An Overview of ICT and OSS in Bangladesh Presentation by Sayeed Rahman Founder of BANGLA IT at 3rd Asia Open Source Software Symposium, Hanoi Vietnam March,

Outline of Presentation The need for ICT in Bangladesh  Background development of ICT in Bangladesh Overview of Bangladesh Economy The need for OSS in Bangladesh Present Position of OSS in Bangladesh Present position of ICT in Bangladesh  Future Plan for OSS in Bangladesh

The need for ICT in Bangladesh ICT plays an indispensable role in promoting openness, accessibility,accountability, connectivity, democracy and decentralization- all the “soft” qualities so essential for effective social, economic, and political development. Bangladesh needs the capacity to network with people, ideas and initiatives. This is as critical and fundamental to nation building as water, agriculture, health and housing, and without it, Bangladesh’s democracy could founder.

Background development of ICT in Bangladesh Computer use started back in 1964 by Atomic Energy Center, Dhaka and Universities, first main frame computer came to Bangladesh in 1964 The Internet came late in Bangladesh, with UUCP beginning in 1993 and IP connectivity in By July 1997 there were an estimated 5,500 IP and UUCP accounts. Source: In June, 1996 the government decided to allow private companies to act as Internet Services Providers (ISPs) using VSATs. In June 1997, the Government of Bangladesh appointed a Committee to look into the problems and prospects of export of software from Bangladesh. The Committee submitted its report in September, The government has taken a decision on June, 1998 to withdraw all import duties and VAT from all computer hardware and software. This has brought the prices of computers down to a level affordable by middle income households

Overview of Bangladesh Economy Population: million (UN, 2003) Area Total: 144,000 sq km Purchasing Power Parity: $1,800 (2002 est.) Average annual income: US $360 (World Bank, 2001) GDP - real growth rate: 5.6% (2001 est.) Population below poverty line: 36% Unemployment rate: 35% (2001 est.) Literacy Rate Total: 41% (2001) Literacy Rate Total: 41% (2001) Exports: $6.6 billion (2001) Imports: $8.7 billion (2001) Internet domain:.bd International dialling code: +880

The need for OSS in Bangladesh Open source is especially appealing to developing countries such as Bangladesh, which see it as a way to help close the technological divide that separates rich and poor nations Microsoft Windows and Office cost at least $140 in Bangladesh -- way out of reach for most people, where the per capita annual income is roughly $380. The economic logic of using software that's free is hard to resist, and more and more countries seem willing to take a chance on it. China, Japan and South Korea recently announced that they will work together to develop an open-source alternative to Microsoft The OSS is Bangladesh’s solution to software piracy, a rampant problem that threatens to derail the country's economic aspirations.

Present Position of OSS in Bangladesh Mostly all 50 Software Developing Houses in Bangladesh uses OSS like MySQL database server, PHP, Perl, Apache web server More than 25% of Total 21 Public and 51 Private Universities which producing 6000 ICT related graduate every year in Bangladesh uses OSS. Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology’s Institute of Information and Communication Technology (IICT) taking leading role to Promote OSS among Academia and Industry with BANGLA IT joint initiative Different Universities taking initiative for Extensive use of OSS More than 50% Government Ministry offices uses OSS like Linux Operating System and MySQL databases

Present Position of OSS in Bangladesh Total ISP in Bangladesh now operating 62. Initially few ISPs started to move to Linux. Currently 90% ISPs in Bangladesh are dependent on OSS like Linux, Apache, PHP, MySQL, SendMail etc. Bangladeshi ISP’s are the pioneer in adopting OSS Linux, PHP, MySQL are the most used OSS in Bangladesh

Present position of ICT in Bangladesh BANGLADESH ICT INDICATOR Source: BANGLA IT Research as of JAN-2004 Telecom Infrastructure in Bangladesh 850,000 fixed lines Operated by BTTB- (Government monopoly). Next five yrs demand for fixed lines will be 3.5 million and experts think BTTB will be unable to deliver. 1.8 million Mobile Phones- Operated by Four Company Bangladesh is a market now for 13 million Mobile Phones. Grameen- Current subscriber base of GP is 1 million while it has coverage in 52 districts including all six divisional headquarters. GrameenPhone connections would stand at 2 million by ,000 Village phones are in operation in 52 districts, 50,000 Bangladeshi women making living as Grameen phone ladies.

Present position of ICT in Bangladesh Internet in Bangladesh Total ISP: 62 Internet User: 2 million Dial-Up subscriber accounts 250,000 Broadband subscribers accounts 150,000 While over half of UK households are online, only 0.2% of homes in Bangladesh are online Internet Access Charge went down to.20 paisa/min (2–8am) Tk 3000 about $50 for Unlimited Access Broadband-64kbs Tk 10,000/month, 128kbs Tk 22,000/month 512 Kbps Tk 96,000/month Source: Grameen Cybernet

Global Information Superhighway  Submarine Cable connection to Global Information Superhighway(SEA-ME-WE-4) will be ready for service in It will be built using DWDM (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplex) technology with 1.28 terabits per second speed

Present position of ICT in Bangladesh ICT Education and Training in Bangladesh Total number of ICT related graduate every year Bangladesh producing now about 6000 from 21 Public and 51 Private Universities. More than 100 IT Training Center providing Diploma and Training in IT. A large number of Bangladeshi students are studying overseas in Computer related subjects, mainly in India.

BANGLA IT Future Plans for OSS in Bangladesh BANGLA IT is trying to make awareness and advocacy for OSS in Government and Corporate level in Bangladesh BANGLA IT pushing for OSS in Educational Institutions Open Source Project Competition in Bangladesh BANGLA IT has a Plan to arrange a International Open Source Conference in December 2005 and National Open Source Convention in December 2004

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