Digital Bangladesh initiative halfway to completion

[Bilal9]

• A Halim
• Published 01:01 AM December 09, 2017

Photo:BSS
Bangladesh has seen a massive rise in the number of internet users with an estimated 79.7 million people - almost half of the population - now online

The government is moving closer to achieving its goal of a Digital Bangladesh by 2021, with stakeholders saying half of the work is done with four years to go.

Bangladesh has seen a massive rise in the number of internet users with an estimated 79.7 million people – almost half of the population – now online.

The country is successfully leveraging this rising penetration and has earned $800 million in 2017 by exporting ICT products and services.

High-tech parks are being set up and works on virtual reality have also started.

IT experts said at the current pace, the government should comfortably achieve its goal.

“Digital Bangladesh is now a reality,” said Zunaid Ahmed Palak, the state minister for ICT.

“We have already finished 50% of the work (so) it will be complete before 2021.”

2017: A year of advancement
Palak said the ICT sector has seen much development this year with various plans adopted this year for the future development of the sector, including the finalization of the e-commerce policy and formulation of the ICT guideline (investigation) 2016 .

“These include IoT (Internet of Things), augmented reality, motion picture, robotics and virtual reality. We have set up several IoT labs this year and works have started on virtual reality as well,” he said.

This year saw the e-judicial project make progress and the beginning of construction of the world’s fifth largest data centre.

An apps and gaming development project was also launched and work was started on transforming Moheshkhali into a “digital island”.

Youths getting opportunities
Various startup projects have been launched with government and private initiatives for new entrepreneurs in the ICT sector.

These projects have helped train young entrepreneurs, implement initiatives, and arranged funds.

Among them is the Innovation Design and Entrepreneurship Academy (iDEA), which was launched in July last year to promote innovation and design, and develop entrepreneurs.

Stakeholders say the three-year, Tk229.74 crore project will play an important role in nurturing talents. A former additional secretary has been made head of the project.

In addition to the academy, a number of venture capital companies have also started allocating funds for startups.

ICT Division road map
The ICT Division has come up with a roadmap for the development of the sector.

Various progammes have been run this year under the short (two-year), mid (five-year) and long (10-year) term roadmap.

“We were ahead in agricultural revolution but lagged behind in industrial revolution,” Bangladesh Association for Software and Information Services (BASIS) chief Mustafa Jabbar said.

“We have risen from the rubble after independence. Given the situation we were in, we would not have been able to utter the word ‘robot’. But now we can (and) in the Digital World, at least 20 robots built by us are being exhibited. This is our achievement in ICT.”

High-tech parks
Twelve high-tech parks which are under construction will create thousands of jobs and allow various local and foreign companies to work there.

The government says it hopes to export software and ICT services worth $10 billion from these parks by 2030 and aims to earn $5 billion from them by 2021.

Palak said the park authorities had come up with a plan that has three phases – two years, five years and 10 years. There is also a specific road map in the plan.

Stakeholders say it will be possible to reach the goal if the short-, mid- and long-term plan is followed properly.

Sources say the Bangabandhu High-Tech Park is being constructed on a 355-acre plot in Gazipur’s Kaliakair. For implementing the PPP model, 232 acres have been divided into five blocks and given to two developer companies.

The construction of the Sheikh Hasina Software Technology Park in Jessore has been completed with the prime minister due to inaugurate it on December 10.

High-tech park authorities say that local and foreign companies are showing interest as the parks cost less, have uninterrupted power supply, high-speed internet connection and good communication facilities.

Other achievements in the ICT sector
Work is underway to build Sylhet Electronic City on a 163-acre plot for the development of the ICT sector.

Sheikh Kamal IT Training and Incubation Centre is being built in Natore. It is being set up by repairing and modernizing the usable buildings of an abandoned jail.

In addition, a software technology park has been built at Karwan Bazar’s Janata Tower. The fourth floor of the building has been allocated for various companies to help create new entrepreneurs.

In Rajshahi’s Nabinagar, the Barendra Silicon City has been constructed and another IT park is being built on a 31-acre plot.

State Minister Palak said fibre optic connection had been successfully extended to the upazila level with a goal to provide the service to all unions in the country by 2018.

Palak said work was underway on the construction of 554 Business Process Outsourcing centres, and that 2,100 Sheikh Rasel Digital Lab and Language centres out of 2,972 have already been built. Work on the remaining 971 is in the final phase.

 

[Homo Sapiens]

Bangabandhu High-Tech Park is being constructed on a 355-acre plot in Gazipur’s Kaliakair

a software technology park has been built at Karwan Bazar’s Janata Tower

Sheikh Hasina Software Technology Park in Jessore has been completed

Work is underway to build Sylhet Electronic City on a 163-acre plot

Sheikh Kamal IT Training and Incubation Centre is being built in Natore

In Rajshahi’s Nabinagar, the Barendra Silicon City has been constructed and another IT park is being built on a 31-acre plot.

Rather than scattering all over the country, had not it been better if they built an IT city in one place with all the modern facilities and easy access for all to support each other and create a foreign investment destination? Had not it been better if they taken initiative to built something like Gurgaon or Noida? What do you think ? How much effective/efficient will be these scattered IT infrastructure?

 

[bête noire]

Rather than scattering all over the country, had not it been better if they built an IT city in one place with all the modern facilities and easy access for all to support each other and create a foreign investment destination? Had not it been better if they taken initiative to built something like Gurgaon or Noida? What do you think ? How much effective/efficient will be these scattered IT infrastructure?

Sort of agree with you but not fully. There should be one specific location for planned IT city but other places all over the country should not be completely ignored and deprived of any IT facility that could lead to those places at least private developments later. My take is, it's good we have scattered in different places and now Govt should choose a good one for a planned IT city and start building around that.

 

[livingdead]

Rather than scattering all over the country, had not it been better if they built an IT city in one place with all the modern facilities and easy access for all to support each other and create a foreign investment destination? Had not it been better if they taken initiative to built something like Gurgaon or Noida? What do you think ? How much effective/efficient will be these scattered IT infrastructure?

gurgaon or noida were developed because delhi became too expensive and neighboring states wanted to take advantage, by creating satellite cities... it was not meant to be IT city as such but industrial city... because IT companies wanted to spread out to north india, they set up shop there.

 

[Bilal9]

Rather than scattering all over the country, had not it been better if they built an IT city in one place with all the modern facilities and easy access for all to support each other and create a foreign investment destination? Had not it been better if they taken initiative to built something like Gurgaon or Noida? What do you think ? How much effective/efficient will be these scattered IT infrastructure?

IT Parks are scattered for a reason because if they are in one place then people have to relocate there and causes stress on transportation and housing. A more important reason is that people don't have to travel far from where they live now and cost of living in Jessore (or Kaliakoir) vs. Dhaka is a lot less. Distributed infra is always a great idea. In case of India which you mentioned IT companies are spread all over too. Larger IT company conglomerations are in Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Kochi, Gurgaon and then some in Kolkata's New Town. Data Center business is more concentrated in Mumbai, Gurgaon and Bangalore. Call centers are in non-traditional places because all you need is a robust Internet connection pretty much and cheaper real-estate overhead.

All this being said, I think one or more IT Parks will grow in area much more than others. I put my money in Kaliakoir area North of Dhaka.

 

[bluesky]

The government is moving closer to achieving its goal of a Digital Bangladesh by 2021, with stakeholders saying half of the work is done with four years to go.

Instead of talking big on digital shonar Bangla, the govt. should introduce a true online system in the Banks and Post Offices, so that people can deposit and withdraw cash or remit money at the Automatic Teller Machines (ATM) in the Banks and Post Offices. Before this, the govt should improve the quality of ugly Banknotes made of real paper. The poor quality Banknotes are a source of shame.

 

[Bilal9]

Instead of talking big on digital shonar Bangla, the govt. should introduce a true online system in the Banks and Post Offices, so that people can deposit and withdraw cash or remit money at the Automatic Teller Machines (ATM) in the Banks and Post Offices. Before this, the govt should improve the quality of ugly Banknotes made of real paper. The poor quality Banknotes are a source of shame.

Agree on all points - especially the first.

But I thought BKash was a huge success.

Or are we not talking about the same thing?

And I believe Bangladesh Bank Treasury had plans to introduce plastic indestructible banknotes...if they haven't, high time they did it (with hologram and other anti-fraud features etc.).

This should prevent easy manipulation of our economy. In any case this is a little OT discussion....

 

[bd_4_ever]

Rather than scattering all over the country, had not it been better if they built an IT city in one place with all the modern facilities and easy access for all to support each other and create a foreign investment destination? Had not it been better if they taken initiative to built something like Gurgaon or Noida? What do you think ? How much effective/efficient will be these scattered IT infrastructure?

In fact, it should be de-localized. Did you take a look at Dhaka? Its getting worse by the day. This is a step in the right direction. It will encourage young people to move around the country in order to secure prospective jobs in IT. If they are well-paid, I am quite confident there would be no complains. Also recently, if you have noticed, young graduates in BD tend to work in start-ups as it gives them a more steeper learning curve and responsibilities. Compared to well-established companies, newer ones would tend to hire you for your skills and not vastas (although vasta still plays an important role in our part of the world).

What the government should do next is take the leather factories outside Dhaka and then relocate all the garments factory. That will reduce easily 30%-40% of the congestion problem.