Details of Leveraging ICT

Background

Bangladesh has sustained a good track record of growth and development over the past decades. The economy has grown by nearly six percent per annum over the past decade; and has been resilient to the effects of the recent global financial crisis and frequent natural disasters. In addition, the country has made laudable progress on many aspects of human development and is on track to meet the Millennium Development Goals for infant and child mortality and gender equality in education. However, development needs remain large and pressing, with around 50 million people still living in poverty.

The Government of Bangladesh (GOB) has developed its Vision 2021 and Sixth Five Year Plan with developmental targets which address some of these major challenges. The GOB’s Sixth Five Year Plan puts an impetus on the use of ICT for improving factor productivity, governance and service delivery, and on the development of the IT industry. The Plan aims to accelerate growth to eight percent per year by 2015; ensure participation, social inclusion and empowerment; promotes good governance; and efficient delivery of public services.

GOB recognizes the need to leverage on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to achieve these ambitious targets and has undertaken a number of significant actions under its Digital Bangladesh program. This program fundamentally seeks to leverage ICT for the country’s next stage of growth and development, and support Bangladesh to achieve middle-income country status by 2021. The GOB’s Sixth Five Year Plan puts an impetus on the use of ICT for improving factor productivity, governance and service delivery, and on the development of the IT industry.

Sectoral Context

Bangladesh’s ICT industry has developed considerably over the past decade. Telecommunications has generated total industry investments of USD4.5 billion since 2002, and the industry currently provides about 8 percent of the government’s total revenue per annum. Mobile penetration rates have increased from less than 1 percent in 2002 to 44 percent at the end of 2010, and 98 percent of the country is now covered by a wireless network. The government has also actively promoted its Digital Bangladesh program which has generated high expectations among citizens.

Bangladesh’s IT industry has remained relatively nascent as compared to telecommunications, with total industry output estimated at USD300 million per annum, representing a limited proportion of the country’s total GDP. In addition its e-readiness remains behind global averages especially in terms of the general population’s ICT skills, perception of the country’s suitability for ICT businesses, supporting infrastructure, and technology foundations for the public and private sector.

Hence GOB recognizes the need to be holistic in its approach for leveraging ICT, especially with regards to its Sixth Five Year Plan goals for governance, economic growth, and employment creation. This is reflected in its strategic pillars for Digital Bangladesh, which holistically covers (i) Digital Government; (ii) ICT in Business; (iii) Connecting Citizens; and (iv) Human Resource Development.

These strategies are encompassed in GOB’s Digital Bangladesh strategy document, which was developed through a highly consultative process by the Prime Minister’s Office. A number of key policy and legal instruments have been approved in the last year in support of Digital Bangladesh – including the ICT Policy 2009, ICT Act, and Right to Information Act. From an institutional perspective an ICT Chapter has also been included in the Government’s Secretarial Instructions.

The global talent constraint findings from numerous studies by international consulting firms and donors on the IT/ITES industry in Bangladesh indicate that the country possesses significant comparative advantage due to the availability of a large, English-educated talent pool. In addition the industry has been found to possess particular strengths in niche sub-segments such as software programming, graphics and animation, and data entry services. However, the industry is performing far below its potential and is in need of targeted government assistance to (i) improve the skills and employability of the country’s large labor pool; (ii) put in place institutional mechanisms to enable industry development, and (iii) present the country’s comparative advantage and build global linkages. Many Governments including Ghana, Kenya, Mexico, Pakistan, the Philippines and South Africa have recognized the untapped potential in the IT/ITES space and have undertaken similar programs to support the industry.

The government also recognizes the need to leverage e-Government for public sector modernization. However the public agencies have systems and services that are largely silo-based, replicative, insufficiently secured, and do not leverage electronic services sufficie