Home ›› 11 Feb 2023 ›› Opinion
The year 2023 is noteworthy in the context of Bangladesh for the ICT industry from a political and economic standpoint since it is a pre-election year. In its election campaign promise from 2008, the present government stated that Vision 2021 sought to create a digital Bangladesh. Bangladesh has gone a long way, although Digital Bangladesh has not been successful.
Bangladesh has been able to manage the corona outbreak for two years better than many affluent countries, thanks in part to the advantages of Digital Bangladesh.
Millions of individuals in the nation now have access to various services, including healthcare, different directions, and greater awareness thanks to technology. Technology is currently used in every facet of life to benefit Bangladesh's digital economy. With the use of technology, everyone is doing the tasks of many businesses from their homes, including telemedicine, home offices, online courses, and zoom.
In the 52 years since it gained its independence, Bangladesh has seen a significant rise in the use of information technology in areas such as education, health, agriculture, trade, and others. This includes mobile money transfers, e-tendering the purchase of airline tickets, and internet services at the district and union levels.
Our nation will become Smart Bangladesh by 2041, according to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who announced a celebration for Digital Bangladesh Day last year. The plan for Smart Bangladesh, which follows Digital Bangladesh, is the most significant and long-term choice of this century because many developing nations have made substantial progress toward becoming smart nations, and the developed world has already undergone this transformation. If Bangladesh is to continue making progress, it must move much closer to the developed world. In terms of trade, international transactions, and communication, the nations that adopt the technology first will be in a better position in the future.
Since the previous age, the incredible technological advancement in the nation has been evident. In the meanwhile, several significant accomplishments, including Bangladesh's first satellite in orbit, have elevated Bangladesh in the eyes of the international community. The recent year has seen a number of government initiatives aimed at lowering barriers to ICT adoption and growth.
The introduction of 'Binimoy' as an Interoperable Digital Transaction Platform (IDTP) stands out among them. The web-based platform 'Binimoy' is included in banks', MFSs, and payment system operators' apps. It serves as a conduit for payments among customers, retailers, payment service providers (PSPs), e-wallets, banks, financial institutions, payment system operators, public agencies, and private businesses. The 'E-Insurance System' from Jiban Bima Corporation uses cutting-edge information technology and has several features. The E-Insurance System, launched only a few months ago, is an important development for Digital Bangladesh. Through the National Board of Revenue's e-return system, over a lakh income tax returns were successfully submitted online last year. The suffering of the common citizen has significantly decreased due to digitization, which encourages people to pay income tax.
'Hasina and Friends', a first-of-its-kind interactive gaming platform for kids and teens in Bangladesh, was launched in honour of Sheikh Hasina's 76th birthday. It is the first independent learning platform in Bangladesh.
Sheikh Kamal IT Business Incubator, the nation's first such facility, was established only last year. To support the work of entrepreneurs and researchers, this facility features a lab for artificial intelligence, one for machine learning, one for big data, an optical fiber backbone, a substation, and solar panels. By fostering industry-academia collaboration, this incubator will help Bangladesh expand its global information technology opportunities.
Bangladesh must catch up to many of its peers and bordering nations in digital services. To help businesses, the One Stop Service Center (OSS) was established by the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA). Nevertheless, it could be more efficient. Not a single road had this Internet of Things (IoT) or Internet of Everything (IoE)-based autonomous toll-collecting system in place as of the beginning of this year. To avoid the necessity for vehicle stops, at least half of the toll collection on roadways must be automated this year. For Metro Rail travel, however, customers may instantly get their e-cards from vending machines.
For edtech in Bangladesh, this year may be characterized as promising. Currently, the nation is home to more than 100 edtech firms. Internet connection in remote locations was the most significant problem for edtech users. Some firms are, however, making substantial efforts this year to expand their programs across the nation. Ayman Sadiq, the creator of Ten Minute School, and a few other instructors have joined the Chalan Beel Education festival at Singra in Natore, North Bengal. The GPA-5 award ceremony is being held nationwide with the help of ‘Sikho’, a digital education platform.
IT training centers have also aggressively joined the market to expand their operations. Twenty-eight rural centers in far-off, mountainous regions have begun this year's path toward digital classrooms. However, the digital connection is a key factor in determining how well edtech works in Bangladesh. The term 5G technology refers to the communication superhighway of the fifth industrial revolution. As we move towards the 5-G age and get closer to the launch of the Digital Bangladesh initiative, we are constructing the highway of digital connection. All government connectivity, including government hospitals and other offices, has already been made feasible, and all economic zones have been connected to 5G.
Only 7 lakh people accessed the country's meager 7.5 Gbps internet in 2008. There are currently 13 crore internet users in the nation, utilizing 3840 Gbps of bandwidth. Internet service is not yet accessible at the marginal level, despite the government's attempt to provide fiber optic cable. The nation may need more than 6000 gbps of international bandwidth by 2025. We still have and will continue to have a lot of bandwidth to suit our requirements. To fulfill the rising network demand in the nation, bandwidth is being exported to France, Saudi Arabia, and Tripura in India. The procedure to export bandwidth to Bhutan, Nepal, Assam, and Meghalaya in India is now in progress.
Although the human resources in the IT sector are increasing in the country, they need to be developed to be suitable for the industry. These new-age jobs require a high level of technical skills. Young people like data scientists, IoT experts, and robotics engineers are most suitable for future employment. Industry-related skills and knowledge, along with an internship, co-opt, and education at the tertiary level, will make youth employable. Apart from IT professionals, about six lakh people are involved in freelance outsourcing in the country. We should focus on re-skilling and up-skilling freelancers instead of just distributing awards. Numerous IT entrepreneurs are active nowadays and contribute significantly to the economy. If financial institutions partner with the government in projects involving the freelancing outsourcing of the country's unemployed, Bangladesh will become unstoppable.
‘Smart Bangladesh’ is where we are headed right now. Building a "Smart Bangladesh" entails creating a culture, economy, and government where Bangladesh will be recognized as an innovative and knowledge-based country. The idea of Smart Bangladesh is to create a knowledge-based society. ICT plays a significant role in making a knowledge-based society. Additionally, because this business depends on people, our coordinated efforts to cultivate that talent will propel this sector to a breakthrough level in both the nation and our way of life.
The writer is a communication specialist. He can be reached at [email protected]
