Nokia-BEI Roundtable on Progressing Bangladesh towards an Information Society The joint Nokia‐BEI Roundtable took place on October 18th 2009 at the Sheraton Garden, Dhaka. Speakers and analysts gathered to discuss strategies for the growth of the information technology (IT) sector in Bangladesh.
The government should ensure equitable access to new communication technologies to both rural and urban areas simultaneously, speakers said. President of BEI, Mr. Farooq Sobhan began the address by explaining how we can promote the continued growth of our IT industries and our information infrastructure so that all segments of our society can share the benefits of the Information Age. This is particularly crucial in the Bangladesh context, where many citizens still are not connected by telephone or computer.
"It is essential that the government commits to the goal of developing a truly inclusive and equitable national and global infrastructure," said Farooq Sobhan, president of Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI). "Global infrastructure must reach rural people as well as urban, poor as well as wealthy, and those in developing and developed nations," said Mr. Sobhan. "Industry leaders and the government must work together to ensure equitable growth."
The discussion mainly focused on one of the present government's election pledges to create a Digital Bangladesh by 2021.Dr Jamilur Reza Choudhury, vice chancellor of BRAC University, presented a keynote paper. Information Minister Abul Kalam Azad was present as the chief guest. Choudhury said the whole country should be covered by information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure."The government should start implementing a plan of action in line with the ICT policy‐2009 as soon as possible," he said. he information minister urged ICT entrepreneurs to come forward with private partnership programme (PPP) ideas to disseminate new communication technology to the mass at affordable costs. "New entrepreneurship is needed to resolve the existing ICT sector problems," the minister said, adding that there is no alternative to developing the ICT sector to ensure good governance.
Prem Chand, general manager of Nokia Emerging Asia, Bangladesh, said there is no alternative to mobile internet. Bangladesh's internet penetration rate is only 0.3 percent, the lowest among Asian countries. "Introducing new communication technology through fiber optic cables makes no economic sense in the present technology growing market," Prem said, adding that mobile internet can narrow the digital divide. According to him, 50 percent users prefer access to the internet on their mobiles.
Habibullah N Karim, president of Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Service, and Munir Hasan, former consultant of Access to Information Programme, Prime Minister's Office, also spoke.
Economic Contribution of IT Mr. Farooq Sobhan said that the transition to a high‐tech economy is occurring, not just domestically, but also globally. Ten years ago no‐one would have believed that today we would have streaming technologies, IP telephony, a wireless revolution, or electronic books. These new technologies and applications contribute significantly to our economic growth. Even in the face of recent economic turmoil, the Asian region has experienced impressive growth in its IT sector. Equitable Growth Speakers agreed that the private sector provides the energy, the initiative, the entrepreneurial spirit, the innovation, and the investment that is fueling this economic, technological, cultural, and social revolution. Mr. Sobhan articulated that the role that governments should and must play in "realizing the visions" for the new information economies. Among these key roles, governments should ensure equitable access to new technologies; provide a framework for investment, growth, and competition; open markets to international competition; and create an educated workforce that is able to meet the job demands of a digital economy.
He emphasized that it is essential that governments commit themselves to the goal of developing a truly inclusive and equitable national and global infrastructure. Expanding our global information infrastructure is critical, not only because of business imperatives, but also because it will help us meet basic societal needs. New technologies are connecting those who previously had no link to the global economy or to other societies.
These technologies are also bringing medical, educational, and economic services within the reach of people who never before had access to such information. A new project in Malaysia, for example, is connecting seven hospitals so they can engage in joint consultation, diagnosis, and treatment. A small hospital in a rural village, which lacks specialized expertise can now contact medical specialists in Kuala Lumpur. New technologies are even helping farmers improve their crop yields through new precision farming techniques, combining the Internet, computers, and the Global Positioning System.
Mr. Sobhan continued that Industry and government must work together to ensure that such growth is equitable. The global infrastructure must reach rural people as well as urban, poor as well as wealthy, and those in developing as well as developed nations. Private Investment and Competition Mr. Sobhan said that the promises of information technology fulfilled if citizens have affordable access to new technologies. And that leads to the second important role for governments: providing a framework suitable for investment, growth, and competition. We believe that affordable access will be possible only through competition and a regulatory environment that supports users and consumers, not national champions. In the telecommunications sector, we have already seen the fruits of this approach complexes to attract foreign investors and promote domestic investment. Competition among these private entities should continue to improve services and lower prices for Bangladesh. Moble Banking, Private Investment and Competition Speakers discussed that just recently on the 6th of October the Bangladesh Central Bank has given permission to a private limited company , allowing the transfer of funds through mobile phones from one individual to another via a mobile phone or through the internet.
While the applications of such technologies has been very successful in Kenya and the Philippines, the government should make the processes for obtaining such important licenses more transparent and give everyone a level playing field instead of choosing an arbitrary private company in order to reduce transaction for the common man.
By far the most successful example of mobile money is M‐PESA, launched in 2007 by Safaricom of Kenya. It now has nearly 7m users—not bad for a country of 38m people, 18.3m of whom have mobile phones. M‐PESA first became popular as a way for young, male urban migrants to send money back to their families in the countryside. It is now used to pay for everything from school fees (no need to queue up at the bank every month to hand over a wad of bills) to taxis (drivers like it because they are carrying around less cash). Similar schemes are popular in the Philippines and South Africa.
Conclusion Speakers and analysts agreed that the information technology potential of Bangladesh was mostly untapped. Great strides can be made in all sectors in Bangladesh if internet and information can be more evenly distributed to the masses through the help of mobile devices rather than computers. It was agreed that permeation of important pieces of information at critical time, facilitated through the use of mobile devices, would result in significant benefits to the economy. |
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