Digital Connectivity

In the overall vision of establishing Digital Bangladesh, digital connectivity becomes the baseline for enabling a comprehensive ecosystem for the interaction of users and platforms. There are many verticals from health and education to large-scale manufacturing that stand to gain from high-speed digital connectivity. To be competitive in this day and age, industries and businesses must leverage IoT and digitalisation to become more agile and efficient. Secure and fast digital connectivity allows industrial automation on a larger scale.

Digital connectivity is usually defined as access to a fast and reliable internet connection that enables users to benefit from digital services. At present digital connectivity is considered the ‘fourth utility– an everyday necessity in addition to water, gas, and electricity.

Digital connectivity is an essential component in advancing the economy, particularly in Covid-19 recovery. It is also an important foundation in achieving each of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Experts believe that any difficulties that constrain, hinder, or outright block the delivery of digital connectivity could have serious effects on lives and livelihoods

Currently, many Bangladeshis are enjoying the fruits of digitisation in numerous areas of activities. However, the ultimate objective of Digital Bangladesh is to make more and more services available at the doorsteps of the people with increased digitalisation. The state minister for ICT Junaid Ahmed Palak recently said that the way the present government has reached electricity to the village level, fibre optic connectivity will also be reached in the same way to the village level. Against this backdrop, it is indeed a positive development that the Cabinet Committee Government Purchase on Wednesday approved the procurement of equipment and services for the k. 5,883.73 crore digitisation project titled “Establishing Digital Connectivity.’ The project’s main objective is to expand fibre optic connectivity to villages from unions. According to a report published in The Business Post yesterday, the approval was given at a virtual meeting of the cabinet committee chaired by Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal. After the meeting, the minister informed the media that the government focused on setting up modern ICT laboratories in educational institutes to implement digital finance and develop human resources under the project. According to the minister, the project would augment transparency and good governance, deliver services to people and expand ICT-based standard education. The “Establishing Digital Connectivity Project” is expected to be implemented by 2025. According to the report, the government will finance 20 per cent of the project. At the same time, the rest will be provided by China in loans. Bangladesh selected China Railway International Group to implement the project on November 5, 2019. The Chinese government approved the company to engage in the project in March 2020. According to media reports under the project, some 109,244 broadband and user connections would be established, some 10,000 Sheikh Russell digital labs would be set up, and central server infrastructures would be installed to accommodate some 555 DSET field-level cloud file services and digital storage.

As mentioned earlier, Bangladesh has made noteworthy achievements in ICT. However, there is hardly any room for complacency. The journey ahead of establishing digital connectivity will not be all smooth and trouble-free. Despite the potential that connectivity can enable, there are real challenges in rolling out digital infrastructure. Successful implementation of any kind of infrastructure requires a comprehensive and strategic approach, even more so for digital infrastructure.

The world of ICT is an ever-evolving one. Each new technology requires new skill and training. As indicated by the finance minister, human capital is a critical factor in developing and adopting innovative ideas and technologies. Quality ICT education, ICT-based education from the primary to tertiary level, and the orientation of the general mass in ICT should receive top priority. Elimination of the digital divide between rural and urban areas and between Bangladesh and other nations is essential to be at par with its peer economies.