1 Country Paper Presentation BANGLADESH Presented by: Md. Zabed Ali Sorker Deputy Director (Systems) Bangladesh Computer Council Ministry of Science and Information & Communication Technology

degree and degree North Latitude degree and degree East Longitude

3 Flag & Map of BANGLADESH

4 Country Profile - Bangladesh Official Name:The Peoples Republic of Bangladesh Area:147,570 Sq. Km (1.48 Million Sq. Km) Population: Million Capital City:Dhaka Population Growth Rate :1.4 % GDP Growth rate :6.7% Per capita GDP:About USD 382

5 Climate Climate Mean of Minimum temperature varies :Mean of Minimum temperature varies : 4.5 degree centigrade to 13.4 degree centigrade Mean of Maximum temperature varies :Mean of Maximum temperature varies : 25.5 degree centigrade to 36.8 degree centigrade Rainfall rateRainfall rate 50 inches (127cm) to 136 inches(345 cm). SeasonsSeasons Six Seasons. It changes in every two months. Summer and Winter are the two main seasons. TimeTime 6 hours ahead of GMT. About Bangladesh (Cont.)

6 Language Banglais the official language of the country. Englishis the second language and widely used in Education, Business & Commerce. Arabicis also used, learned and understood by Muslim Community as the religions language. HindiSome peoples also knows very much. About Bangladesh (Cont.)

7 Ministry of Science & ICT and Bangladesh Computer Council Bangladesh Computer Council Ministry of Science & ICT is one of the leading Ministry of the Govt. Earlier it was named as Ministry of Science & Technology. Which was renamed as Ministry of Science & ICT by the present Govt. The Ministry mainly deals with the development of Science & ICT in the country. Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC) is the Apex body of the Government under Ministry of Science & ICT (MOSICT). BCC is performing the activities for ICT promotion, planning, implementation and monitoring.

8 Major Functions of BCC (i) To promote the effective application and expansion of Information & Communication Technology (ICT); (ii)To formulate & implement National Strategies and Policies regarding computer and ICT; (iii)To develop human resource for the effective use of ICT; (iv)To cooperate with the Government and other agencies to implement the objectives of the national ICT plans; (v)To advise and encourage the Government and other agencies for the use of computer and ICT; (vi)To determine the Standards and Specification for computer and ICT at the national level, etc. About BCC (Cont.)

9 ICT is the Fastest Growing Sector of Bangladesh economy. ICT has been declared as one of the Thrust Sector by the Government. A National ICT Task Force, headed by the Honorable Prime Minister is directing the ICT initiatives in the country. Govt. views on ICT

10 National ICT Policy Vision This Policy aims at building an ICT-driven nation comprising of knowledge-based society by the year 2006 through a country- wide ICT-infrastructure to ensure access to information by every citizen to facilitate empowerment of people and enhance democratic values and norms for sustainable economic development.

11 ICT Education 21 Public Universities, 52 Private Universities, 31 Colleges under National University, a number of franchise computer training institutes are offering graduation degree in ICT and are annually producing over 5000 graduates per year.

12 Telecom Infrastructure Fixed line Telephone : 1.10 Million (Public Sector) Fixed line Telephone : 1.10 Million (Public Sector) Mobile Telephone : 10.0 Million (Private Sector) Mobile Telephone : 10.0 Million (Private Sector) Tele density : 7.14 (aprx.) line per 100 people Tele density : 7.14 (aprx.) line per 100 people Number of VSAT User : 92 Number of VSAT User : 92 Ground Satellite Station: 04 Ground Satellite Station: 04 Submarine cable line: SEA-ME-WE-4 Consortium Submarine cable line: SEA-ME-WE-4 Consortium 10GB Bandwidth 10GB Bandwidth

13 Internet in Bangladesh PC Penetration rate: 1.5 Sets/1000 Peoples PC Penetration rate: 1.5 Sets/1000 Peoples International Internet Backbone: 10GB + International Internet Backbone: 10GB + First ISP Introduced: 1996 First ISP Introduced: 1996 Number of Registered ISPs: 178 Number of Registered ISPs: 178 ISP Subscriber (estimated): 2 million ISP Subscriber (estimated): 2 million

14 Internet in Rural Areas Tele coverage is 61 out of 64 districts and 440 out of 460 Upazilas in the country. Grameen communication (ISP) Village Services Village Services Village internet Program Village internet Program Village cyber kiosk Village cyber kiosk Community Information Center Community Information Center Grameen Shakti (ISP) Village Services Village Services Village internet Program Village internet Program Solar power computers Solar power computers

15 Bangladesh Computer Samity The ICT Associations: Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services Internet Service Providers Association in Bangladesh ICT Industry in Bangladesh The ICT industries of Bangladesh comprises distributors, dealers, resellers of computer and allied products, locally assembled computer vendors, software developers and exporters, internet service providers, ICT based educational institutions and training houses, ICT embedded services providers etc.

16 Software Industry Bangladesh Software Industry is meeting the local need of the software market as well as has entered into the software export market. A number of Bangladeshi software companies have been regularly exporting software and ITES in about 30 countries, most of them are from developed World like USA, Canada, Norway, German, UK, Denmark, Sweden, Australia etc. Areas of Services Provided by the Software Industry Data Entry, Medical Transcription Data Entry, Medical Transcription Data Processing Data Processing IT-enabled Services (ITES) IT-enabled Services (ITES) Software Development Software Development Electronic-Book/Library Electronic-Book/Library Web Portal Services Web Portal Services Call-centre Call-centre Telemedicine Telemedicine Consultancy and Turnkey Projects in ICT Consultancy and Turnkey Projects in ICT

17 Government Initiatives for Promotion- National ICT Policy. National ICT Policy. Exemption of Tax/VAT on Computer Hardware and Software. Exemption of Tax/VAT on Computer Hardware and Software. Deregulation of Telecom Sector & Establishment of BTRC. Deregulation of Telecom Sector & Establishment of BTRC. Installation of Digital Data Network in all Districts and Upazilas. Installation of Digital Data Network in all Districts and Upazilas. Creation of Equity fund for the Investors. Creation of Equity fund for the Investors. Protection of Intellectual Property Right Protection of Intellectual Property Right Distribution of computers to School/Colleges Distribution of computers to School/Colleges Establishment of ICT Business Promotion Council Establishment of ICT Business Promotion Council Standardization of Bangla Keyboard and Development of UNI-CODE compliant Bangla Software Standardization of Bangla Keyboard and Development of UNI-CODE compliant Bangla Software

18 for HRD-  ICT Training for the Government Employees.  Computer Training for Secondary School/College Teachers.  Ranking of ICT training Institutes to ensure and provide standard ICT training in the country.  Introduce Post-Graduate Diploma (PGD) Program in public Universities to produce quality ICT Professionals.  ICT Internship program to provide on the Job training to new graduates. Govt. is providing 60% of their monthly allowance & 40% by the organization.  Has setup standard computer training centers at Divisional & District headquarters.  Establishment of Bangladesh-Korea Institute of Information and Communication Technology (BKIICT) in collaboration with KOICA.  Introduce of ICT Scholarship for Talent Students. Government Initiatives Cont.

19 for Infrastructure-  Development of Infrastructure for IT applications (DIITA) to Provide high speed data communication (2Mbps), country’s first broad band internet connectivity provider.  Establishment of ICT Incubator for the Development of Software and ICT enable services.  Hi-Tech Park- A would class Hi Tech Park will be established on 231 acres of land near Dhaka with all modern facilities.  128 Computer Labs in Schools and Colleges are going to be established in 64 district headquarter. Government Initiatives Cont.

20 for E-governance-  MoSICT and SICT Project of Planning Commission are implementing e- government activities in the country. The Projects includes the following activities :  Creation of a National Database  Creation of a Pool of ICT Professionals  Establishment of LAN & Internet facilities in 49 Ministries/Divisions  Supply of Hardware/software to the Ministries/Divisions  Assist Ministries/Divisions in creating websites and hosting information on the utility services provided by them Government Initiatives Cont.

21 for Legislations-  MoSICT has prepared a Draft IT (electronics transaction) Act which is ready to place before the parliament, which will legislate e-commerce's, digital Signature, protect cyber crime etc.  An amendment has been made on Bangladesh Telecommunication Act in February 2006 for the legalization of the Lawful Interception in Communications.  Necessary provisions has been incorporated in the Copy Right Act 2000 (Revised) to protect the IPR of software. Government Initiatives Cont.

22 Cyber crime is a great threat not for the individual country but for the global information society and obviously cyber security is a vital issue of the day. Bangladesh is on the way to accept necessary security measure to be followed to prevent, detect and protect cyber crime. Conclusion

23 Thank You