In search of digital Bangladesh
Ever since the government pledged to make the country digital by 2021, except for hype and enthusiasm, there has been very little to its effect amidst a lack of coordination and a specific roadmap…writes Saad Hammadi
From the farmer in the remotest Upazila of Panchagarh to the bureaucrats of the government and the chief executives of private enterprises, the hype generated by the concept of a Digital Bangladesh has captured the imagination of one and all. And why not? The Awami League government in its election manifesto pledged to make the country 'digital' by the year 2021. But how? That is where the excitement and the enthusiasm starts wearing off as it is still not clear how its implementation will be brought about.
As of now, a clear definition of Digital Bangladesh has not been officially pronounced by the government. Instead, the government authorities have printed a line from the speech of the finance minister AMA Muhith during his budget announcement last year, to describe Digital Bangladesh. Interestingly however, the National ICT Policy 2009 has a slightly different description. The Access to Information programme with the Prime Minister's Office has another definition for Digital Bangladesh. At the grassroots, Digital Bangladesh is still an unclear concept.
As Mustafa Jabbar, president of Bangladesh Computer Samity pointed out, the irony lies in the fact that in class I of primary schools, a definition for a computer is only to be found in books and that too as a 'wonder machine' or abak jantra. 'Has the government produced even 5,000 teachers out of the 28,000 in primary schools to teach computers?' he asked. 'The government administration itself has yet to come out of its paper based working system.'
As the fiscal year reaches the halfway mark, there has not been expenditure of any note in the ICT industry from its budget allocation of Tk 100 crore, regretted Mustafa. Besides, the government selling one Mbps of bandwidth at Tk 18,000 exclusive of the value added tax after purchasing it for Tk 6,000 makes the government's commitment towards a Digital Bangladesh implausible to a degree.
Within government quarters, 2009 has been successful in delivering the National ICT Policy, however, without any effective implementation till date. There are also concerns over the 306 action plans it has laid out in the policy. The action plans have been divided into short term objectives, spanning 18 months, mid term i.e. within five years and long term i.e. within 10 years.
However, without a roadmap for the action plans, the policy remains incomplete, said stakeholders and development researchers. There has not been a mention of when a project will start, who will lead the implementation, how the funding will be arranged and how long it will take to complete. Without clear specifications, the action plans, it is feared, may cause an overlapping conflict between multiple ministries and agencies assigned for its implementation.
For instance, the installation of computer laboratories in primary schools has both the science and ICT ministry as well as the education ministry assigned for its implementation. 'The responsibility of the two ministries however has not been laid out in the action plan,' said Dr Ananya Raihan, executive director of Development Research Network (Dnet).
'For any sort of help, we will provide the service but we want individual ministries to implement the action plans themselves,' said Yeafesh Osman, state minister, Ministry of Science and ICT.
There is a lack of coordination in the implementation process of the action plans, said many stakeholders in the ICT sector and some representatives of the government.
The targets set for Digital Bangladesh are separately coordinated by the Access to Information (A2I) programme at the e-Government cell with the Prime Minister's Office and the Ministry of Science and ICT. 'As of now, there has not been an overlap,' said Osman.
'Formulating the policy has taken a long time,' said Habibullah N Karim, president of Bangladesh Association of Software Information and Services (Basis). 'What we need now is a rapid implementation of those plans.'
The government, instead of setting its priorities, approved the entire set of action plans that the review committee recommended, said Karim, who chaired the working committee for the National ICT Policy.
Interestingly, the action plan promises people online passport delivery and the ability to lodge police cases through text messages by the end of this year, which completes the 18 months of the government's short term targets. These are impractical targets, according to Dr Raihan. 'I can call for support through text messages or calls but to file a case, it may be possible through the Internet but not through SMS. The action plan document should be revised as some of its provisions are technically impossible to execute.'
While the action plans are highly ambitious, at the grassroots, people below the age of 30 – the youths, the most potent human resource of all – are still unaware of their roles and responsibilities in developing digital Bangladesh, said Jabbar. In contrast, Yeafesh said that the people at the grassroots are already very much active in their individual responsibilities.
There have been sporadic developments towards digitalising different services of the government and the private sector in the last one year. However, the efforts have failed to deliver a complete picture of the development to the public, said speakers at a roundtable titled 'One year of Digital Bangladesh' organised by the Bangladesh ICT Journalist Forum (BIJF).
'There has been a lack of coordination which is why the efforts of the government are not reaching the people of the country,' said Hasanul Huq Inu, chairman of the parliamentary standing committee for post and telecommunication. Inu, who also chaired the roundtable review agreed with other stakeholders of Digital Bangladesh that the science and ICT ministry and the post and telecommunication ministry should be merged. Many of the responsibilities of the two ministries are complementary but their separation makes the process haphazard, said Dr Raihan.
'Digital Bangladesh should aim to develop a knowledge-based society through the use of information and communication technology,' said TIM Nurul Kabir, chairman of Digital Knowledge Foundation. For this, the government agencies must be able to deliver their services to the public in the most efficient manner, using ICT.
A year end review of individual ministries' accomplishments towards Digital Bangladesh reveals that except for hosting websites and establishing internal computer networks, the ministries have only touched on parts of their action plans. The ICT state minister however, points out that it has only been six months since the government has settled down.
The post and telecommunication ministry for instance has only established a submarine cable network so far, as part of its accomplishments towards Digital Bangladesh. The ICT Policy – 2009 however, has at least 38 action plans registered for the ministry.
'The developments on part of the ministries are not satisfactory enough to ensure efficiency, accountability and transparency or overcoming sluggishness,' said Dr Raihan. 'Except for website based development, there has not been much progress in business process engineering.'
'You cannot ask for everything to be achieved overnight,' said Osman, while pointing out that his ministry maintains emails for every government document exchanged between departments.
'The progress of all the ministries will be reviewed every three months,' said Mahfuzur Rahman, additional secretary of the Ministry of Science and ICT. The ICT ministry has only recently submitted a proposal for Tk 80 crore, to implement its action plans. 'We are expecting the sanctioning of the fund within the month (January),' said Rahman, also the executive director of Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC).
In the meanwhile, he said that the BCC has called for tenders to install computer labs in 1,200 schools which will have five computers and a multimedia projector each. Since 2008, the government has been operating computer training centres exclusively for women in 30 districts. 'The project implemented by the Jatiya Mahila Sangstha, under the women and children affairs ministry, will continue till 2011,' said Jobayedur Rahman, director of the project.
Establishment of information centres and telecentres in the districts have been the most common of all the initiatives taken by the government. In the last one year, the government installed some 30 union information centres, 10 agricultural information and communication centres as well as another 11 fisheries information and communication centres. There are some 2,500 telecentres that have been installed across the country by non-governmental organisations and the private sector, said Dr Raihan.
The Bangladesh Bank has approved e-payment and remittance facilities through online banking. Also, the National Board of Revenue has started listing the taxpayers' status in an online database to check tax evasion and ease the payment procedure. The tax filing system is likely to begin in June. The government, in January, also introduced web portals for all the districts.
The ICT state minister believed that within a year and a half, the government can bring one or two international companies at the high-tech park in Gazipur. 'It is essential for the local population to get accustomed to international working standards,' said Osman while expressing his anticipation.
There, however, remain several concerns over the implementation of electronic services to facilitate Digital Bangladesh. With the Right to Information Act 2009, yet to be in practice, the flow of information is still uncertain. As Dr Raihan believes, the government is still not prepared, technically and mentally, to divulge all information.
With nearly 60 per cent of the population remaining outside the national power grid, accomplishing the goals that will lead towards a Digital Bangladesh is quite a challenge. The government is aiming at the use of solar technology in the areas that are not covered by the national power grid. 'We are using solar panels at the various information centres,' said Osman. 'Within our tenure, the problem of electricity will be resolved.'
However, despite all the early optimism and promise, without roadmaps for specific action plans and coordination between the implementing agencies, the prospect of a Digital Bangladesh remains out of reach at this point in time.
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