ICT Policy in Developing Countries workshop, Centre for Development Informatics, University of Manchester, UK Bangladesh National ICT Policy 2009: Key features and challenges

Policies Related to Science and Technology In 1997 the government of Bangladesh officially recognised that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can make an important development impact In 2002, the Ministry of Science and Technology was renamed as the Ministry of Science and Information and Communication Technology (MOICT) The existing science and technology policy of the country was adopted 24 years ago, in 1986. The vision of the policy was to meet the basic needs of human beings by harnessing the potential of science and technology.

ICT Policy of Bangladesh The first ICT Policy of Bangladesh was formulated in 2002 The ICT Policy has been revised in 2008 The revised ICT Policy has been adopted by the government in April 2009

Vision of ICT Policy 2009 Expand and diversify the use of ICTs to establish a transparent, responsive and accountable government Develop skilled human resources Enhance social equity Ensure cost-effective delivery of citizen-services through public-private partnerships Support the national goal of becoming a middle-income country within ten years and join the ranks of the developed countries of the world within thirty years.

Key feature of ICT policy 2009 The ICT Policy 2009 appropriately identified the objectives of ICT in development The Objectives of the policy are (1) Social equity (2) Productivity (3) Integrity (4) Education and research (5) Employment (6) Strengthening exports (7) Healthcare (8) Universal access (9) Environment, climate and disaster management (10) Support to ICTs.

Key feature of ICT policy 2009: Social equity Mainstream social advancement opportunities for disadvantaged groups as an immediate priority to minimize economic disparity and bridge the digital divide for (a) lower income groups, (b) ethnic minorities, (c) women, and (d) persons with disabilities and special needs Facilitate citizens’ participation in local and national government, and policy making as a broad national agenda Provide incentives to the private sector and NGO/CSO/CBOs to generate and share locally relevant and local language digital content and online services Develop and preserve content to bolster culture, heritage and religion Bring into focus children's issues, including protection of children from harmful digital content

Key feature of ICT policy 2009: Productivity Encourage maximum utilisation of ICT services nationwide to boost productivity of small, medium and micro enterprises and agriculture sector, and focus on innovation and competitiveness Ensure dissemination and utilisation of latest know-how and market information to increase production capability and supply chain management of agriculture through ICT applications Ensure better monitoring, skills gap determination, appropriate training and modern enterprise operations to enhance productivity of large enterprises by encouraging immediate implementation of end to end applications (ERP) Ensure sustainable productivity in the service sector through increased automation of operations and management information systems Encourage e-commerce, e-payments, and e-transactions in general bringing in a new dimension of productivity to the economy at the earliest

Key feature of ICT policy 2009: Integrity Ensure the use of Bangla in all ICT activities Reduce harassment, time and cost to the public and ensure transparency and accountability in government service delivery by monitoring citizens' charter and making service delivery results public Establish interconnectivity across government offices for effective data sharing Build capacity of public functionaries and foster leadership for electronic service delivery Mandate availability of all public information through electronic means and ensure sustainability of ICT-based citizens’ services delivery Introduce ICT-based monitoring of planning, implementation and effectiveness of development projects

Key feature of ICT policy 2009: Education and Research Assess skills of ICT professionals and meet gaps with targeted trainings. Encourage closer collaboration between academia and industry. Extend the reach of ICT literacy throughout the country by incorporating ICT courses in secondary education and technical and vocational education. Enhance the quality and reach of education at all levels with a special focus on Mathematics, Science and English Ensure ICT Literacy for all in public service Boost use of ICT tools in all levels of education. Ensure that all universities provide global standard ICT education.

Key feature of ICT policy 2009: Employment Generation Provide incentives for investment in local ICT industry Build institutional capacity for producing greater number of IT professionals in line with domestic and global demands for knowledge workers Standardize skills for local ICT industry Facilitate global employment of skilled ICT workforce Provide financial assistance to ICT professionals for skills development

Key feature of ICT policy 2009: Strengthening Exports Develop strong marketing, promotion and branding for Bangladeshi ICT products and services in global markets Ensure access to finance for promising software and ITES companies Develop and maintain reliable ICT infrastructure Provide incentives to increase export and create industry friendly policy and enabling environment Foster innovation through research and development to improve quality, process, technology, domain, value chain and niche markets

Key feature of ICT policy 2009: Healthcare Improve management of healthcare delivery system Improve community awareness and access to health care facilities for all including difficult to access areas, with a special emphasis on child and maternal health Ensure Quality Assurance of health care services Enhance capacity of National Health Service Delivery System

Key feature of ICT policy 2009: Universal Access Extend universal connectivity to all citizens as a public service obligation within 5 years Extend internet backbone infrastructure to all district headquarters immediately at the same access cost as in the capital Extend Internet and IP telephony services to all parts of the country within 5 years through providing incentives as stipulated in the national telecom policy Make IP-based telecommunications ubiquitous and affordable by all through aggressive adoption of NGN and license-free regime

Key feature of ICT policy 2009: Environment, Climate and Disaster Management Promote environmental preservation by adopting environment-friendly green technologies Promote environmental protection through the use of ICT tools Protect citizens from natural disasters through ICT-based disaster warning and management technologies Ensure safe disposal of toxic wastes resulting from use of ICTs Promote efficient relief management and post disaster activities monitoring

Key feature of ICT policy 2009: Supports to ICTs Ensure reliable and cost-effective power Create supportive legal framework for IPR protection, online document sharing, transactions and payments Establish a Government Interoperability Framework to be adhered to by all government ICT projects Promote the use of cost-effective, open source and open architecture solutions Build ICT infrastructure facilities in educational institutions Decentralize ICT growth outside the capital Improve education quality in IT, Mathematics and English Improve Internet availability and reliability

Institutional Arrangements Ministry of Science and Information and Communication Technology Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC) Ministry of Post and Telecommunications (MoPT) Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC)   Support to ICT Task Force (SICT) Programme Bangladesh Computer Samity (BCS)

Challenges Ensuring power supply Building inclusive information and knowledge system Intellectual Property Rights Absence of Universal access policy Building E-learning Infrastructure Digital Government Access to Government Information Online transaction and payment infrastructure Promotion of e-business and e-commerce Automation of financial industry

Digital Bangladesh and ICT Policy 2009 ICT Policy 2009 has specific direction and guidelines reflecting most of the priorities of the Digital Bangladesh agenda of current government of Bangladesh.

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