On Digital Bangladesh Day, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that the establishment of Union Digital Center has given employment to thousands of people in the village. Now they are being given the opportunity to become skilled. In another speech, demarcating the outline of Smart Bangladesh, she said, using information technology, our people will be e-population. Our administration is e-Governance, Judiciary IT-enabled Judiciary. Our economy is e-economy, e-education, e-health. This is how we will build a smart Bangladesh by 2041.
Earlier, on November 11, 2010, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the ‘Union Information and Service Center’ in 4,500 unions across the country. In course of time it was renamed as ‘Union Digital Centre’. Following the same model of centers in urban and rural areas, it is now only known as ‘Digital Centre’. This center will now be delivered to every village of the country to bring public-private services closer to the people. Its services are smart.
Regarding this, ICT State Minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak said, “One digital center will be established in 87 thousand villages of the country, so that by establishing one digital center every 2 kilometers instead of every 5 kilometers, it is possible to deliver all services within the reach of the people.”
Currently there are 8 thousand 805 digital centers in different parts of the country and abroad. The number of digital centers abroad is now 15. Initiatives are being taken to replace the digital center model established in Bangladesh in foreign soil in the future. Anir Chowdhury, Policy Advisor of a2i said, We have already started activities to make digital centers across the country as cottage, micro, small and medium (CMSME) industrial hubs in all Upazilas of the country. There are plans to replace the Bangladesh digital center model in at least 50 of its 170 member countries within the next three years with the help of the United Nations.”
In addition to these initiatives, those concerned are calling for special programs to retain women entrepreneurs who have dropped out at the grassroots for various reasons in the long term. The e-CAB President Shomi Kaiser called for special programs to retain women entrepreneurs for the long term.
The government is working to promote grassroots entrepreneurs through digital service centers. a2i is implementing ‘Smart Services for All’ by 2041 to achieve the target. The a2i program is being implemented under the Cabinet Division and Information and Communication Technology Division with the support of UNDP. The government has already approved the draft law to transform a2i into an autonomous body.
ICT State Minister Palak said, “The digital center has worked to take in-line services online, city services to villages and country services abroad. Digital Center has succeeded in establishing youth as ‘job givers’ rather than just ‘job seekers’.”
Currently there are 8 thousand 805 digital centers in different parts of the country and abroad. The number of digital centers abroad is 15.
“These centers have more than 16 thousand entrepreneurs, serving an average of over 70 lakhs per month. There are more than three hundred public and private services in the list of services. By creating a partnership environment between women and men, we have to take initiatives so that entrepreneurs can work to establish each digital center as a rural economic hub” – added a2i Project Director Dr. Dewan Muhammad Humayun.
Digital Center is recognized globally as a successful role model in delivering services at the doorstep of citizens. In 8,805 digital centers across the country, men and women entrepreneurs have been bringing all public and private services to the doorsteps of citizens easily, quickly and at low cost for the past 1 century. An average of more than 70 lakh services are being provided from these centers every month. So far the digital center entrepreneurs have already provided more than 80.28 crore services to the citizens. As a result, citizens have been able to save 78.14% working hours, 16.55% expenses and 17.4% travel.
Apart from e-documents, smart services like national helpline 333, e-namejari, i-lab, virtual court system, digital classroom and ‘binimoy’ have been added to the e-commerce sector as well as ‘digbox’. Digital services are smart. In this regard, Mobile Financial Service (MFS) is playing a major role in the digitalization of financial transactions. This year the number of MFS account holders also crossed 18 crore. At present, about 3 thousand crores of Tk. are being transacted daily through 13 MFS operators including bKash, Rocket, Nagad.
Prime Minister’s ICT Adviser Sajeeb Wazed inaugurated the binimoy platform to utilize this potential. He said, the concept, planning and implementation of Digital Bangladesh is our own, maybe some foreign companies have worked in the implementation of some projects, but the whole plan, design has been done in Bangladesh’s own capacity. My next goal is to build a cashless society. In the next 2-3 years, all government services will be digitized.
According to ICT department sources, 18 years ago the size of the digital economy was only 26 million dollars. Currently it has exceeded 1.4 billion dollars. The government aims to increase ICT exports to $5 billion by 2025 and employment in the ICT sector to 3 million by creating skilled human resources through training. 192 domestic and foreign companies have started business operations in 109 hi-tech, IT parks or 10 parks built within Sheikh Kamal IT Incubation Center (17 private IT parks). The investment has been 1.5 billion rupees.
And the vehicle of every work has been internet and digital devices. This year itself, internet subscribers have crossed the milestone of 12.5 crores. As per SIM registration, cellphone users have crossed 18 crores. According to the latest Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), there are currently 12.61 million internet users in the country, of which 11.66 million are telecom operator dependent users. Among the number of Internet users, there are very few broadband users. Bangladesh still lags behind in broadband internet speed and service. However, in overcoming this situation, BTRC has won the global award for the implementation of ‘One Country One Rate Service’ this year.
Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar said, I am grateful to the ISPs for implementing one country one rate. Now many are offering internet for less.
Also, smart cars are being manufactured in the country since the outgoing year. Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) has registered the first electric bike this year. Walton electric bike ‘Takion’ has been registered. Two new domestic companies, Bagh Eco Motors and Palki Motors, have come into discussion by making battery-powered private cars in the country. Young people are supporting the red-green flag by participating in various competitions in the world. For the 3rd time, Bangladesh has won the title of NASA Space Apps Challenge’22 world champion by defeating 5327 teams from 162 countries around the world. Startup Compass has started across the country. ‘Startup Bangladesh Limited’, an organization under the ICT Division, is investing Tk. 500 crore in the next five years to develop the startup culture and utilize the innovative opportunities of startups. It has invested more than 53 crore taka in the current year.