Experts: Bangladesh capable of $5bn ICT export by 2021.

[Homo Sapiens]

http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2016/10/22/experts-bangladesh-capable-5bn-ict-export-2021/
Experts: Bangladesh capable of $5bn ICT export by 2021

• Ishtiaq Husain
• Published at 02:52 AM October 22, 2016
• Last updated at 02:53 AM October 22, 2016

‘The problems that ICT professionals face will be resolved on a priority basis’
Bangladesh has both the resources and the capability to earn as much as $5 billion by exporting information and communication technology (ICT) products and services in the next five years, experts and ICT professionals said yesterday.

Speaking at a seminar held in Dhaka, they said local ICT businesses needed support to grow and contribute to the country’s economy.

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed, who also attended the seminar, said the ICT sector in Bangladesh would get cash incentives as it is an emerging sector in the country.

The seminar, titled “The road to $5 billion ICT export by 2021,” was held on the sidelines of ICT fair Digital World 2016 at the International Convention City Bashundhara.

Dr Rokonuzzaman, professor at North South University, and Avinash Vashistha, chairman of advisory firm for global outsourcing and investments Tholons Inc, were the keynote speakers at the event.

In his speech, Vashishtha said the outsourcing industry in Bangladesh was poised for significant growth over the next few years. “The country can earn $2 billion from outsourcing, $500 million from freelancing, $1 billion from startups and $2 billion from the digital sector,” he said.

Mahboob Zaman, managing director of Datasoft Systems Bangladesh Ltd and former president of Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS), said Bangladesh missed opportunities of exporting ICT services in business process outsourcing, telemedicine and call centre services sectors by not getting connected to the submarine cable network earlier than it did.

“It is possible to earn $5 billion by exporting ICT products within 2021. But before that we need to fix our focus: Will we follow technology trend or business trend? Also, we should not follow anyone else’s success story; rather, we should create our own,” he said.

“Japan, South Korea, Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar could be huge market for our software products. We have to formulate our marketing strategy considering that,” he added.

Tofail Ahmed said: “The problems that ICT professionals face will be resolved on a priority basis. Whatever you need, we will do. We will provide cash incentives as well for the betterment of the industry.”

Wahid Sharif, managing director of Digicon Technologies Ltd, said Bangladesh is still unable to compete with international competitors due to a lack of local incentives and policy.

Kazi Aminul Islam, executive chairman of the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority, said producing and upgrading skilled manpower is crucial for the advancement of the ICT sector in the country.

BASIS President Mustafa Jabbar said the government should procure software that the local industry can develop, instead of procuring them from abroad. “There should be a law in this regard so that local ICT industry could survive and grow.”

 

[Mage]

5bn in ICT is not really much, for a country of 160 Million. We should aim much higher.

 

[Zabaniyah]

$5 billion is peanuts...

 

[Nilgiri]

Peanuts and that too the words "capable/potential/possible" to qualify this peanuts too.

RMG is the only thing BD can compete in any appreciable way. Walton and co illustrate this amply.

 

[Homo Sapiens]

5bn in ICT is not really much, for a country of 160 Million. We should aim much higher.

$5 billion is peanuts...

Before dismissing this potential we should look what bangladesh was 5 years ago,what is the position now and what is achievable in best case scenario for any successful country.5 years ago,our ICT export was almost nothing,now it has touched barely 1 billion.So expanding 5 fold in five years is not insignificant.We have to compare ourselves only with us in this regard,not with some countries who are already ICT giant with 30 years head start than us.Only if we look things in this context then only this news become something appreciable.

 

[Zabaniyah]

Before dismissing this potential we should look what bangladesh was 5 years ago,what is the position now and what is achievable in best case scenario for any successful country.5 years ago,our ICT export was almost nothing,now it has touched barely 1 billion.So expanding 5 fold in five years is not insignificant.We have to compare ourselves only with us in this regard,not with some countries who are already ICT giant with 30 years head start than us.Only if we look things in this context then only this news become something appreciable.

Did I dismiss the potential of Bangladesh's ICT? I wasn't aware of that. There was no reason for Bangladesh to be unable to move up the global ICT sector in the first place. No reason at all.

Now this is not to say that we have to match up with India or something. Being small and next a country with a gigantic IT industry requires specialization as in 'we specialize in' type of business.

Money is not everything. You'd be surprised how fast money can run out. Knowledge? With a proper knowledge management system, now that can last for Eternity.

Let me just give you some examples (just to highlight what the IT executives had said).

ICT training in Bangladesh is somewhat mediocre at best. Many of the training centers in Bangladesh that teach advanced courses like let's say, Oracle or Cisco certifications do not know how to facilitate the teaching and often found not adequately equipped. If I want to go for let's say an SAP certification, I have to go to Bangalore or Shanghai for that. Don't you find it surprising that after so many years there is not a single center for SAP certification? How are companies in Bangladesh that utilize SAP going to effectively use it and develop it? Hiring foreign nationals is risky.

Now as for the corporate world, a lot of a executives do not know how to properly implement the potential of IT even if they have a top of the line system imported from abroad. They don't know how to utilize the full potential and make their organization lean no matter how powerful the system is.

Yes, there are locally developed software, but they aren't really that good. Take Ababil and Flora (which is basically just data entry) for example. Most of these new 'political banks' are using Flora, and that is not a great sign

As for the telecom sector, well I think they are a joke. No contribution whatsoever. I'm glad Airtel is getting out, and hope more of them (especially Banglalink) get out too.

What is appreciable is that Mr. Tofail does try.

Wahid Sharif, managing director of Digicon Technologies Ltd, said Bangladesh is still unable to compete with international competitors due to a lack of local incentives and policy.

Don't know about others, but that guy's a Grade-A a$$hole. Wouldn't buy anything what he has to say.

 

[lonelyman]

Peanuts and that too the words "capable/potential/possible" to qualify this peanuts too.

RMG is the only thing BD can compete in any appreciable way. Walton and co illustrate this amply.

Pessimistic, Bangladesh including all South Asia have lots of potential that's why china government is betting/investing huge there. They are like China and India 30 years ago, give it time

 

[Bilal9]

Did I dismiss the potential of Bangladesh's ICT? I wasn't aware of that. There was no reason for Bangladesh to be unable to move up the global ICT sector in the first place. No reason at all.

Now this is not to say that we have to match up with India or something. Being small and next a country with a gigantic IT industry requires specialization as in 'we specialize in' type of business..

Bangladeshi companies have not utilized the opportunity in a large scale.

They don't see the use of employing and training bright young people in large numbers for profitable software development jobs.and they are not actively seeking overseas development business for back office support jobs either. So far what has happened is just windfall, happenstance and luck.

However Bangladesh can specialize in animation work (for Manga and Anime genres) which requires a lot of patience and hard work neighboring countries don't want to put in. This is very profitable - especially for animation movies.

I have seen truly talented work coming from local animators for the Japanese and Korean Markets. I have posted some examples in my 'Made in Bangladesh' and 'Bangladeshi Music' threads.

There is a lot of application development for languages _other_ than English as well (e.g. Japanese). That is also another area of specialization that should be pursued further.

 

[Nilgiri]

However Bangladesh can specialize in animation work (for Manga and Anime genres) which requires a lot of patience and hard work neighboring countries don't want to put in.

Yeah keep telling yourself that while the reality proves to be otherwise:

http://indianexpress.com/article/en...ry-has-seen-unprecedented-growth-avneet-kaur/

http://youth.newagebd.net/1444/an-inanimate-animation-industry/

Outsourced work orders dried up for Bangladeshi animators as other countries offered better work at a quicker time and at lower price. Moreover, all the foreign companies seek to find the local works that an animator has done to judge his skills, and Bangladeshi animators have almost nothing to show in this case. Thus animation studios have either shut down or chose to survive in the industry doing Still Comics, game designs, motion graphics, TVC, documentaries and so on. Many young animators I know have just switched careers or gone abroad,’ Tawfiq adds.

 

[Zabaniyah]

Bangladeshi companies have not utilized the opportunity in a large scale.

Well, for them to utilize it, they have to have the infrastructure. The BNP-led government's refusal to link up with the submarine cable way back in the 90's was monumentally stupid decision.

They don't see the use of employing and training bright young people in large numbers for profitable software development jobs.and they are not actively seeking overseas development business for back office support jobs either. So far what has happened is just windfall, happenstance and luck.

They did that actually. But they were a bit late in the game.
http://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/laurels-ict-icons-1306138

There are advantages in being late though. We can learn from the mistakes of others and easily invest utilize a latest technology without making expensive replacements.

However Bangladesh can specialize in animation work (for Manga and Anime genres) which requires a lot of patience and hard work neighboring countries don't want to put in. This is very profitable - especially for animation movies.

I have seen truly talented work coming from local animators for the Japanese and Korean Markets. I have posted some examples in my 'Made in Bangladesh' and 'Bangladeshi Music' threads.

There is a lot of application development for languages _other_ than English as well (e.g. Japanese). That is also another area of specialization that should be pursued further.

Anime? Manga? Bangladesh doesn't have a big following here for those. I don't think they would be very profitable. Last time I read, it did face problems mainly due to a lack of demand and a lack of training in that sector.

I know for a fact that Thailand does have some neat skills in that area. And there is demand. I remember back in my bachelor days that they even offered a course in Japanese animation in their Computer Science Department. Yes, just Japanese animation. Now can you name a single university in Bangladesh that offers such a course? I'm not saying not to go into it, but be sure that we are armed for it. The gaming industry is highly competitive. I don't know about animation, but I suspect it would be similar.

Yes, we do have app developers here, most of whom who work as independent freelancers or small start ups.

IT basically make lives easier so that we can do more. Keeping that in mind, corporations can do just that. Not only by being profitable, but let everyone know 'yes, this is our stuff that we built in our country'. Well, there's bKash, absolutely genius...

Our exports have done well for 2015 and 2016 and likely to rise in 2017. Distributed ledger technology, Internet of Things, and smart contracts are the way to go for. Why? Because we are doing it (exports), and we are good at it, and let's be better at it while expanding our exports portfolio.

That is one example. The point here is that utilization is the key. Business has to be brisk! We have to be both up at our game, and specialize if we are to grab big chunks.

And last, but not the least, we need to setup the industry so that it creates actual career paths for people with an IT degree or any professional qualification and give them a network where they can train and increase their skills on both local and global scale. This is very important.

It has to start from here, and needs to be inclusive. I am confident that IT services can be a big exporter in the time to come. But we need to know what we are doing.

 

[Nilgiri]

Well, for them to utilize it, they have to have the infrastructure. The BNP-led government's refusal to link up with the submarine cable way back in the 90's was monumentally stupid decision.



They did that actually. But they were a bit late in the game.
http://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/laurels-ict-icons-1306138

There are advantages in being late though. We can learn from the mistakes of others and easily invest utilize a latest technology without making expensive replacements.



Anime? Manga? Bangladesh doesn't have a big following here for those. I don't think they would be very profitable. Last time I read, it did face problems mainly due to a lack of demand and a lack of training in that sector.

I know for a fact that Thailand does have some neat skills in that area. And there is demand. I remember back in my bachelor days that they even offered a course in Japanese animation in their Computer Science Department. Yes, just Japanese animation. Now can you name a single university in Bangladesh that offers such a course? I'm not saying not to go into it, but be sure that we are armed for it. The gaming industry is highly competitive. I don't know about animation, but I suspect it would be similar.

Yes, we do have app developers here, most of whom who work as independent freelancers or small start ups.

IT basically make lives easier so that we can do more. Keeping that in mind, corporations can do just that. Not only by being profitable, but let everyone know 'yes, this is our stuff that we built in our country'. Well, there's bKash, absolutely genius...

Our exports have done well for 2015 and 2016 and likely to rise in 2017. Distributed ledger technology, Internet of Things, and smart contracts are the way to go for. Why? Because we are doing it (exports), and we are good at it, and let's be better at it while expanding our exports portfolio.

That is one example. The point here is that utilization is the key. Business has to be brisk! We have to be both up at our game, and specialize if we are to grab big chunks.

And last, but not the least, we need to setup the industry so that it creates actual career paths for people with an IT degree or any professional qualification and give them a network where they can train and increase their skills on both local and global scale. This is very important.

It has to start from here, and needs to be inclusive. I am confident that IT services can be a big exporter in the time to come. But we need to know what we are doing.

Actually learned something from this subforum for once. Kudos.