IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

The quote is from the Election Manifesto of the Awami League, elected to office in 2008 with Sheikh Hasina, daughter of Bangladesh's first president, becoming prime minister. The pledge sounds appealing but how do you make it happen especially in this South Asian nation of 167 million (IMF 2011) where bureaucracy, lines and hassles for citizens are ingrained. Change is starting to come through the Access to Information Programme or as it is widely known, A2I. This United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) supported project is led by the national director, the energetic M. Nazrul Islam Khan, Secretary to the Prime Minister. Mr. Khan is zealous in his desire to reduce hassles for ordinary citizens through the application of ICT to government services.

The Bangladesh government has adopted a plan to take e-commerce to rural areas.

The new initiative aims to set up an ‘e-shop’ in all the 64 districts, which will be connected to a central e-commerce website bringing buyers and sellers together at a single platform.

The e-shops will list local businesses and the products they offer, which will allow them to connect buyers in different parts of the country, skipping middlemen.

To make ICT affordable for digitizing Bangladesh in implementing government's Vision 2021, the government is reviewing a tax programme by January next year, he said. All arrangements including fibre optic network, WiMax, Gateway have been made for access to Information Communication Technology (ICT), he said.

Use of ICT and mobile banking has boosted the rural economy in the country, the minister says

Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud on Tuesday said Bangladesh was ranked third globally in maintaining the positive GDP growth rate amid Covid-19 situation, thanks to mainly implementation of Digital Bangladesh.

“Only 20 countries across the world have been able to keep up positive GDP growth rate amid the pandemic situation and Bangladesh is one of them. As per the growth rate 5.4%, the country was ranked third last year,” he said.

Bangladesh has emerged as a potential tech hub in recent years, with a growing number of startups and an increasing focus on digital innovation. Already, the South Asian country has become the second-largest source for IT freelancers and is considered the region’s second most promising technological hub.

Today, over 6,500 startups operate across the country, and the IT sector has created over 300,000 new jobs and contributed 1.3% to its GDP. Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services President Russel T. Ahmned recently said his country’s IT-Information Technology Enabled Service (ITES) sector could grow to $30 billion by 2031.

• Bangladesh's strongly performing economy is being driven by the ready-made garments (RMG) sector.
• Receiving payment digitally has multiple benefits for the sector's 4 million workers.
• The UN's Better Than Cash Alliance and the newly established ILO Global Centre on Digital Wages for Decent Work are working to remove barriers to digital payment.

As we grapple with the challenges presented by the pandemic, Bangladesh continues to clock impressive growth and is in fact an outlier in the global economic scenario. Its gross domestic product (GDP) grew an estimated 5.2% in 2020 and is likely to grow 6.8% this year. In comparison, the global economy shrank 3.5%. Among Bangladesh’s neighbours, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India are facing GDP contractions.

But it would not be realistic to think that all the 150 million people of the country could be linked to the information high way. Bringing the entire public sector under the network would not be easy either. But it is easier for the private sector to digitise.

Tech giant IBM will help a Bangladesh government agency in harnessing the power of blockchain by modernizing the country's digital pension system.

Tech conglomerate IBM has joined the Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC), Bangladesh’s IT government agency, in an initiative to build a Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) digital pension system for teachers, the firm said in a blog post on 12 June.

The inescapable conclusion is that the relative lack of progress cannot be explained by a lack of focus or political priority. Instead, I believe the explanation lies in the fact that government strategies in this area have had less impact because of weaknesses in the way they were delivered.

These services, which promote the automation of critical government support services that pave the way for a better investment climate, were showcased at the Digital Public Innovation Fair this week.

Led by Mohammed Yunus, Additional Secretary and National Director (planning) in the Bangladesh government, the team sat through a series of presentations on government schemes, including Mahiti, Nemmadi, Bhoomi and Sarige. Their focus was on learning how technology can aid delivery of services to citizens.

In particular, India ranks fifth highest in terms of the impact from automation and ninth in terms of their level preparedness for this impact

India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan are most at risk and least prepared for the coming wave of automation, while Japan, Singapore and Australia are the most prepared within the Asia Pacific region, according to a latest report by Deloitte and Autodesk Foundation. Close to half of all businesses intend to increase their adoption of robotic process automation over the next year, with Covid-19 greatly accelerating the process across the world, according to the report 'The Future of Work is Now: Is APAC Ready?'.

Speaking on the sidelines of launching WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) services in Tripura, BSNL General Manager Debkumar Chakraborty said, "BSNL will lay optical fiber from Agartala to Dhaka. Around 12 km optical fiber is needed to connect Agartala and Akhuwra (nearest town in Bangladesh to capital Agartala) telephone exchange.”

As part of the e-governance plan, the government had drawn up a mission mode project for immigration, visa and foreigners registration and tracking called IVFRT. It is driven by the home ministry.

The Bangalore-based National Institute of Smart Governance (NISG) had submitted two voluminous reports on the project, which listed out the concerns and challenges of the different stakeholders.

SK C&C, South Korea’s IT service provider, said Monday it recently completed Bangladesh’s online national network system, paving the way to expand the country’s e-government services.

The company, an affiliate of SK Group, secured the 32 billion won ($29 million) project in 2012, which aims to connect 368 websites of the central government and public organizations through a single Internet-based network.

In Bangladesh, public information used to be managed separately across local governments, but now the information is controlled under the new integrated network system, the company said.

Digitisation helps increase operational efficiency and productivity provided the supporting infrastructures work properly. This is a tool that will help accelerate economic development and increase competitive edges of Bangladesh in the world market.

My EG Services Bhd today confirmed its expansion into Bangladesh, saying it has entered into a joint-venture with two other firms to provide technology and e-government services in that country.

The group said its wholly-owned subsidiary, MY EG International Sdn Bhd, signed the JV agreement with Bangladesh-based Control Data (BD) Ltd and My Paycheck Sdn Bhd.

“Once we attain Digital Bangladesh, all utility services like payment of different utility services bill, purchasing rail ticket through mobile phones, taking health services from upazila doctors at villages and providing important information about life and livelihood from the union parishads through internet would be at the door steps of the people”, she said.

President Abdul Hamid on Wednesday called upon the universities and the University Grants Commission to take effective measures to contribute in building a Digital Bangladesh.

‘I urge the universities and UGC to take effective steps for the rapid implementation of the Integrated University Information Management Platform, including the introduction of e-governance courses in universities, to build a Digital Bangladesh,’ he said at the closing ceremony of a workshop at Osmani Memorial Auditorium.