. The Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC) has set up computer labs in

3,544 educational institutions in order to expand ICT education at the grassroots level.

Bangladesh Research and Education Network (BdREN) has been established in 6 universities and

gradually, all universities will be brought under this network.

3.3.6 Vocational ICT training

Finally, in terms of spurring ICT related vocational training, 4 MMCs in each of 64 Technical School

and College (TSC) have been set up and teachers’ training is underway for all teachers.

Bangladesh Open University (BoU) has undertaken an initiative to launch e-learning/online

program for its target audiences. Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) is also

set to launch e-learning courses for migrant workers. Under the 7FYP, proposals could be made

to enable delivery of such e-learning courses through Digital Centers which have been established

across rural and urban Bangladesh.

3.4 ICT for Greater Transparency, Good Governance and Improved Public Service

The Perspective Plan stipulates, “e-governance will manage the way that citizens deal with the

government and with each other, allow citizens to communicate with government, participate in

government policy making and planning, and to communicate with each other”. It articulated

that “work flow in government and semi-government offices will be fully integrated with ICTs

through re-engineering of government’s business process”. There are 23 targets under four

interrelated components of the Digital Government category:

(a) E-Administration - business process re-engineering of government agencies

(b) E-Citizen services - converting traditional service delivery into e-service delivery system to

take “service at citizens’ doorsteps.”

(c) An inclusive information and knowledge management system

(d) ICT for equity

As the ensuing discussion reveals, Bangladesh has witnessed significant progress in the area of

Digital Government, although the latest e-Government Development Index (e-GDI) ranking,

prepared by UNDESA, positioned the country low at 148 (UNDESA, 2014). It is, nevertheless, to

be pointed out that in 2012, in spite of Bangladesh’s low 150th rank, the country got placed

alongside the US, China, India, Brazil, Japan and other giant economies, i.e., in the category of

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countries with populations larger than 100 million, that succeeded in making a special effort to

improve service delivery to large swathes of their populations (UNDESA, 2012).

3.5 Resource Mobilization: 7FYP

It is predicted that by 2020, as a result of high internet speed facilitating ICT induced service

delivery, human development and employment opportunities, Bangladesh’s GDP will attain an

additional 2.6 per cent of growth. The sources of this additional growth is directly attributable to

the IT/ITES industry and indirectly through service delivery reforms, which will allow citizens to

be more productive as a result of increased predictability, transparency and accountability in

public service delivery.

The strategy of developing the ICT sector is to reduce investment risk and strengthen market

forces in order to increase productivity and efficiency of all conceivable governance activities and

wealth creation sectors of the nation. To ensure inclusive growth, public investment is only

recommended to deal with market failure which inhibits delivering ICT benefits to those market

segments, where profitable private investment is not feasible for the time being.

3.6 Enabling Environment

3.6.1 Reliable and secure infrastructure

ICTs require reliable infrastructure – consisting of power, high-speed internet connection and

appropriate equipment - at a minimum to be functional. When service delivery and businesses

become dependent on ICTs, this reliance is paramount and unavoidable leading to the

requirement that the infrastructure needs to be ubiquitous. This means that redundant

infrastructure must be ensured in all service delivery and business organizations that have

adopted ICT-based service delivery. Information security becomes a critical priority of the

government with appropriate measures in place to prevent against cyber-attacks which will be

increasingly common with citizens’ identity and financial information becoming increasingly

online. The country will need to build international alliance for software infrastructure from open

source and proprietary technologies. These are elaborated in section.

3.6.2 Policy and legal framework and whole-of-government approach

An innovation may start with experimentation but there is no getting around to the fact that

policy framework, and often legislation, is necessary to scale up innovation. Institutionalization

of an innovation almost always requires policy and/or legal reform. Years of e-Governance

investment has been known to fail globally because required policy and legal safeguards were

not developed to institutionalize the new ways of doing old things. The country’s ICT Policy and

ICT Act only facilitate certain fundamental issues regarding ICTs. In order to scale up and

institutionalize ICT-based service delivery, administration, business productivity, a number of

policy and legal reform may be necessary by sectoral ministries ranging from Cabinet Division,

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Ministry of Public Administration, Law, Education, Health, Agriculture, Banking, Election

Commission, etc.

3.6.3 Financing

Making Digital Bangladesh a reality will ultimately require undertaking of large investments.

However, it is possible to mobilize finances in a flexible way. The ICT Policy allows the provision

for a percentage of the revenue budget and development budget to be used for ICT-based

expenditures. Many large projects have ICT components which can be more effectively designed

and sourced often by pooling funds or sharing plans and activities. Mechanisms may be devised

for a whole-of-government approach in ICT implementation especially when connectivity,

hardware and software infrastructure components are concerned. Since a large portion of ICT

activities are funded by development partners, more aid effectiveness can be obtained by

coordinating across development partners as well. Lastly, private investment can be mobilized

directly or in the form of universal obligation funds. For ICT industry entrepreneurs, special

investment funds need to be set up. Mechanisms for valuation of intellectual property are a high

priority for the industry.

3.6.4 Partnerships

For both service delivery and industry development, partnerships within the government, with

non-state and global actors, can be of high value at least in terms of resource mobilization. There

is a great value to be gained by striking partnerships across government organizations:

infrastructure sharing, expertise sharing, complementary implementation, etc. Partnership with

private sector may bring in private investment through PPP arrangement where the risk is shared

across the partners. Partnership with reputable international companies has the additional

benefit of developing the brand image of Bangladesh.

3.7 Enabling E-Governance

The increasing role of ICTs in accelerating delivery of public service is running parallel to the

growing demands for transparency and accountability in all regions of the world. E-Governance

attempts to deal with two interrelated and mutually exclusive objectives –

(a) Internal, focusing on processes (operations)

(b) External, fulfilling people’s needs and expectations by simplifying processes

The concept of e-governance epitomizes horizontal and vertical connectivity by providing a

virtual, yet, de jure platform for streamlining government-to-government (G2G), and G2C/C2G

interactions, respectively (business-to-government (B2G) and vice versa, i.e., G2B interactions).

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3.8 Key projects of ICT policies are shown below

It is to be highlighted here that 41 indicators, cutting across global and national domains, are

proposed to incorporate the gender perspective of Digital Bangladesh. The proposed set of

indicators will not only aid to fill this critical void but more pertinently, allow making necessary

policy reforms and adjustments to capitalize on any particular momentum. For instance, the 318

action items pertaining to gender priorities under ICT Policy 2009 could be reviewed through

these indicators. At the same time, efforts should be made to make sure that the progress

achieved in Bangladesh is comparable to others in the world so that the country can further build

its ITES image and also emerge as a role model for implementing e-governance reforms in

revamping traditional public service delivery processes.

Union information centers by ministry of ICT A2I

500 UISC has been established

by 2012. Run on a PPP

operational model

Provided with means of ICT facilities Loyal youths are operating

these centers with Govt

support. Women participation

is increasing.

ICT facility in rural postal offices

E-centers in 8500 rural post

offices within 2015

These e-centers would be equipped

with desktop pcs, laptop, printers &

others ICT facilities with internet

connectivity

Rural people have more

attachment to these post

offices than any other ICT

facility

Assembling of low cost laptop & fiber optic

Started from 2010, producing

03 models of laptops.

Primarily the educational institutes &

govt agencies are supplied.

Expanded the capacity to

other IT equipment

Computer facility in schools

2100 secondary schools are

provided with multimedia

classrooms. Others thousands

are provided with computer

labs with internet

connectivity.

Thousands of teachers of these

schools are rained on computer skill &

contents.

Approved projects to

implement the theme

“connect a school, connect a

community”.

Projects undertaken by other ministries & governmental agencies

Local govt ministry is

developing infrastructure

(building, rooms in union

offices) in remote

administrative units.

Ministry of health is working to

connect health complexes with video

conference facility, especially for rural

complexes.

ICT ministry has connected all

district commissioners’ office

with a secured network.

Extending this project connect

other govt offices.

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4.1 Limitations in ICT Policy Although the Government of Bangladesh is committed to implementing ICT, the process is

hindered by a number of limitations. The limitations are categorized as external or internal.

External limitations include lack of equipment, unreliability of equipment, lack of technical

support and other resource-related issues. How these external and internal limitations negatively

influence the use of ICT are described below.

4.1.1 ICT Supported Infrastructure and Lack of Resources

Bangladesh is one of the developing countries that lack the resources and appropriate

infrastructure for implementing ICT. The effective use of ICT would require the availability of

equipment, supplies of computers and their proper maintenance including other accessories.

Most of the rural areas in Bangladesh do not have electricity and therefore one cannot even run

a computer in the first place. On the other hand most of the cities of Bangladesh lack continuous

of electric supply. The development of the ICT infrastructure in a country is dependent on the

availability of a reliable electricity supply. Implementing ICT demands other resources, such as

computers, printers, multimedia projectors, scanners, etc - which are not available in all

institutions. Besides, ICT requires up-to-date hardware and software.

4.1.2 Insufficient Funds

Effective implementation of technology involves substantial funding, that is very hard to manage

in developing countries like Bangladesh, where many people are living below the international

poverty line. ICT-supported hardware, software, internet, audio visual aids, teaching aids and

other accessories demand huge funds. The lack of funds to obtain the necessary hardware and

software is one of the reasons people do not use technology in their daily usages. Efficient and

effective use of technology depends on the availability of hardware and software and the equity

of access to resources. These costs are in most cases inflated and cannot be provided by most

developing countries, including Bangladesh.

4.1.3 Costly Internet Connection

The Internet usage in the country is very limited and confined to cities, and the costs are high but

the speed is not satisfactory. The bandwidth fee for the Internet is around US$250, which is

considered high in terms of socio-economic condition of the operators and users. The current

state of access to ICTs (below in text box) in Bangladesh clearly reveals the poor condition in the

internet connection.

4.1.4 Technical Condition of Government

The technical conditions to support e-Government initiatives in Bangladesh seem very poor as

the initiatives to e-Government, especially, offering e-services to the citizen is scattered, and so

far there exists no integrated and sustainable services. A study reveals that lack of internet access

and sustainability of e-services, top-level management initiatives, technical integration and

interoperability and budget and finance are hurdles to overcome on the way to introducing and

practicing e-Government in Bangladesh. In any e-Government services, access to ICTs is the key

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factors in all respects, but the condition and scope of accessing ICTs in Bangladesh is very poor

and in some cases problematic.

4.1.5 Social and Cultural Factors

Half of the population of Bangladesh are women who are relatively deprived of access to the

advantages of technology. Women are underrepresented in almost every aspect of ICT

implementation in Bangladesh. One of the most significant social factors influencing the use of

ICT in Bangladesh is the low social status of women and hence the use of ICT to women is not

considered important. Women are supposed to be primarily the caretakers of family and

children. Men disproportionately occupy academic, management and technical roles, which by

virtue of the nature of the work provide easier access to the internet and related technology.

Even if women have the necessary hardware and software, they may find little time to use them

due to being busy with domestic chores.

4.1.6 Political Factors

One of the most notable of the limitations to the use of ICT in developing countries seems to be

the political will of the people in the corridors of power. The allocation of sufficient funds for ICT

does not seem to be very attractive to the leaders. It can be seen from the budgetary allocations

in third world countries that greater allocations may be for the defense forces rather than on ICT.

If the political leaders favor the technology, it will bloom. The new Government of Bangladesh

came with Bangladesh as a digitalized one in all sectors. Hence they are also trying to implement

information technologies in education as well. Unfortunately if this political government will

change after five years due to the democratic election then “Vision 2021” might be changed due

to antagonistic attitudes among the political parties of Bangladesh.

4.1.7 Corruption

The situation in Bangladesh represents a distinct case where corruption has found a remarkably

safe space in which to proliferate, despite the vigilance of control mechanisms. Corruption is so

pervasive that it has evoked widespread condemnation, both inside and outside the country.

Consequently, Bangladesh has been consistently ranked by Transparency International as one of

the most venal among the researched countries. As a result, corruption can be identified as one

of the strong barriers to the implementation of ICT. The misuse of government funds which could

have been used to develop other sectors like the integration of ICT is channeled in other

directions i.e. few people benefit from those funds by pocketing all the money. Huge budgets are

passed to buy modern teaching and learning materials for the improvement of the teaching and

learning process, but in the end only minor improvements are found in the overall technical and

vocational sector.

4.1.8 Lack of Time

Bangladesh, a developing country, has a shortage of teachers, and they are already burdened

with heavy workload. Some of the institutions have already introduced two shifts, without

increasing the number of teaches. So teachers' teaching load has been increased due to

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conducting classes in both the shifts. Moreover, most of the teachers are also responsible for

administrative tasks. In these circumstances teachers don’t have time to design, develop and

incorporate technology into the teaching learning situation. Teachers need time to learn how to

use the hardware and software, time to plan, and time to collaborate with other teachers. Some

teachers are unable to make appropriate use of technology in their own classrooms, while others

are unwilling to try because of anxiety, lack of interest, or lack of motivation.

4.1.9 Lack of Knowledge and Skill

Teachers’ lack of knowledge and skills is one of the main hindrances to the use of ICT in education

both for the developed and underdeveloped countries. Integrating technology in the curriculum

requires knowledge of the subject area, an understanding of how students learn and a level of

technical expertise. Lack of knowledge regarding the use of ICT and lack of skill on ICT tools and

software have also limited the use of ICT tools in teaching learning situation in Bangladesh.

5.1 Suggestions

As Bangladesh proceeds boldly to implement it’s ambitious and yet achievable Digital Bangladesh

Vision 2021 priorities, it faces several challenges. These are precisely the areas where the

government needs to work with the development partners to gather international best practices,

transfer technology and knowhow to the government, and build institutional capacity. It must be

realized by both the government and the development partners that ICTs have emerged as a non-

threatening approach to catalyze, not force, administrative reform through various productivity

enhancement tools and knowledge management platforms, but most importantly, by providing

a natural vehicle for re-engineering business processes both for service delivery and for

administrative decision making.

Elimination of the digital divide between rural and urban areas and between Bangladesh and

other nations is essential in order to be at par with middle-income nations. A peaceful political

environment is essential for intellectual, social, cultural and economic development. Time and

time again, the nation's dream for Vision 2021 and Digital Bangladesh has been shattered by the

turbulent political situation. The country dearly needs a tranquil political environment for the

development of all sectors, including ICT, and for the realisation of Vision 2021 and Digital

Bangladesh. Suggestion that I mostly recommend from my point of view are:

5.1.1 Human resource development

The policy makers in Bangladesh have woken up to the reality that ‘humanware’ is far more

important than hardware and software to realize the Digital Bangladesh vision. The HRD

challenge appear in different forms: first, the service providers especially the government must

be much more aware of the service delivery options and benefits ICTs present; second, the

government officials must embrace ICTs in their day to day work – the younger officers seem

must more amenable to developing an ICT work culture; third, the general literacy of the

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population being less than 50% presents a significant challenge in adoption of computer

technologies.

5.1.2 Financial allocation and institutional capacity

The still lacking institutional capacity to identify, design and manage ICT-based projects within

the government deters the policy makers to allocate significant budgets that would be required

to implement Digital Bangladesh. Some of the demonstration initiatives called ‘Quick Wins’

facilitated by the Access to Information (A2I) programme and other programmes such as

Managing at the Top (MATT-2) are recently creating an appetite for calculated risk-taking for

larger ICT-based projects within the civil service. Institutional capacity must be enhanced to

formulate conducive policies and procedures as well.

5.1.3 Affordable Connectivity

The cost of internet connectivity is still one of the highest in the region and is well below the

affordability of the common citizen. Broadband access is still in its infancy because of lacking last

mile connectivity and high cost of access. Development of a policy for Universal Service Fund is

still an area of exploration.

5.1.4 Locally relevant and local language content

The new media and internet open up the user to a world of information and knowledge, but

unfortunately, very little is in the native language and much of the content is not locally relevant,

contextually meaningful or culturally sensitive to the teeming millions.

5.1.5 Public-Private Partnerships framework

It is seen that ICT projects especially e-governance or e-service delivery projects tend to sustain

themselves much better when the private sector takes a financial stake. Such public-private

partnerships minimizes risk on the government side and creates natural incentives on the private

side to ensure the quality of service and responsiveness to citizens. A PPP framework that

complies with Public Procurement Rules 2008 to accommodate ICT projects is still very much in

its infancy.

5.1.6 Reliable and continuous power

The country currently suffers from a chronic shortage of about 1,500 MW of power. In locations

of the country, power is not available when it is needed to conduct a digital porgramme such as

during office or school hours. With Digital Bangladesh implementation, this shortage will one

hand impede progress of digitalization, and on the other, will make the power shortage more

acute unless power generation can be boosted in the short term.

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5.1.7 Legal reform for businesses and consumers

ICT-based service delivery requires modifications to many existing laws. Several development

partners are already working on legal reform. Such effort may be linked to the reform

necessitated by Digital Bangladesh efforts for larger impact.

5.1.8 Branding Bangladesh as a software/ITES outsourcing destination

For international market access for export focused software/ITES companies, linkage is a critical

factor, rather than presence of a potential market. It has been found that NRBs (Non Resident

Bangladeshis) have played a significant role in creating that linkage. In majority of cases with

respect to successful export in key markets, particularly in USA, Japan and Australia, the NRB

entrepreneurs have played the main role in creating market access. However, this linkage

remains person dependent and very small at a national level. With national sponsorship,

involvement of selected international missions, and a high-level committee to market the

country, a national momentum for country branding is very possible.

Conclusion

The main vision of the policy is to promotion and multipurpose use of ICT to ensure transparency

and accountability of the government, human resources development, ensure public services

through public and private sector participation and achieve national development goals by 2021.

The policy has 10 special objectives, 56 strategic themes and 306 action programs which will be

implemented by different organizations under short, medium and long term timeframe by 2016,

2018 and 2021.

A dependable information system is essential for efficient management and operation of the

public and private sectors. But there is a shortage of locally generated information needed for

efficient performance of these sectors. In order to meet this objective, ICT used in every sector

shall have to be accelerated in terms of information generation, utilization and applications.

Considering the gravity and importance of ICT Honorable Prime Minister has already declared ICT

as the thrust sector. Over the last few years, many nations have taken advantage of the

opportunities afforded by ICT within a policy framework, laid down guidelines and proceed with

the formulation of a national ICT strategy as a part of the overall national development plan.

Bangladesh intends to use ICT as the key-driving element for socio-economic development.

Thus in 2021, Bangladesh will take its place amongst middle income nations of the world, where

progress is not just reflected in higher living standards but also in a wide range of human

development indicators. And all this will be achieved with the recognition that the state must

play a key role in sustaining economic development.

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Reference Hasanuzzaman Zaman and Rokonuzzaman (2014) Achieving Digital Bangladesh by 2021 And Beyond

Basu, S. (2004). “E-government and Developing Countries: An Overview.” International Review of Law Computers and Technology

The Daily Star - Lutfar Rahman (2015) Digital Bangladesh: Dreams and reality Available at: http://www.thedailystar.net/supplements/24th-anniversary-the-daily-star-part-1/digital-bangladesh-dreams-and-reality-73118

Bangladesh ICT Forum (2012) National ICT Policy-2009 of Bangladesh Available at: https://bdictforum.wordpress.com/2012/03/14/national-ict-policy-2009-of-bangladesh/

Shahiduzzaman Khan, (2004), Bangladesh: Ensuring transparency and accountability Available at: http://ifg.cc/en/current/news/regions/281-bd-bangladesch-bangladesh/6507-bangladesh-ensuring-transparency-and-accountability

Bangladesh Cabinet (2015) Bangladesh Cabinet approved National ICT Draft Policy 2015 Available at: http://www.jagranjosh.com/current-affairs/bangladesh-cabinet-approved-national-ict-draft-policy-2015-1423059006-1

Md. Abdul Karim, Principal Secretary (2014) Digital Bangladesh for Good governance