Ict Policy Of Bangladesh 1j1x4m

1.1 ICT (Information and Communications Technology) ICT is an umbrella term that includes any communication device or application, encoming: 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  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

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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 knowledgebased society by the year 2006. In view of this, a country-wide ICTinfrastructure 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 knowledgebased society by the year 2021. In view of this, a country-wide ICTinfrastructure 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 2

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, isters the implementation of decisions taken by the task force.  A program called the to ICT task force (SICT) has been initiated, with financial from the government, to provide implementation and monitoring 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)

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 middleincome 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 3

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 able government – develop skilled human resources – enhance social equity – ensure cost-effective delivery of citizen-services through publirivate partnerships – and the national goal of becoming a middle-income country within 2021 – 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 ed 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-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.

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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

Because of the cross-cutting nature of the vision, these work plans encom 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 D 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 out the key targets,

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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 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 Target FY15 Target FY21 FY10 Real GDP Growth (%) 6.1 8.0 10.0 I 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 6

below the poverty line. It also indicated 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. 7

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 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 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 8

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, the sign of the holders by maintaining the digital signature of the clients.

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 keydriving element for national development.

3.2 Growth

ICT and Economic

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 nongovernment 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. 9

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 in process to develop technical and soft skills which is 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.

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

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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.

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 Teacherled 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 11

been established in 6 universities and gradually, all universities will be brought under this network. 3.3.6 Vocational ICT training Finally, in 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-istration - 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 eGovernment 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 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).

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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 ability 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 13

ICT Policy and ICT Act only facilitate certain fundamental issues regarding ICTs. In order to scale up and institutionalize ICT-based service delivery, istration, business productivity, a number of policy and legal reform may be necessary by sectoral ministries ranging from Cabinet Division, Ministry of Public istration, 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 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 ability in all regions of the world. E-Governance attempts to deal with two interrelated and mutually exclusive objectives – 14

(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-togovernment (G2G), and G2C/C2G interactions, respectively (business-togovernment (B2G) and vice versa, i.e., G2B interactions).

3.8 Key projects of ICT policies are shown below 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 . Women participation is increasing.

ICT facility in rural postal offices E-centers in 8500 rural post offices within 2015

These e-centers would be Rural people have more equipped with desktop pcs, attachment to these laptop, printers & others ICT post offices than any facilities with internet other ICT facility connectivity Assembling of low cost laptop & fiber optic Started from 2010, Primarily the educational Expanded the capacity producing 03 models of institutes & govt agencies are to other IT equipment laptops. supplied. Computer facility in schools 2100 secondary schools Thousands of teachers of these Approved projects to are provided with schools are rained on implement the theme multimedia classrooms. computer skill & contents. “connect a school, Others thousands are connect a community”. provided with computer labs with internet connectivity. Projects undertaken by other ministries & governmental agencies Local govt ministry is Ministry of health is working to ICT ministry has developing connect health complexes with connected all district infrastructure (building, video conference facility, commissioners’ office rooms in union offices) especially for rural complexes. with a secured network. in remote istrative Extending this project 15

units.

connect other govt offices.

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.

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 and other resource-related issues. How these external and internal limitations negatively influence the use of ICT are described below. 4.1.1 ICT ed 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-ed hardware, software, internet, audio visual aids, teaching aids and other accessories demand huge funds. The lack of funds to obtain the necessary 16

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 of socioeconomic condition of the operators and s. 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 e-Government initiatives in Bangladesh seem very poor as the initiatives to e-Government, especially, offering eservices 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 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 17

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 ed 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 conducting classes in both the shifts. Moreover, most of the teachers are also responsible for istrative 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 18

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, istrative 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 istrative 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 middleincome 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 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 ICTbased 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 19

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 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.

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 20

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 ability 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 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 21

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-thedaily-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-ictpolicy-2009-of-bangladesh/ Shahiduzzaman Khan, (2004), Bangladesh: Ensuring transparency and ability Available at: http://ifg.cc/en/current/news/regions/281-bd-bangladeschbangladesh/6507-bangladesh-ensuring-transparency-and-ability Bangladesh Cabinet (2015) Bangladesh Cabinet approved National ICT Draft Policy 2015 Available at: http://www.jagranjosh.com/current-affairs/bangladesh-cabinetapproved-national-ict-draft-policy-2015-1423059006-1 Md. Abdul Karim, Principal Secretary (2014) Digital Bangladesh for Good governance

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