Digital Bangladesh
Introduction:
“Digital Bangladesh” is currently the most commonly used word in politics,
media, among intellectuals, and civil societies. It means digitalizing
Bangladesh by ensuring an ICT (Information Communication Technology) based
society where all the activities of governance, commerce, education,
agriculture, etc. will be powered by computers and the internet.
The emergence of Digital Bangladesh: since the present govt. in their election
manifesto pledge to develop a digital Bangladesh by 2021, which has given great
hope to the citizens of Bangladesh. It helped Awami League win the
election in Bangladesh in 2008. However, the focus here in ‘Digital Bangladesh’ is widely accepted by Bangladeshi people from all walks of life believing that the
concept of Digital Bangladesh will solve most of our national crises involving
corruption, unemployment, illiteracy, poverty, and price hike.
Process
of Digitalization: Digital Bangladesh is a continuous
process of development. It cannot be developed in a specific time and budget. The
whole process requires a lot of tasks for which we have to be prepared. After
all, digitalization is the only pathway to economic success, quality education,
public health and also generating transparency in governance with full public
participation. The initial step of building, a Digital Bangladesh is developing
a road map to digitalize Bangladesh including projects, programs, working
methodology, and timeline. There is no doubt that in the 21st century, the path to the information society is the only path for the development of
human civilization. So our goal is how to build this Digital Bangladesh.
Internet:
Good national connectivity is very much necessary in order to reach the
services provided by information technology. Access to the network in urban
areas must be improved at a more accelerated rate. High-quality internet
services must be provided from the city to small isolated areas with a reliable backbone network. An affordable and subsidized price must be provided to
internet users in order to promote use with a proper training program.
E-governance: E-governance
is another area deserving attention. Electronic governance is using information
technology by the public sector to provide services and information and
encouraging citizens to participate democratically in the decision-making
process by making the government more transparent and accountable. A good official
web portal and information depository need to be developed to provide citizens
with all necessary information from different government ministries. All forms
and applications should be available for download by the public.
Education:
in order to create an innovative society, the education system must be first
targeted. A separate digital network should be built to connect all the
educational institutes to share research, teaching materials, and research work,
with the help of distance learning and digital and audio learning system.
Teachers, students, and vocational trainers from all over the country can
acquire quality learning and digital abilities. With the assistance of a digital
learning system, learning will not be limited to classrooms only. Technologies
like digital libraries, video lectures, multimedia classrooms, and knowledge-based
information repositories will improve the employability, literacy, and skill of
the country.
Business:
All types of businesses including small, medium-sized, or big should incorporate
ICT through e-business and e-commerce. Our products and services should be
promoted in the global market with appropriate ICT technology-oriented
marketing strategies. For the business community, interbank money transfers and
transaction loan system L/C finance, shipping supply chain, and credit can be done
electronically to provide a suitable and friendly environment for the business
to compete with other nations. An online stock trading system would involve more
traders from different communities participating in the Capital market.
Legal
and health system: The legal and health system also plays a
significant role in all areas of the community. A knowledge-based online digital legal
system consisting of case, records, laws, and policies are important for the
judicial system. The lawyers should have enough resources available to defend
their clients as well as the judge to make decisions fairly. Digitalization of
the judiciary system will also strengthen the democratic process of the
country. A good patient-doctor management system in all public hospitals will
improve the health services in remote areas. New technologies like telemedicine
‘currently in use as pilot projects’, can be used more broadly for providing
consultation for special cases in isolated localities.
ICT
Sector: In order to develop a sustainable and efficient
Digital Bangladesh, the government must first put its utmost attention into
reviving the ICT sector. Due to negligence and failed policies, the ICT sector
has gone through lots of ups and downs in the last few years. The government
should take all necessary steps to reform this sector from top to bottom to
gain an economic advantage like our neighbouring country India. A more adaptable
and applicable ICT policy ensuring transparency has to be developed.
Implementation:
for implementing this dream the government has to take certain initiatives. It
is of course a hard job yet it is not impossible. Uninterrupted power supply
and the spread of ICT education throughout the country are the preconditions for
making Bangladesh a digital one. Initiatives must be taken to hand over a
computer to every child in the country.
Conclusion:
Time is very short, the tasks are many and the expectations are very high. But
the common mass of this country hopes that the government will take all possible
steps to create a smart ‘Digital Bangladesh’ and establish a knowledge-based
society within 50 years of her independence in 2021.
