The Awami League led ruling government had pledged to turn the country as a Digital Bangladesh during there election campaign in last year. ICT is the main tool of the government to fulfill their commitment of changing the old days and bringing new in that place. They have lots of opportunities to do in this field.
At the heart of the startling development in some of the developing countries there lies ICT. Countries having access to and control over information will dominate the world economically and politically. While the huge march of the ICT revolution is going ahead in many countries, will Bangladesh remain merely a spectator?
“I feel very optimistic about Bangladesh getting to the frontline of IT revolution”, said the Nobel laureate Peace Professor Muhammad Yunus.
While, Hua Du, who was the Country Director, Bangladesh Resident Mission of ADB told this correspondent in a recent interview that there is clearly a bright future for applying ICT in Bangladesh, to improve the delivery of Government services to the people, improve the efficiency in functioning of Government agencies, and reduce cost of doing business, in order to further accelerate economic growth and poverty reduction.
“ADB hopes to play a role in assisting Bangladesh to take full advantage of the opportunities available through the effective use of information and communication technology”, she added.
But the experts on ICT sectors believe that problems in Bangladesh surrounding ICT are manifold including very low telephone density, high charge of internet service providers, access of insignificant number of people to internet, the present low speed and efficiency of the communication system in the country, low pace of computerization in various offices and sectors, absence of cyber laws and so on.
In the backdrop of all these, a big event has taken place couple of years ago. Bangladesh finally connected to the information super highway as fiber optic backbone within the country and the fiber optic submarine cable connection is going to be complete.
Bangladesh will be amidst a digital communication system many thousand times more efficient, speedy and powerful. But the question has been arisen that the nation as well as the government are getting ready for this big arrival?
It is noted that the ICT sector a large work force with different levels and various expertise is growing. Computer literacy is imparted, computer applications are taught, training given, diploma, bachelor's and master's degrees awarded.
However, the training centers, schools, colleges, computer institutes, private universities and public universities are all contributing in different ways. The related departments are IT, ICT, Computer Applications, Computer Science, Computer Engineering and Telecommunication Engineering.
The ICT experts believed that necessary steps for quality control of computer education of all kinds should be taken. The need and supply of the ICT work force of different level is to be assessed very soon.
Renowned ICT personality Mostafa Jabbar said that, we cannot reap the benefits of ICT if it is confined in selected households in one or two big cities and if we fail to take it to the doorsteps of general people throughout the country.
“It is possible to open a huge number of cyber centers in the small towns and villages in the country. The cyber centers can be a place where people will get opportunity to send and receive e-mail and can have telephonic talk over the internet. These are the places where people will have access to internet for information on agriculture and business, health service and can have education, entertainment and so on through internet”, he added.
He also said that all post offices can work as cyber centers, in addition to their normal present duties. These cyber centers can be economically profitable for the entrepreneurs.
ICT can generate an experienced IT workforce which cannot only earn money within the country but fetch huge amount of money from abroad. Although the ultimate hope of IT revolution depends on private enterprise, it is the introduction of e-governance that can trigger the IT revolution in the country as it covers all sectors and the whole country.
Muhib Ahmed Emon, a promising IT expert suggested that as part of e-Governance, the Prime Minister’s office may be connected with all the advisers through internet. The ministers and directorates can have connection with their departments throughout the country. Establishment ministry can have connection with DC offices which in turn can have connection with TNO offices. Through intranet Home Ministry can be connected with BDR, Coast Guard and Ansar Head Quarters and SP offices which in turn can be connected with all thanas. Thanas can have information of all recorded crimes and investigation reports.
“Electronic databases may be used to store details of crimes committed, list of criminals along with their biometric signatures in the form of photographs and fingerprints. However, the reliable biometric devices and related software are already available in the market”, he added.
Progress of different projects in distant places can be monitored from the capital city and divisional headquarters. Tender advertisement and tender bidding for government purchases can be done using the internet. Status of various projects of public interest could be displayed through a web site.
All information about different stages, starting from the initial conception of a project, to approval of the project, floating of tender documents and ending up with the awarding of the contract to the bidder could be made available to the general public for the sake of transparency. Advertisement for various posts in the government sector may be put up on the websites of the ministry concerned and candidates may apply through internet.
Country’s ICT experts believed that the Government should immediately take steps to create a Central Data Bank (CDB) for the entire population. Electronic ID cards should be made for each individual. The ID card can be used for voting, opening a bank account, having a license or passport, giving tax or income tax, for obtaining job and so on. After the implementation of expected ICT infrastructure, consumers can be paid various utility bills like power supply, water supply, gas supply and telecommunications through internet. They can also interact with these utility agencies regarding inaccurate bills or other complaints.
However, Bangladesh has great potentialities for earning crores of dollars in foreign currency by providing ICT-enabled services to the foreign buyers. Availability of large number of computer-trained young people with English base on the one hand and cheap wage of the trained manpower on the other puts Bangladesh in an advantageous position. Political will of the government manifested in the declaration of ICT as a 'Thrust Sector' and its desire to turn Bangladesh into an ICT driven country will definitely help. The prospective ICT enabled services are call centres, medical transcription, data entry, back office processing, insurance claim processing, salary processing, engineering design, translation, animation and many things more.
There has been an explosion of information, creation of transparency and a tremendous opportunity for acquiring knowledge and doing research in all disciplines through Internet. People have access to libraries, books and journals through internet.
Telemedicine or e-health care has a great future in Bangladesh. Patients in the remote places can consult the doctors over the internet. Using telemedicine, doctors and other caregivers can consult with specialists thousands of miles away, provide diagnosis and treatment, continually upgrade their education and skills; and share medical records and X-rays. Telemedicine or e-health care can be of great help for the health of the rural people. A village can be linked to the health services available inside and outside the country.
Country’s rural economy and health care can be substantially improved with the application of ICT. Farmers can have continued specific advice regarding fertilizers, choice of crops and timing of sowing for their individual plots.
Taking the advantage of nationwide infrastructure in telecommunication, IT enabled services could be set up in rural areas. Businesses will take the advantage of low cost of office space and lower wages. Standard of living in rural areas will grow. Educated rural youths will get employment. This will help lower the rate of migration to big cities.
The electronic commerce which is familiar as e-commerce covers many forms of trade of goods and services, all of which rely on the internet to market, identify, select, pay for and deliver these goods and services.
It is noted that the past government approved the National ICT policy in October 2002 with the aim of building an ICT-driven nation comprising a knowledge-based society. A project "Support to ICT Task Force" primarily for introducing e-governance is also being implemented.
It is much felt that there should be a Centre for E-governance Initiative which will oversee the total ICT implementation in the country thus coordinating all ICT activities.
The experts believed that to help the ICT sector flourish in the country, there is a great need for an effective legal framework. Suitable legal reforms can create an ICT friendly legal environment which will help this sector grow by attracting investment.
In order to let the ICT sector take off, ruling government need to take initiative for a comprehensive cyber law without any further delay. Bangladesh is passing through a juncture where the present government has the opportunity to take the nation successfully into the digital world and can thus play a historic role at the dawn of this new millennium.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Zahid Al Amin
Quelle/Source: Weekly Blitz, 03.06.2009
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