The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) yesterday approved a Tk 1,333 crore project to bring 17,500 government offices at the district and upazila levels under an ICT network.
China will provide Tk 1,087 crore in loans for the project, titled “National ICT Infra-Network for Bangladesh Government Phase-II”, according to a planning ministry statement.
The move came as part of the government efforts to develop around 25,000 web portals for government offices to provide e-services and introduce digital signature, said a top official of the ICT ministry.
He said a firm legal framework and a dependable technical structure are necessary as per the ICT Act-2006 and the ICT-2009 that have allowed introduction of digital signature for e-service delivery.
A common demand among all of information and communications technology (ICT) stakeholders and investors in telecommunication sectors, is for a reduction of the government’s VAT on internet and transmission services.
Over the past fifteen years, Bangladesh Computer Samity (BCS), Internet Service Providers’ Association of Bangladesh (ISPAB), Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) and Bangladesh Association of Call Center and Outsourcing (BACCO) along with experts and educationalists, have expressed their demands on the issue but the policy makers have done nothing about it.
Read more: BD: ICT stakeholders demand withdrawal of VAT on internet
Finance Minister AMA Muhith proposed an additional allocation of Tk500m for a crash-training programme to develop as many as 10,000 IT professionals in the next two years. The proposal comes despite the fact that the government is yet to release any amount from the Tk7bn ICT development fund promised three years back.
The minister in his budget proposal yesterday also presented a booklet titled “Journey towards a Digital Bangladesh: Update 2013”, which showed that the government has stepped back three years from its promise to bring multimedia class rooms in every schools from 2015.
Telecommunications experts have showed that fatality rate is less in those countries that use modern tools in their road management system.
The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) organised the seminar at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre marking the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD).
Read more: BD: Use of ICT tools sought to reduce road accidents