Digital Bangladesh has now set sail to transform Smart Bangladesh. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has announced the making of ‘Smart Bangladesh’ by 2041. The government has set four foundations to implement this Smart Bangladesh goal.
These are Smart Citizen, Smart Economy, Smart Government and Smart Society. ‘Aspire to Innovate-a2i’ implemented by the Cabinet Division and the Information and Communication Technology Division and supported by UNDP has been providing support in various innovative initiatives to facilitate information technology-based citizen services. the a2i is supporting the construction of Smart City and Smart Village in Bangladesh to implement Vision 2041.
Besides, various departments/organizations of the government are helping to create smart service plans to facilitate the service. In the meantime, Civil Service 2041 has started its journey in collaboration with a2i. In the outgoing year 2022, Bangladesh has been included in the World Bank’s ‘Govtech Leaders’ list by implementing new projects to provide various government services using digital technology and create an ecosystem to involve citizens in receiving these services. Bangladesh has risen to this position in the Govtech Maturity Index (GTMI) 2022 published by the World Bank. Besides, Bangladesh has advanced 20 steps to 75th in e-Participation and 8 steps in United Nations e-Government Development Index.
WSIS Awards 2022: A total of 9 innovation initiatives from Bangladesh, including 4 from a2i, were awarded in the final phase. At the WCIT 2022 International Conference, a2i’s ‘National Portal Framework’ initiative was given the Chairman’s Award out of 165 projects from around the world. Besides, another project of a2i won 1st place in the ‘Covid-19 National Dashboard’ – Innovative e-Health Solutions Award category.
In implementing Vision 2021, under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the guidance of Prime Minister’s Information and Communication Technology Advisor Sajeeb Wazed Joy, the government of Bangladesh has already been able to build Digital Bangladesh. Even in the critical moment of the Covid-19 pandemic, citizens have got almost all kinds of services online at home, which is the benefit of Digital Bangladesh. From health and medical system of the country to education, office-court, bank, meeting-seminar, conference, etc., besides making it online-based, they have been able to buy daily essentials from home. Apart from this, information services related to corona virus, telemedicine services, emergency food assistance for the underprivileged have also been provided around information technology. Due to this availability of technology, all types of bills and financial transactions are being done online at home. Not only in the city, but beyond the district and Upazila headquarters, villages, Sheikh Hasina’s government has provided information technology services even to remote and distant areas. Digital Bangladesh has published two publications titled ‘My Digital Bangladesh: Innovating a2i’ and ‘Coffee Table Book-The a2i Journey’ based on initiatives taken to facilitate citizen services.
ekShop Global : In the outgoing year 2022, a digital haat was launched by connecting all the farmers and haats like the 2nd year for the sale of sacrificial animals. UBID Registration and Central Grievance Redressal System were introduced to give confidence to the e-commerce sector. ‘ekShop Global’ has been launched to spread the products of domestic entrepreneurs across the world.
Also, through South-South cooperation, the best practices of Bangladesh have already started to be replicated in different countries of the world. E-commerce based platform – Eshop in Turkey, Yemen and South Sudan; Skills and Employment Platform – NISE in Jordan and Somalia; Government Services Consolidation Platform – MyGov is being replicated in the Philippines.
RMS Software Launched: Online Causelist, Judicial Monitoring Dashboard and My Court (MyCourt) app launched to simplify judicial process. Besides, digital center based one-stop service center for CMSME entrepreneurs and PPS and RMS software to ensure transparency and accountability in project work.
12 years completion: This year, the Digital Center, which has been established as a rural economic hub, completes 1 year. Initiatives have been taken to launch expatriate help desks at digital centers across the country to facilitate the emigration journey of Bangladeshi citizens and to provide emigration preparation documents and services from a one-stop service point. a2i launched a network called ‘Sathi’ to accelerate the government’s financial inclusion program and increase women’s participation in financial inclusion. In collaboration with Bangladesh Bank, Department of Financial Institutions and various commercial banks, A2I has started the journey of this network with women entrepreneurs of Digital Center at the initial stage. All service bills in the country,
Multimedia Talking Books: Bangladesh has signed the Marrakesh Convention to ensure the right of people with disabilities to read books. All websites under the National Information Service have been made accessible to persons with disabilities. The a2i celebrated the ‘Global Accessibility Awareness Day’ for the first time in Bangladesh in sync with the world. The National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) has taken the initiative to develop and implement a2i-authored innovative multimedia talking books from the academic year 2023.
Formulation of 40 curricula for skill development: About 39 initiatives from various Ministries/Departments/Subordinate Offices/Organizations have been collaborated in designing using advanced technologies related to Fourth Industrial Revolution. Support for development of 40 curricula to develop skills on the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the first in Bangladesh. 21 Departments/Departments dealing with skill development have undertaken initiatives on skill development in occupations relevant to the fourth-industrial revolution. About 6,50,000 youth and 386 skill development institutions have been informed on the National Intelligence for Skills, Education, Application and Entrepreneurship (NISE) platform as well as about 18,000 government/private sector officials. Over 2 lakh job opportunities have been created through organizing nationwide job fairs, through NISE platform and through joint programs with other partners. Proper advice on employment for the unemployed youth of the country,
Blended Learning: Provided online orientation training to 3 lakh 15 thousand+ teachers at secondary level and 3 lakh 50 thousand+ subject-wise online training to 3 lakh 50 thousand+ teachers on 13 subjects of 6th and 7th class using e-learning platform Muktopaath. Technical assistance has been provided to Directorate of Secondary Higher Education and National Curriculum and Textbook Board in this regard. It provided technical assistance to Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education and UNICEF to provide online training on ‘Mental Health First Aid’ through Muktopaath platform to about 2 lakh 55 thousand teachers to ensure mental health and safety of students. The Vision 2041, A timely, objective to build Smart Bangladesh.
National helplines 333 and 16122 have started working together to provide emergency land related services. By calling 333-2, you can receive khatian (paper) and land map by post, payment of khatian and namazari fee and land development tax from anywhere, namazari application, information related to land laws and regulations and various complaints etc. from your home.
CKD of electric vehicles in the country: In consideration of global climate change, a2i’s iLab is engaged in CKD and production of electric vehicles domestically with the support of stakeholders (automobile associations, local automobile industry and expatriate skilled engineers) to increase technical knowledge and improve standards for the development of electric vehicles and environment-friendly industries. Provide technical assistance to prepare a stand-alone electric vehicle policy incorporating the Automobile Industry Development Policy-2021, Electric Vehicle Charging Guidelines, Road Transport Act-2018 and Electric Motor Vehicle Registration and Movement Policy-2022. Environment in setting up a research center for production of eco-friendly batteries, Provided necessary technical support to the Ministry of Forests and Climate Change.a2i’s lab is developing a standardized design of a three-wheeled electric vehicle (currently known as an easy bike) involving stakeholders. Providing necessary technical assistance in formulating recommendations and policies with the National Board of Revenue regarding tax rebates in the case of production of electric vehicles.
Bangladesh’s achievements have been highlighted in various policy forums of the world including High Level Political Forum, United Nations General Assembly, Global South South Development Expo. Through this, 3 volume publications have been created with about 61 best practices from different countries of the world, in which more than 10 best practices of Bangladesh have emerged in order to promote the exchange of knowledge and experience about the same development challenges of the southern regional and less developed countries. Besides, 21 good practices of Bangladesh have been published in the publication ‘Good Practices in South-South and Triangular Cooperation’ compiled by the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation. 2 Best Practices of Bangladesh (e-commerce based platform- ekShop and Skill and Employment related platform- NISE) have been nominated as Digital Public Goods.
The challenge competition was launched to find different ideas for creating education-info-entertainment based OTT platforms, simplifying government document processing, pregnancy monitoring, inclusion of women and small entrepreneurs in the financial sector, traceability and rocketry and improving the quality of life of women in hilly areas.