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Ministry of ICT Bangladesh
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Musfeka Iffat-093011061
Mohammad Saif Salah Uddin-093011054
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Md.Shahjalal islam Tuhin- 093011071
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Project:1
Development of National ICT Infra-Network for Bangladesh Government (BanglaGovNet)
What is BanglaGovNet?
It is a Public Network to connect all the Government entities throughout the country
under a single Network.
Why BanglaGovNet?
e-Government.
To provide vast free Bandwidth for data Communication within the Government.
To use ICT system within the public administration to improve efficiency and
transparency, reduce wastage of resources, enhance planning and raise the quality of
services.
Estimated Budget
Phase Year wise Plan Scope of Work
(US Dollar)
- Ministries/Divisions(45)
Apr 2010 ~ June
(BanglaGovNet 2014 - Major Departments ( >100) 40.21 Million
) - District Offices(64 DICTC)
- Development of Bangladesh
July 2011 ~ Dec Education Network (BanglaEduNet) 150 Million
(Info-Sarker) 2015
=> Primary & Secondary level Education
Construct Government Data Resource Centre (Data Centre) which will be the core part of the
network to interconnect every government Ministry/Division, Department, District and
Upazila administration to provide :
Secure Communication;
Training & Visiting Program for enhancing ICT Knowledge & Skill
The project scope might be adjusted to accommodate the results of detailed site
surveys, engineering requirements or as per demand.
Major Components:
Furniture 2.26%
Software 6.75%
Software 6.75%
Manpower 1.85%
CD/VAT 13.11%
Consultancy 2.49%
Contingency/Others 11.08%
Concluding Remarks
To have a Government wide Network to ensure delivery of citizen services through the effective
implementation of e-Governance towards achieving a
Information & Communication Technology has been identified as an important tool to achieve
prosperity though improved quality of management and efficiency in public and private sectors.
The government of Bangladesh in an effort to harness the power of ICT formulated its National
ICT Policy in year 2002. The government in year 2008 formed a committee to review the
achievements and formulate a new National ICT Policy. The committee after meeting with the
stake holders proposed a new National ICT Policy to the government. The proposed policy is
now in the final stages of approval.
The new policy took account of all the technological and socioeconomic development to
propose the policy incorporating the governments declared policy on Poverty Reduction
Strategy Paper based on the commitments made in WSIS and the mandates of MDG.
Accordingly, development of Human Capacity has been given high priority in the National ICT
Policy.
National Policy on ICT: Capacity building, in general, is identified as a key element to\
achieving national goals. While human capacity building was given the top priority,
infrastructure building was also considered vital as a prerequisite of the other ICT activities.
Important objectives pertaining to the human capacity building declared in the proposed National
ICT Policy under Education and Research are:
Assess skills of ICT professionals and meet gaps with targeted training programs to overcome
the shortterm skills shortage in the ICT industry and adopt continuing education and
professional skills assessment and enhancement programs.
Encourage closer collaboration between academia and industry to align curriculum with market
needs.
Establish an ICT Centre of Excellence with necessary longterm funding to teach and conduct
research in advanced ICTs.
Extend the reach of ICT literacy throughout the country by incorporating ICT courses in
secondary education and technical and vocational education and training (TVET) programs
Enhance the quality and reach of education at all levels with a special focus on
Mathematics, Science and English
Ensure ICT Literacy for all in public service
Boost use of ICT tools in all levels of education including ECDP, mass literacy and lifelong
learning
Ensure access to education and research for people with disabilities and special needs using
ICT tools
. Ensure that all universities provide global standard ICT education and introduce
Top level guidance for initiating and coordinating ICT activities. The Government, in 2003,
launched a program called Support to ICT Task Force (SICT) at Ministry of Planning for
providing administrative and secretarial support to the ICT Task Force in planning, designing,
and implementing various ICT projects, particularly e]Governance projects.
Government also has reorganized the former Ministry of Science & ICT as the Ministry of
Science and ICT and taken measures to strengthen Bangladesh Computer Council, the apex body
of the Government that works for promotion and adoption of ICT in the country.
Human Resources Development: Since early 90s, tremendous enthusiasm has been generated
among the new generation about ICT. Since then public universities have started to offer
undergraduate, post graduate and postgraduate diploma courses in ICT.
Information technology has been introduced as a subject in the mainstream educational tracks in
secondary and higher secondary levels.
As a result, many ICT training institutes have started operating in the private sector. In the public
sector, BCC is one the bodies mandated to carry out human resources development activities.
BCC carries out its training programs through its central office in the capital city and six
divisional offices. In the capital, South Korea through KOICA has built a training facility named
Bangladesh Korea Institute of ICT in the BCCfs head office. The training programs are carried
out in Bangladesh]Korea Institute of ICT, an institute built with a grant assistant from Korea
Government. Till now about 35,000 people have been trained in various ICT applications by
BCC. The training programs are being organized by BCC and various government and donor
projects. Besides, BCC has launched 1 year Diploma and
Post graduate diploma courses for developing skilled manpower for the ICT industry.
With a view to develop ICT capacity of the public sector for making the Governmentfs e]
Government initiatives a success, different ICT training for government officials was organized
by BCC. It started in September 2005. The e]Government training is designed to prepare the
officials to handle the e]Governance activities of varying complexities. Till now
National ICT Internship: The Government also funded a program called National ICT Internship.
This is intended to develop the skills of the ICT graduates required for the highly competitive
global market. Under this program selected ICT graduates are placed in different ICT companies
to get the opportunity to become ready for the global ICT market.
In the last two years about 600 ICT graduates have been trained under this program.
ICT Professional Skill Assessment and Enhancement Program (IPSAEP): The industry, academia
and the government after long deliberation on expanding the employment opportunity through
growth of local industry developed a plan to make the fresh graduates ICT industry ready
through ICT Professional Skill Assessment and enhancement Program.
The government has already approved the program and is scheduled to begin very soon.
3. Country Needs
Bangladesh has already started using ICT in various arenas. The country has successfully
developed National Voter Roll with photograph and National ID Card using indigenous design.
Public procurement reform is taking place and methodology for e] procurement is now being
framed. The government has initiated project for Machine Readable Passport and Machine
Readable Visa. All these activities has generated demands for better Infrastructure and human
capacity. In order to achieve the demands the government has taken to connect all government
offices in the country through a secure government network. In this regard the government has
signed a loan agreement with South Korea for financing under EDCF scheme.
Judging by the number of the development projects and the demand for skilled manpower
requirement in public and private sector Bangladesh needs to train large number of fresh
graduate on ICT skills. These skill sets have to be accredited to make the skill sets acceptable
globally. The government of Bangladesh looks forward for cooperation in this area.
4. Advice on the national roll out of the Academy of ICT Essentials for
The UNAPCICT can consider Bangladesh Computer Council, Public Administration Training
Center and Jatiyo Sangsad (National Parliament), Ministry of Local Government and Rural
Development for rollout of Academy of ICT Essentials for Government Leaders.
BRIDGING the digital divide is a serious problem but it is not an insurmountable one. Private-
public partnership is a crucial issue for information and communication technology (ICT)
development and application. Private enterprise and capital can lead ICT revolution in
Bangladesh. This, however, would require the government to provide the enabling environment.
Rapid growth in ICT is not possible without massive investments for ICT infrastructure and
human resource development through quality education. The southern states of India, specially
Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, are the examples. The corresponding figures for Dhaka and
Bangladesh, although it has started to increase recently, are not comparable at all. Human
resource development in ICT is not easy. It requires many years of training in institutions of
higher education. The Indian experience in this respect is very interesting. A vast number of
Indian graduates with proficiency in English language and mathematics or statistics became ICT
specialists after doing their MCA (Master in Computer Applications) degree. Now over 550
institutions of higher education in India, including 163 in Andhara Pradesh alone, offer MCA
In Bangladesh only a few universities are offering the MCA programme. The Dhaka campus of
the University of Comilla, the pioneer in the field of offering MCA programme in Bangladesh, is
closed now due to management problems. The graduates with background in mathematics or
statistics in Bangladesh should quickly become ICT workforce through after doing MCA.
Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology (BUET) is also providing Master's degree
A Software Technology Park can promote and boost software export of the country. The
Software Technology Park of India (STPI) in Bangalore, the biggest of that country, accounts for
about one-third of its software exports. Software exports earned India US$ 1.14 billion in
September, 2003, an increase of 33 per cent over that of the same period in the previous year.
ICT incubator has been established in the heart of the Dhaka city. But the software firms in
Bangladesh are not in a position to contribute to the national economy as they are yet to reach the
take off stage. However, according to BASIS, in the International Software and ICT market,
Bangladeshi companies have started to make their presence felt. Bangladesh now exports
software and ICT services to 23 countries and last year, the sector's exports grow by 43 per cent.
Grameen Bank has come forward to remove digital divide in the rural areas. Grameen
help create rural people new opportunities through technology intervention. They established two
rural centers under the project "Village Computer and Internet Project" in Madhupur and
Sharishabari. The connectivity, established using land and mobile phones and being expensive,
increase the operational expenditures. A third option, connecting a rural center via Microwave
Link needed to be tested as its operational expenses are expected to be lower. With the financial
assistance from Grameen Trust, Grameen Communications launched another center in Mirzapur,
Tangail under the project "Grameen Digital Center". The center is connected on-line with head
office in Dhaka via Microwave Link.
Bridging the digital divide between the rural and urban areas which is urgently required, can be
achieved by creating low cost community information and communication centers (CICCs) in
the rural areas. Such centers can later be upgraded into community networks. Cyber cafes may
not be economically viable in the rural areas now. Special measures, supported by public
funding, are necessary for encouraging access to ICT in the rural areas. The CICCs, which can
play the role of a catalyst, can be set up with minimum possible equipment like personal
computers with colour monitors, 132-column printers connected to land or mobile phones for
internet connectivity. An off-line UPS could solve the problem for the places with no electricity.
A CICC at the union level, with financial support from the government, and trained personnel
can do the job. The CICC can provide printing, e-mail and entertainment to local population.
After a year, the CICC can be transferred to private ownership or to operators on lease. Facilities
can gradually be expanded to cover land records, other online services, rural e-learning, farming
and non farming activities including small business, matrimonial alliances, weather reports,
Private entrepreneurs in Bangladesh can approach donor agencies for financial support for
projects relating to human resource development and removing the digital divide in Bangladesh.
But before that, they should be cautious about the need assessment analysis. Otherwise, donor-
driven fund may not be properly utilized.
Telephone density should be rapidly increased to 50 per cent by 2010 and steps should be taken
to spread telephone usage across the country. Moreover, mobile phone charges should be
drastically reduced. Even charge of Bangladesh Telephone & Telegraph Board (BTTB) mobile is
High-speed fiber optical data communication infrastructure should be set up all over the country
Public and private participation (PPP) for ICT use should be encouraged for rapid expansion of
The education system should be able to generate computer and ICT-literate manpower at the
grassroots.
The quality of ICT education should be improved by improving lab facilities, Internet access and
Web culture should be encouraged across the country for transparency, eradication of corruption
and removal of strikes and criminal offences and thereby improving the civil society.
An effective information technology policy should be adopted to foster the information
Research should be conducted to study the consequences of digital divide between different
Introduction
South Asia Sub regional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) Information Highway Project aims for
cross- border optical fibre connectivity among Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal. The project
was initiated with Asian Development Bank (ADB)s assistance following the SASEC ICT
Working Group meeting decision in 2006. Bangladesh government signed a loan agreement with
ADB on 15 March 2009 to finance the SASEC Information Highway Project (Bangladesh
Component). The project has three components: 1) SASEC Regional Network: An optical fibre
network across Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal will be built to exchange internet and voice
traffic among the four countries and beyond. Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited
(BTCL) will build and maintain the network in Bangladesh. 2) SASEC Village Network: 25
(twenty five) community electronic centres (CeCs) will established in rural Bangladesh. The
CeCs will be connected to the regional network. 3) SASEC Research and Training Network:
Capacity building of four institutes from the four SASEC countries will be done to facilitate ICT
research and training with a special focus on community ICT centres in rural areas. Bangladesh
Computer Council (BCC) has been selected as the RTN institute from Bangladesh. The four RTN
institutes of four countries will be connected to each other through the regional network.
The first two components are financed by ADB loan and GoB fund while the third component
will be financed through piggybacked Technical Assistance (TA) fund from ADB. The ADB loan
amount for the Bangladesh component is US$ 3.1m and GoB fund is BDT 895.95 lakh. The TA
amount is US$ 4.4m for the four SASEC countries.
This article discusses about the Regional Network component of SASEC Information Highway
Project.
Regional cooperation is not a new concept. ASEAN, SAARC and ECO are examples of the
forums for regional cooperation in Asia. However, regional forums sometimes become not much
effective in terms of cooperation in real sense due to geographical distance and/or political
divide. For example, the first SAARC Communications Ministers Conference held in Colombo
in 1998, adopted the Plan of Action on Telecommunications in the region. The Plan of Action
calls for a reduction in telecommunication tariffs within the SAARC region, special rates for
transiting regional traffic, cellular roaming, liberalized leased lines and human resources
development. However, no appreciable progress has been made on these important issues till
date. Subregional cooperation, on the other hand, involves a group countries in geographical
proximity with common or nearby international borders. Slow multilateral and regional
processes help to spur subregional cooperation, which is more effective in dealing with
immediate problems. Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal are close neighbours with potential
for effective subregional cooperation in areas such as trade, energy, transport, environment and
ICT. The mission of SASEC is From poverty to growthtransforming challenges into
opportunities. The lead activity of the SASEC program is the identification, prioritization, and
implementation of subregional projects involving four countries with support from development
partners such as Asian Development Bank.
SASEC ICT Program and Strategy
The SASEC ICT Working Group (ICTWG), comprising of secretaries of ministry of ICT of
SASEC countries, agreed to develop SASEC ICT Development Master Plan (the Master Plan) at
the first ICTWG meeting held in India in March 2004, to lay down the strategy, framework and
priorities for SASEC ICT regional cooperation. The Master Plan, prepared with ADB assistance
and accepted at the second SASEC ICTWG held in Bhutan in January 2006, formulated the
SASEC regional ICT strategy in a way to coordinate and consolidate individual countries
national leadership, vision, and strategies, and identified the following common areas: (i) global
positioning of the SASEC sub region in ICT; (ii) regional opportunities for ICT professionals and
local ICT industry development; (iii) skills training, accreditation and mutual recognition; (iv)
regional affordable broadband capacity, reliability, and quality; (v) investment, regional trade and
employment; (vi) cross-border community participation and benefits; and (vii) contribution to
the achievement of MDGs.
In all SASEC countries, there is a considerable recognition of the benefits of broadband capacity
and a growing awareness of the issues and opportunities emerging from convergence. The
regulatory environment for each SASEC member varies substantially but all members have
recognized the need for independent regulatory authorities to oversee the opening up of ICT
infrastructure to competition. The need to foster local ICT industry development has also been a
common agenda. There are other considerations as well, including for example the structure and
governance of the internet and the global positioning of the region. There is also a common
recognition to the need for skills development at all levels, including on the one hand community
e-literacy, and on the other hand accredited graduate qualifications. Further all SASEC members
have identified extensive requirements for service applications, including for government
services, such as e-education, e-health and e-culture as well as the potential for new governance
structures to improve community participation. All members have also recognized the need for
either new institutions or enhanced capacity and course offerings of existing training institutions.
These common interests and policies define a broad scope for priority areas of collaboration and
regional ICT development strategy in the Master Plan.
Among others, the Master Plan, along the regional ICT strategy, proposed three most urgent
areas for improvements in ICT: (i) cross border connectivity, (ii) rural information access, and
(iii) human resource capacity. At the third ICTWG meeting held in Dhaka in September 2006, in
order to address such needs, the SASEC countries agreed to develop the concept of SASEC
information highway which would deliver modern affordable and reliable broadband
information, communication, and knowledge services within and across borders to business, and
to the rural and remote communities. During the implementation of an ADB-approved project
preparatory TA on SASEC information highway in 2007, the concept of SASEC information
highway has been crystallized and related investment package has been formulated and agreed
by the SASEC ICTWG. The SASEC Country Advisors Meeting held in June 2007 and
participated by secretaries of ministry of finance of the SASEC countries also endorsed the
concept, and thus further processing, of the SASEC information highway project.
b. Village Network: Out of 25 CeC locations, 15 locations have been selected for setting up
CeCs. The rest 10 locations will be selected by June, 2012. The tender will be invited in two
packages: first for 15 locations and the second for the rest 10 locations. The expected dates of
floating tenders for the two packages are August and October, 2012 respectively. The expected
date of completion of works for the Village Network is December, 2013.
c. Research and Training Network: This component is financed by TA from ADB. However,
no TA agreement was signed with ERD for this component and therefore TA PP was not prepared
by MoICT for this component. The issue was raised by the Bangladesh delegation in the bilateral
interconnection agreement meeting (25-27 April, 2012) in Manila. ADB representatives present
in the meeting told that ADB will initiate necessary communication with ERD, Ministry of
Finance to streamline this TA component of SASEC Information Highway Project.
Conclusion
SASEC Information Highway Project has ushered a new era in subregional cooperation among
Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal. While SAARC could not deliver the results as expected,
SASEC platform may be explored to expedite subregional cooperation in areas of energy, trade,
transport, tourism, environment and ICT. For example, hydro-energy in Nepal can be utilized for
power generation through cooperation among SASEC countries for mutual benefit. Peace,
stability and mutual trust are preconditions for successful subregional cooperation. The recently
approved Perspective Plan of Bangladesh 2010-2021: Making Vision 2021 a Reality strongly
emphasizes on positive steps relating to globalization and subregional cooperation. The
governments of other three SASEC countries have similar stance on subregional cooperation.
Against the backdrop of congenial political environment prevailing in the SASEC subregion, it is
up to the bureaucrats and business leaders to take cooperation among the SASEC countries to a
new height.
Project: 4
Project Name Leveraging ICT for Governance, Growth and Employment Project
Project ID P122201
1. Proposed objective(s)
(ii) Establish basic e-Government foundations for governance reforms and public
sector modernization
Project Beneficiaries
For IT/ITES the direct beneficiaries are 30,000 Bangladeshi youth (including an estimated 6,000
young women) who will benefit by gaining marketable and globally recognized IT/ITES skills,
increased incomes due to skills upgrading, and enhanced employment opportunities in a growing
IT industry. The local IT/ITES companies will also benefit from significantly increased business
opportunities from the projected USD500 million export market, improved international
perception of their IT/ITES capabilities, and availability of office space of sufficient quality in
the short-to-medium term for their operations.
For e-Government the direct beneficiaries are all the GOBs ministries and agencies, who will
benefit directly from higher efficiency and effectiveness, and reduced risks in their use of
IT due to the availability of shared technology infrastructure for their systems and
services. In addition they will be able to increase benefits from the use of ICT for their
operations and services due to increased skills of support personnel both internally, and
from MOSICT/BCC. Bangladeshi citizens and businesses will also benefit from
improved reliability of government services and increased security of their personal
information.
1.
Project Description
A. Project Components
The project will support the development of Bangladeshs IT/ITES industry as the country
possesses significant comparative advantage in this sub-sector, and the industry has been proven
to have significant development impact in other developing countries. The project will also
establish e-Government foundations and institutional capacity for GOB to leverage this proven
approach for governance reforms and public sector modernization. The proposed project covers
both the IT/ITES and e-Government components as they are highly complementary and are to be
implemented by the same agency. The projects design is based on analytical work that the Bank
has supported, technical discussions with local stakeholders, and lessons of experience from
similar Bank financed projects in other parts of the world. The project scope includes the
following main components, sub-components, and activities.
1.4 Institutional Capacity Building for BCC: Build BCCs capacity as an anchor
institution for IT/ITES industry development. Such anchor institutions are needed
to fulfill multiple internal and external roles - which include championing the
industry, strategic planning and implementation of industry development
activities; and facilitating IT/ITES investments and operations. Hence, this
activity will set up an IT/ITES unit in BCC comprising of BCC and project staff.
In addition, it will assist BCC to develop the industry development strategy and
roadmap in partnership with industry stakeholders, and set up an international
advisory body to guide BCCs efforts.
1.5 Capacity Building for Local Industry: Build the capacity of local industry by
setting up a forum to facilitate dialogue and promote collaboration between the
various industry associations, support local companies in adopting globally
accepted certifications for IT/ITES, and build partnerships with global IT/ITES to
provide mentorships to local IT/ITES SMEs.
1.7 Strategic Infrastructure Support: Support the industrys need for short to medium-
term IT space within Dhaka and selected regions, through the refurbishment or
extension existing buildings for IT/ITES companies. The industry has indicated
the urgent need for such facilities to be set up within the next one to two years,
while the Kaliakor High Tech Park is still under development.
This component will provide critical e-Government technological foundations for the
countrys governance agenda for the years ahead, and build the human capacity to
leverage technology for governance reforms.
2.1 Shared Infrastructure for IT Hosting and Remote Conferencing. Expand and
strengthen BCCs capacity to provide shared IT hosting facilities (including the
primary site and disaster recovery site) to the other government agencies, and set
up telepresence and videoconferencing facilities as communication technologies
for virtual "face-to-face" collaboration between the agencies particularly within
Dhaka.
2.2. Shared Platform for Cloud Computing and Mobile Service Delivery: Set up cloud
computing and mobile services delivery platforms for the public agencies, private
sector, and academia to have convenient on-demand access to computing
resources, rapid deployment of mobile phone-based public services, innovate and
improve services to citizens and businesses.
2.3 Enterprise Architecture: Establish the governments enterprise architecture for
coordinating investments across government agencies, and avoiding duplication
and waste. This includes the development of an e-Government Interoperability
Framework (e-GIF) to facilitate the cross-agency exchange of information.
2.4 Information Security: Establish GOBs information security program, and set
program goals and priorities that support the governments mission. In addition it
will provide resources by setting up a national Computer Emergency Response
Team (CERT) to facilitate and support the program.
2.5 Capacity Building on e-Government Skills: Capacity building for public sector
IT-related staff on e-Government skills by planning a public sector e-Government
skills development program; and providing necessary training on basic systems,
networks, and computer support and management skills for relevant IT-staff
across the government agencies. The activity will also train higher-level staff in IT
planning, strategizing, and project and change management skills so that they can
holistically support their agencys e-Government efforts.
3.1 Project Management Consultants, Equipment & Other Operational Items: This
activity will support the creation and functioning of the Project Coordination Unit
(PCU), and hire the required specialists in procurement, financial management,
accounting, communications, monitoring and evaluation, etc. It will also support
the operational needs of the PCU, including office equipment, furniture, vehicle,
allowances, consumables, auditing services, and FM system.
2. Safeguard policies that might apply
The total project cost is USD74 million. This will be funded through an IDA Specific
Investment Credit in the amount of USD 68 million; and GOB contribution of USD 6 million.
The table below summarizes the Project Costs and proposed Financing Arrangement.
More details are in Annex 2.
Physical Contingencies - - -
Price contingencies - - -
Abstract
At present a new era has evolved in the education sector by means of ICTS. Different ICTs are
now set to become instrumental to help expand access to education, strengthen the relevance of
education to the increasingly digital workplace, and raise educational quality by, among others,
helping make teaching and learning into an engaging, active process connected to real life. The
application and exposure to and deployment of ICTs fundamentally change the way education is
conceived and delivered to students. ICTs are enablers that optimize student-centered
pedagogical methods. Due to its easy accessibility this means of education has become very
popular all over the world. Distance education has got a thrust after the evolution of ICT-based
education system. This paper intends to give an idea about ICT-based higher education all over
the globe and its applicability in Bangladesh. Finally, it analyses the responses from different
user groups to query about the current status of the ICT-based higher education system
Bangladesh.
Introduction
Education is the backbone of a nation. Despite knowing this, a huge number of people of least
developed countries are far beyond the reach of higher education. One of the key reasons may be
the poor economic condition of those countries. Perhaps this is the crucial challenge to be
addressed by those nations for overall development where education may be on the top list.
Information, Knowledge, and Communication Technology also play vital role in the growth as
well as producing and offering goods and services at relatively reduced costs. Smart use of ICTs
can process information, create knowledgebase and make them available wherever and whenever
necessary. But despite having relatively poor economic condition, Information and
services at reduced costs to the peoples door steps. ICTs have the same to do for making the
higher education available to all classes of people throughout the country at a lower cost. As a
result, on one hand people will have the access right on higher education and on the other hand
will gain the necessary knowledge, skills, and experiences to serve the nationand prosper
accordingly. In 21st century, one can hardly find a country where higher education through
distance mode is not available. In fact it has been practiced since long before. But at present
days, having revolution of ICTs, the higher education through distance mode has been more
practical and well accepted by the all people around the globe. It is now being called Virtual
learning. In developed country, people are getting more interested in learning through Virtual
Campus than that of a Brick-and-Mortar Campus. Virtual Campus is nothing but ICT enabled
campus, where students are attending their classes, discussing with teachers, accessing learning
resources, seating exams, joining forums/clubs, submitting assignments etc virtually having the
What It Is
The education initiatives by Access to Information Project aim to make teaching and learning
more effective and enjoyable for both students and teachers using ICT. A2I has followed a 3-
secondary schools, training teachers on making ICT aided educational content on hard-to-grasp
topics and make electronic versions of text books available in primary and secondary levels
including technical, vocational and Madrasha education. As part of the education reform driven
by the Ministry of Education, A2I through public private partnership has so far established 500
Bangladesh is endowed with a large pool of intelligent young citizens who, with proper
education, can be turned into a valuable human resource befitting the 21st century. Powered by
technology, fuelled by information and driven by knowledge, the new world order demands
skills that cannot be entirely met by the age-old teaching and learning methods that currently
plagues the education scenario of Bangladesh. In this context, the Government of Bangladesh
has set education reform on its high priority list. Refashioning classroom environment and
redesigning the tools of learning is an important part of the envisioned education reform. Simple
ICTs facilitated reform has been given the utmost importance, owing to its versatility of cost
effectiveness. A2I, being GoBs flagship ICT for Development programme, has thus been chosen
to lead the reform through ICT based education initiatives. Implemented through pilots in
partnership with government and private organizations, these initiatives have largely been
successful and now being scaled up throughvarious GOB projects and partnerships.
Facts on E-education
A2I started its interventions by testing the widespread myth about ICT in education, which
consists of setting up expensive computer labs to provide basic computer literacy and technical
know-how. Given the cost of labs and relatively low student involvement, which is especially
true for a developing country like Bangladesh, concerns surface regarding effectiveness,
scalability, and overall feasibility of such labs? Also considering the fact that the young learners
more often than not are surprisingly adept at teaching themselves the basic uses of a computer,
the long term benefits of such education is also not out of the question. In contrast, innovative
use of ICTs as a conduit for learning has looked more promising in some informal experiments.
Drawing from these experiences, A2I introduced Multimedia Classrooms in 500 secondary
schools, using one laptop with internet connection and a multimedia projector per classroom.
This approach proved to be much cheaper than a full-fledged computer lab and thus
economically more feasible. These classrooms have also succeeded in enhancing quality of
classroom learning, drawing deeper attention from students and making teachers more effective
in communicating difficult ideas. Taking this success one step further, A2I has trained 4500
teachers from the same schools through its Teacher-led Digital Content Development program.
Under this program teachers learn to develop and present digital contents for their classrooms,
using materials found on the internet and simple presentation software. In addition to the
textbooks, teachers can use digital contents in the multimedia classrooms to explain to students
difficult concepts with the help of text, images and animations on presentation slides. Teachers
also share the contents they have developed on an education blog (http://ictinedubd.ning.com/)
developed by A2I; dedicated to school teachers, trainers and educators. As part of teacher
training, A2I has made videos of some of the best classrooms and are disseminating them to
electronic version of textbooks for primary and secondary levels including technical, vocational
and madrasah is underway. Visually appealing and with options like search and text enlargement,
300+ e-books for primary and secondary levels have been created so far and uploaded on the
website (www.ebook.gov.bd). Anyone is able to download them or read online free-of-cost from
anywhere. For executing these initiatives, A2I has worked in partnership with Ministry of
Education (MoE), Ministry of Primary and Mass Education (MoPME), Directorate of Secondary
(DPE), National Curriculum and Textbooks Board (NCTB), Ministry of Educations teaching
Secondary and Higher Secondary Level Project (ICT Project), Teachers Training Colleges
Teachers Training Institute (BMTTI); Banglalink, Intel, Hosaf Group and other private partners.
Multimedia classrooms, digital contents and teacher training together will improve
overall quality of learning in primary and secondary education by promoting effective
and participatory learning and eliminating unnecessary memorizing tendencies.
With training and infrastructural support such as internet and computers, teachers will be
better equipped; access to unlimited global resources and knowledge sharing through
blog will empower teachers and students.
Results Achieved
Blog augmented resource sharing across the country, eventually will lead to a
library of digital contents
Conclusion
The rigid use of textbook material and its high complexity and great diversity of content does not
motivate students, as it imposes great difficulties on them in the understanding of concepts and
how to relate the topics being studied with real applications. The findings showed that students
prefer the flexibility in the learning process through ICT-based education. In areas with a
taught. In terms of technical support, experts, and course materials ICT-based education system
is expected to enhance its capability to satisfy the user groups. On the one hand, new knowledge
has to be added to the curriculum constantly, and at the same time any other knowledge becomes
obsolete. On the other hand, content has to be organized and ordered, relating every concept to
others, which is not a trivial task because of their number and how often they change. The ICT-
based education system is a holistic approach where a very high level of integrity and moral
standard is required by instructors, ICTs experts, students and other stakeholders. To be effective
everyone concerned with the process has to upgrade themselves continuously to keep pace with
the ever changing environment. The use of ICTs revolutionized the higher education through
virtual campus which has been more practical and well accepted by the all people around the
globe. Activities of the virtual Campus are centered around WWW (Figure 1). User groups
understanding and attitude towards WWW are instrumental to the development and sustainability
of the system. Just Copying strategies from advanced world will not serve the purpose of
Introduction
In the history of civilisation, perhaps no work of science has so comprehensive impact on the
course of human development as Information Technology (IT). It is regarded as one of the
greatest change agents of the century. In fact, it is breaking old barriers and building new inter-
connections in the emerging global village.
In most countries, the Government is the largest user of computers and related technology with
the objective of enhancing public service delivery through Information Technology. Encouraging
the diffusion of IT within public sector services is fundamental to supporting the social and
developmental goals of the country. The application of IT within the public administration can
improve efficiency, reduce wastage of resources, enhance planning and raise the quality of
services. Therefore, Governments should implement large-scale computer systems to assist in
managing large volumes of transactions that occur in the public service each day. The
experiences of most public sector organizations in implementing information technology-based
solutions have demonstrated the need for extensive and prescient managerial, technical and
operational IS/IT capabilities.
However, the focus of most computing in public sector has been on supporting traditional
administrative and functional transactions rather than that of effective delivery of service to the
public. Many continue to apply information technology in traditional ways oblivious to the
possibilities offered by the new developments. New opportunities for improving the operations
of public sector entities and for delivering government services through electronic means must
be taken. Governments should explore as how to make effective and sustainable use of
information technology to enhance both the operations of government entities and the delivery of
services provide to the public.
Definition
Like many features of the information age, e-government has proved somewhat difficult to
define in a completely satisfactory way. According to the World Bank E-government refers to the
use by government agencies of information technologies that have the ability to transform
relations with citizens, businesses, and other arms of government. These technologies can serve
following of different ends:
Interaction between a citizen or business and a government agency traditionally takes place in a
government office. With the emergence IT and E-Government, it is possible to re-locate service
centres from government office to locations closer to the clients such as cyber cafe or the use of
personal computer in the home or office.
Analogous to e-commerce, which allows businesses to transact with each other more efficiently
and brings customers closer to businesses, E-Government aims to make the interaction between
government and citizens (G2C), government and business enterprises (G2B), and inter-agency
relationships (G2G) more friendly, convenient, transparent, and inexpensive.
It is relevant to note that E-government is not just another way of doing existing activities; it is a
transformation on a scale that will fundamentally alter the way public services are delivered. It
does not have a time-line; rather it is evolutionary. The relationship is no longer just a one-way,
us (Government) versus them (citizens) proposition; rather it is about building a partnership
between governments and their citizens.
Purview
There are various elements of E-government, some of which are discussed below beifly:
Knowledge societies: the idea that a society can gain competitive advantage
internationally through using IT in a creative and productive way. This again reinforces
the linkage element across government, business, NGOs, and individuals.
E-commerce: frequently used and a subject in itself, e-commerce refers to firms that buy
and sell electronically, i.e. instead of going to a physical marketplace, a consumer can
trade from a virtual one.
E-government implies a mixture of all of these elements, and implies a broad approach based on
the development of relationships across all groups in society and a belief that these relationships
can be enriched or enhanced by the use of IT.
Government of Bangladesh has declared it (IT) as a thrust sector. It is a fact that in Bangladesh
that the government is moving relatively slow compared to the private sector. Transparency and
accountability of public sector services are yet to achieve the desired standard. It is argued that
IT is expected to quickening of the process of establishing the desired norms of good governance
through quick storage, collection, supply, exchange, assimilation and use of date, information
etc. necessary to achieve the purpose.
It is, however, encouraging to note that Ministry of Establishment (MoE) has already
undertaken some initiatives through three different projects for establishing IT
communications across various levels of GoB administration (see Box 1).
A proposal was placed to undertake a project under ADP to establish Bangladesh Institute of
Communication and Information Technology (BICIT) to cater for the IT needs. However, it
is reported that the last government rejected the proposal.
At present President's Secretariat, PM's Office, all Ministries/ Divisions and almost all
departments/ Corporations under them have computers and fax. Some Divisional and District
level offices (Div. Com, DC, SP.) also have computer and fax facilities. Computer is also
available in some Upazila level Offices (e. g. UNO office) at local initiative.
E-Mail Project with cost amounting to Tk. 6.1970 crore is under implementation in the
Ministry of Establishment (MoE) to connect all Ministries/ Divisions, Divisional
Commissioners & D. C. Offices.
Another project, Separate Wireless Communication Project (costing Tk. 8.40 crore) is also
under implementation by the same Ministry (i. e. MoE) to connect District HQs with Upazila
HQs.
The scope of government activity across countries may vary widely. In the context of the
activities of the Government of Bangladesh the applications of IT can be divided into the
following 3 (three) categories.
1. Mechanical System
3. Public Systems
The extent of electronising the government activities must be designed and planned in a manner
that is inconformity with over all development of the country in general and the extent of
development the countrys IT sector in particular. Considering this constraint, this paper tries to
sketch out a possible action plan for making the government into an E-government.
Current Status of IT in Bangladesh
The expansion of IT usage in all walks of life including government depends critically on the
extent and quality of IT resources and It infrastructure. This section discusses the current status
of IT in Bangladesh and an action agenda for a desirable IT infrastructure.
IT Resources
The total of IT organizations in 1999 were 1836. They were involved in various IT fields. The
distribution according to types of activities are shown below:
It is found that highest concentration was in HRD (41%), followed by users (26%). IT
organizations involved in marketing (10%) and data processing (6%) are relatively small
compared to HRD.
IT Organizations by Functions
It is reported that almost 50 percent of the people working in IT industry are involved as
computer operators numbering to 9154. On the other hand, proportion of people engaged
different technical functions are small. The proportions for System Analyst, Data Base Expert,
Network Expert, Programmer and Hardware Engineer were respectively 2.6 percent, 4.6 percent,
4.6 percent, 6.5 percent and 5.2 percent.
According to the survey the total number of IT Hardware was 78,658. Total numbers of Licensed
Software were 122713. The annual growth of PC marketing was found to be 33 percent. Dhaka
Division has the highest concentration (73%), followed by Chittagong (11%), Rajshahi (8%),
Khulna (4%), Sylhet (3%) and Barisal (1.3%).
Computing Facilities
At present, the computing facilities available in Bangladesh are reasonably strong. The
computing facilities include mainframe, mini and microcomputers. Besides, mid-range
computers like AS/400 are also being used by many organizations, predominantly by financial
institutions. Recently fast computing facility using supercomputer has been introduced in the
country. This facility has the scope for weather forecasting and mathematical modeling.
Corporate industries and most large business organizations have introduced Local Area Network
(LAN) in early 1990s. Banks and financial institutions have also been using LAN. Many of these
have already introduced Wide Area Network (WAN) to facilitate on line transactions.
CURRENT STATUS
Hardware:
(a) Number of computers (along with general configurations).
(b) Number of printers
(c) Number of scanners
(d) Number of UPS
(e) Number of servers
(f) Number of CD multimedia
(g) Number of Modems
(h) Number of CD writers
(i) Networking facilities.
Software:
Total cost over the five year plan period with detail breakdown
Total IT cost as a proportion of total current expenditure of the
ministry
Estimated user cost (incurred by client) of services provided by
ministry
The results of the above questionnaire survey will provide us with a comprehensive of state of
status of E-Government in Bangladesh and which would assist the authority to embark on a
feasible action plan to operationalized different aspects of the E-Government mentioned above.
.
Develop better communication/ marketing for e-Government services:
Individual government entities do not often have money or resources for publicizing its services.
The government's communications department is also not very well-endowed with resources.
The government may be able to partner up with various private entities to publicize its services.
One such entity may be the telecenters, which have access to citizens in remote locations.