Russell T. Ahmed, President, BASIS
Only with today’s hindsight can we realise how crucial it was to set up digital centres at each union in a bid to connect every corner of the country with the digital network. The potential of Union Digital Centres seemed limitless and almost magical. Villagers would be able to get their birth certificates, fill up forms and apply for government services online, which would save them hours of commute, thousands of taka in money and a whole lot of hassle. It was said that the power of the internet would galvanise a glacial bureaucratic system. This would be the beginning of the digital revolution in Bangladesh.
Since then, we have seen how bureaucrats have embraced the potential of digital technology and social media. There have been incredible innovations in government services, and all of it geared towards serving the people. And all of this has been derived from the functional directions of our bureaucrats, a group that had been previously observed to be slow in embracing the change. The advancement in the private sector could only be put in perspective by how well it served us.
We could not, however, begin to comprehend the extent and robustness of the groundwork till 2020. It was amid the pandemic-induced lockdown restricting movement that we began to embrace digital technologies faster. Every aspect of life, from banking to grocery, from healthcare to education, has become digital. bKash, Chaldal, Pathao, and Surokkha are only a few of those initiatives that became synonymous with our digital life. The digital revolution was in full flow.
It was a great time to see how the market responded both with a sudden demand for remote services and an equally quick response with the supply of such services. The market adapted and innovated through the two years. The pandemic lockdown and consequent movement restrictions were perhaps just the right catalyst to push things along in the right direction.
The following year — 2021 — was when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government had set its deadline to achieve Digital Bangladesh under Vision 2021. Towards this noble vision, the achievement might not have been as comprehensive as we wanted it to be, might not have been without equivocations, and surely the dividends of digital technology will need to become more widespread. But by and large, the government had achieved its Vision 2021. Those magical promises from ten years did not seem so outlandish anymore.
It was also around the same time that Bangladesh got the United Nations’ nod for being well on its way to graduating into a developing country from a least developed country. The government, for its part, kept pushing itself with the declaration of a Smart Bangladesh under its Vision 2041 with a target to become a developed economy raising the average income from just over USD 2,800 by more than four times to USD 12,500 aiming. Already dubbed as a poster youngster for attaining the Millennium Development Goals, Bangladesh set its sights firmly on the SDG deadline of 2030, which would presumably come on the back of the same digital revolution that will see us through wholesome development.
Currently, Bangladesh boasts more than 183 million SIM card users, and almost forty per cent of that number has mobile financial service accounts. Bangladesh, as a developing economy, is the 35th largest in the world, with a GDP of nearly USD 465 billion. It is one of the fastest-growing economies not just in South Asia but in the world. And nearly 1.1 per cent of Bangladesh’s GDP comes from the ICT industry directly, according to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, and it is estimated that the indirect contribution of the ICT sector with its enabling chain impact adds up to 13 per cent yearly to the GDP. This has been only possible because of the rise in labour productivity and total factor productivity that followed the launch of Digital Bangladesh envisioned in 2010. The size of the domestic IT/ITES market is USD 1.54 billion. The growth of this sector will lead to more employment opportunities as well as a greater need for qualified human resources (especially those with leadership abilities) to keep up with the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).
That the digital revolution is upon us should be obvious, but it is not an end in itself. We must leverage its potential and make the most out of it. Although a digital revolution needs substantial investment in technology and infrastructure, it needs even more attention to transform our human capital into one that is suited to make optimum use of digital technology. According to UGC, there were over 200,000 students in engineering and technology in 2019. Roughly 25,000 students prepare each year to work in the ICT sector. Needless to say, those numbers need to be lifted up significantly. Further, it is not just the quantity of the human resource but also the quality that will matter.
What is crucial at this point is to understand that the digital revolution is not an event but a process. It will continue for quite some time to come for the digital revolution to become meaningful and of some significance because it will be riding on the back of this digital revolution that we will be ushering in Smart Bangladesh in 2041. It will be by dint of this sweeping wave that we will improve education, create jobs and raise income.
By 2030, the primary focus of capacity building will be scientific research and the technological capabilities of the industrial workforce. Towards that end, we will have to produce at least 125,000 students ready with future skills to get into the ICT sector by 2025. That would be a tall order if not prepared today.
If we really think about it, we have only done the easy part, which was to lay the foundation and begin creating an infrastructure. The uphill mission is only about to begin. Bringing about the revolution is no mean feat, but that is only the beginning. Harnessing its potential and keeping the momentum going is what takes much more effort, dedication, energy and perseverance.
Our resilience and innovation have overcome stiff challenges before, and I am sure we will come out on top this time too.