Home ›› 01 Dec 2021 ›› Opinion
The whole world is going through rapid changes. The changes are so fast and subtle that we are not even noticing some of those, only experiencing the outcomes or impacts. For example – the other day I visited a brand shop where the salesman did not talk to me much, rather he requested me to take a tour of what I was looking for through AR (Augmented Reality). It was simply awesome – I could clearly envisage the products I was in search for and it was even possible to visualize the changes that would be brought about, once incorporated in my home, by those products. It was simply a breath-taking experience. Without the need of conversation, that particular brand catered to my needs with the help of technology. This is how cutting-edge technologies and innovations are catalyzing changes in our lives and such exploration of technology is expediting something larger, that we know as the Fourth Industrial Revolution or simply the 4IR.
The term, first coined by the World Economic Forum founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab, is enjoying wide currency at the moment. The governments and tech giants are talking about this. In fact, this is the new buzzword in the town. Owing to the 4IR, there will be phenomenal changes in all the sectors and industries, especially from the perspective of technology. To put it in plain words, the Fourth Industrial Revolution is the change driven by technology across different sectors. According to market mavens, we are on the brink of the 4IR and it is cutting edge technology that will decide which economies are going to stay ahead in this race.
Bangladesh has made great strides in different sectors in the last few years. Our premier’s ICT Affairs Adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy has very recently opined while attending the ministerial conference of the World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) that Bangladesh would lead the fourth industrial revolution. This is indeed a very positive outlook given that Bangladesh is marching forward with the vision of fulfilling ‘Digital Bangladesh’ and underscoring the necessity of artificial intelligence, block chain, IoT (Internet of Things), nano-technology, robotics and other related areas. Moreover, 39 high-tech parks have also been constructed in Bangladesh to further the digital growth process. However, more needs to be done if we really want to reap benefits of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and remain buoyant.
Bangladesh now must divert its attention to developing proper ICT infrastructure and focus more on maximising the benefits of digitisation and spreading it to all the sectors. According to Global Connectivity Index (GCI) published by Huawei, a global ICT infrastructure provider, Bangladesh is ranked at 73 as a starter (out of 3 clusters - starter, adopter, frontrunner) among 79 countries in consideration of deploying digital infrastructure and capabilities. However, the same paper also pointed out that Bangladesh has great potentialities in terms of digital capabilities as they, driven by increasing importance of digitalization during the pandemic, are already on track of exploring different facets of digital transformation. So, in order to improve the scenario, the country must adopt policies so that favourable environment could be created for the investors to plough back their capital into the ICT sector. Those 39 high-tech parks could be a good opportunity for us to lure foreign investors. Conducive environment and a simplified process could attract more foreign investors and inspire them to invest in our ICT sector, which will have snowball impacts on the local investors as well.
Meanwhile, we need to prepare our youth for embracing the Fourth Industrial Revolution. According to information by United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Bangladesh is the 7th most populous country in the world with a young population (aged between 15-24 years) that make up nearly 20 per cent of the total population. It clearly points to the fact that our youth demographic dividend is high and we must tap into it. We cannot move forward and exploit the possibilities offered by the 4IR in favour of us unless we prepare our youth to embrace it in the best possible manner. To make this huge youth force ready for the next industrial revolution, Bangladesh will have to take steps so that the youth can be equipped with future-fit skills. It is true that there are lots of National Youth Development Training Institutes throughout the country for facilitating them with soft skills. But, more vigorous programs are necessary to equip them with the right set of skills that will be a prerequisite in the job market once the 4IR completely hits the world. Both public and private initiatives are necessary in this regard. Different training programs and ICT-based competitions can play great roles as these will encourage our youth to reveal their latent talent and excel themselves.
Finally, this is the right time for the government to go for advanced technologies like 5G. Only adopting the technology will not work, rather policies must be put in place so that different sectors can take benefits of the cutting-edge technology and top-notch innovations that will be accelerated by 5G to increase the overall efficiency and explore better growth prospects. For instance – a nation can go for storing and computing complex researches with the help of cloud system and AI. But to do so, we need skilled workforce and proper infrastructure as well.
The country is following the right path as we are already serious about digital transformation. The unprecedented situation resulted in by the pandemic has shown us the way. Bangladesh could experience a quick rebound only because we were eager to take advantage of the digital transformation underway around the world. If Bangladesh maps out proper plans with a concentrated focus on developing ICT infrastructure and equipping the youth with future-fit skills, we would really see ourselves at a position, from where the country could capitalize on the endless possibilities of the Fourth Industrial Revolution to keep the growth momentum going.
The writer is a communications professional. He can be contacted at malammohabbat@gmail.com
