BANGLADESH IN ICT SECTOR:PROSPECTS AND CHALLNGES

BANGLADESH IN ICT SECTOR:PROSPECTS AND CHALLNGES 

Information Technology (IT) gives fast, easy access to information which is essential for the  development of a nation. ICT is the backbone of any digital initiative. ICT covers the vast area of information technology, communication technology; categorically processing of information and ensuring connectivity.

Bangladesh has about five decades of experience in using computers. In its early days the Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector in Bangladesh mainly focused on hardware operations. The first ‘second generation’, world mainframe, computer was installed in 1964 at Dhaka University. In 1982 a computer center was established at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology. This center, later renamed the Department of Computer Science & Engineering has played a pivotal role in Bangladeshi IT education since its inception.

Over the years several Information Communication Technology (ICT) related associations have been established Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS), established in 1997, promotes the ICT sector through awareness building, practical education for new graduates and paid internships, and training programs for mid-career employees.

In 2009, the government embarked on the mission to build a “Digital Bangladesh” which sought to transform Bangladesh into a technologically advanced nation and utilize the usage of ICT (Information and communication technology) as a tool for development and sustainability. Digital Bangladesh is an idea that includes the IT use for management, administration and governance to ensure transparency, accountability and answerability at all levels of society and state. Considerable achievements in the IT sector have already been made over several years towards building a 'Digital Bangladesh' and more initiatives are coming. World Bank state that “Bangladesh’s IT sector gradually come a strong position.

0utsourcing

The country has seen exponential growth in its internet connectivity, mobile phone usage, IT export earnings and use of ICT in education and accessibility of public services. ICT training by the government has opened a new horizon in youth employment through outsourcing. According to the technology website, Tech in ASIA, Bangladesh is ranked as the 7^th most popular destinations for outsourcing among 186 countries. According to latest estimate, there are over half a million registered freelancers in Bangladesh and the number is growing steadily. Given that the ICT sector has been announced as a ‘THRUST SECTOR’ by the government of Bangladesh, apart from the various private outsourcing training centers, there are many initiatives being undertaken by the government itself.

ICT EDUCATION

·         75,000 ICT professionals being trained by the government

·         170,000 educational institutions to have multimedia labs

·         24,122 teachers being trained on ICT equipment

ICT SECTOR EARNINGS

·         600 million US dollar in 2015

·         26 million US dollar in 2008

 Budgetary Allocation For ICT

·         In 2008 25.6 million US dollar

In 2016 205.4 million US dollar

PROSPECTS

Large IT companies are opening around the world, and nations are building up IT platforms, developing and promoting their IT industries. Asian countries are also becoming stakeholders in this boom by creating conducive environments, drawing global IT companies to invest there. Existing giants like Microsoft, Apple, Samsung, etc. are making massive investments in Asian countries to utilise the cost advantage. Bangladesh, with its huge under-utilised manpower (cheaper than India, Malaysia and China), can also benefit from these initiatives, provided an established foreign investment platform with a nationwide IT infrastructure and skilled labour force is created.

However, to fully capitalise on the opportunities offered by the worldwide IT expansion, Bangladesh should thrust heavily towards further developing the IT sector to draw the attention of foreign investors competing with other technologically advanced/well-invested Asian countries. At the same time, we should encourage our entrepreneurs to launch IT companies here. Both these efforts would create hundreds of thousands of IT jobs and, consequently, help Bangladesh become a middle-income country by 2021.

The idea is to repeat the success of the RMG sector (which has created millions of jobs, though mainly lower-skill/lower-wage, and billions in foreign exchange), and significantly increase higher skill IT jobs to attract the youth, along with billions in foreign exchange, thus accelerating the growth of Bangladesh.

Emerging Asian countries like India, China, Malaysia, etc. have opted for digitisation to exploit opportunities offered by the Digital Age and catch up with technologically advanced countries. These countries have heavily invested in IT sectors, reaping considerable benefits in higher employment/income, and accelerating growth. For example, continuous growth of the IT sector in Malaysia, fully supported by the government, has created 800 new IT companies with over 98,000 new jobs, while 200 foreign companies have set up regional centres in Malaysia, bringing billions of dollars in investment and creating significant new jobs. Indian IT industry growth was spurred by huge foreign investment, contributing significantly to India's GDP growth. It is estimated that the outsourcing sector has a worldwide market of USD 500 billion; India's share is USD 140 billion compared to Bangladesh's USD 700 million.

Bangladesh can draw on experiences of these countries to design and implement a rapid IT promotion strategy tailored to her own resources/objectives. The government can consider the following strategy to compliment the ongoing 'Digital Bangladesh', which will accelerate the IT industry and utilise this sector as a platform for sustainable growth. Through injecting a major investment of USD 1.0 billion over five years (USD 200 million per year), the government can accelerate progress in this sector. This strategy can intensify efforts in specific areas: (a) Speeding up IT training/skills; (b) Actively attracting international IT companies/investors (Google, Intel, etc.) to establish IT centres (R&D, Service); and (c) Helping Bangladeshi entrepreneurs to start IT companies by providing funds/incubation, sales/business development/marketing support.

The proposed strategy can generate the two main positive outcomes that will set Bangladesh towards the goal of sustainable growth: one is the creation of high paid IT jobs, further leading to the expansion of small Bangladeshi IT companies, while the second is to generate massive inflow of foreign exchange through Foreign Direct Investment.

Moreover, this could also lead to the creation of  high income jobs that would encourage foreign trained Bangladeshis to return (thereby reversing the brain-Drain), who can contribute to R&D, and help attract foreign companies to come. The IT industry also uses higher skill, pay better, can be more stable with greater potential for growth than the RMG sector, which is more vulnerable to lower cost regions in Asia and Africa. Development of a more professional sector will encourage youth to seek better education/IT training, generating higher income. Bangladesh can also receive huge remittances from exporting IT labour.

As the mobile phone sector in Bangladesh is well-developed, ICT-related service trade will progress, particularly in business process outsourcing (BPO). Development of other businesses and industries through computerisation of the business process can lower costs significantly, increasing productivity and profitability.

Challenges

·         Computer and other information technologies are not available in the country side.

·         Data communication infrastructure is not suitable enough and high speed data network is not available throughout the country.

·         Lack of legal support, no strong law against cyber crime, no law of electronic authentication, no electronic certification,authority weak, intellectual property rights situation, no standardized way of storing governments data and information. So that they can be exchanged and shared seamlessly lack of data privacy which defines who will get access to what kind of data no shared service platforms about re-usability of information systems to avoid duplication of efforts.

·         lack of skilled manpower and inadequate fund in this sector.

·         Relatively low investment for establishing last mile connectivity in non-urban areas due to the absence of sufficient commercial viability.

·         Power supply is still a deficit in our country, specifically in rural and semi-urban areas.

·         Underutilization of the present submarine cable capacity. Rapid cost depreciation of broadband internet needs to be matched with the availability and accessibility of the ICT infrastructure by both public and private operators.

·         ICT usage service charge is still high. SIM tax and high tax burden on the telecom operators.

·         Possibility of hacking and information leakages massive use of ICT also creates some hazards about which planners should have to concern.

REMEDIES:

·         The government can accelerate investments in English and IT education starting at primary schools to scale up this industry.

·          Enabling conditions such as, improving transportation, communication, physical infrastructure of major IT hubs, installing work ethics, transparency, accountability laws, strengthening regulatory roles, and ensuring homeland security can turn Bangladesh into a popular investment destination.

The Bangladesh government has been playing a key role in framing policies to foster infrastructure. developments in ICT. With Digital Bangladesh in mind, people are also in the correct mental space to move forward with government agendas of economic growth through developing the IT sector. However, it is important that ICT initiatives and implementation under both existing and new schemes be closely linked to the overall economic development and poverty reduction strategy to turn Bangladesh into a middle-income country by 2021.