Arab News
RIYADH, 26 March 2004 — Around the world, information technology and communication are becoming the driving forces of economies.
The Bangladeshi government knows this, and it has declared ICT a “thrust sector” — recognizing that it is one of the fastest growing sectors in the country.
The Bangladeshi government has been implementing a number of projects and programs in the ICT sector through the Ministry of Science and Information and Communication Technology.
It has formulated a National ICT Policy.
With the consultation of the private and public sectors as stakeholders, it was approved on Oct. 7, 2002. It is set significantly to assist the growth of the ICT sector in Bangladesh.
The country is also formulated an ICT (Electronic Transaction) Act. To protect software sector production and to attract ICT foreign investment, an ICT Act is being prepared with the help of the Law Commission, to be finalized soon.
Some of its main objectives are:
* To facilitate electronic communications by means of reliable electronic records.
* To eliminate barriers for e-commerce resulting from uncertainties over writing and signature requirements.
* To facilitate electronic filing of documents with government agencies and statutory corporations and to promote efficient delivery of government services by means of reliable electronic records. Forty-two ICT companies are working in Bangladesh.
At present local and foreign (franchised) ICT training institutes are operating in Bangladesh.
To ensure quality and standard training through these institutes, the ministry has initiated a program to evaluate and rank them according to their performance and quality.
E-government is also on the list. As part of ensuring transparency and enhancing the efficiency of government mechanism, a program has been adopted to connect all ministries and divisions and field offices to the Internet.
Seventeen ministries and divisions and 60 deputy commissioner’s offices have already been brought under the program. Under the system, each ministry or division will have its own website, and every citizen will have access to it.
The government is planning to establish a hi-tech park through a development project at Kaliakoir near Dhaka. The estimated cost is 25,100 lakh taka ($42.54 million). Under this proposed park, knowledge-based and technology-intensive industries with the main focus on ICT will be established. The main industries will be electronics, computer hardware and software, communication hardware and software, IT service industry, bio-informatics, agro-bio technology and genetic engineering, pharmaceuticals, and plastic.
Human resources are the cornerstone of any IT policy. Postgraduate diploma course in IT has been introduced in six public universities and one government college. Each of these institutes will train 60 students per year.
That way Bangladesh hopes to develop computer experts of international caliber. They are expected to make a strong position for themselves in ICT market at home and abroad. Graduates in computer science will gain internships in ICT companies and organizations.
At present, Bangladesh exports software to a number of countries including the US, UK, Canada, Germany, Japan, Denmark, Netherlands, Sweden, Australia and France. Software companies earned some US$30 million in 2003, and that is expected to increase in the future.
The IT sector has bright prospects in Bangladesh. IT expansion throughout the country brings qualitative change in education and creates employment opportunities. If addressed properly, and if initiatives are taken for planned development, Bangladesh’s IT sector could be able to penetrate the world market.
It already has world standard IT professionals; its infrastructure is still undergoing development.
The day may come when the IT sector will turn out to be the largest employer and plays a vital role in propping up the national economy in Bangladesh too.