Bangladesh
Joy Article Newsweek publishes Joy's article on Digital Bangladesh
Dhaka, March 4: The US-based weekly Newsweek has published an article by Sajib Wazed Joy, the Prime Minister's ICT adviser and son, on Digital Bangladesh.
In an article titled 'Bangladesh: Asia's Wonderful Digital Leader', he said that since the inception of Digital Bangladesh, more than 1.3 million IT professionals have settled in Bangladesh. Besides, 10 thousand IT entrepreneurs have also been created.
The article analyzes the benefits of digitalisation in Bangladesh in just a decade and how the benefits of Information Communication Technology (ICT) are being delivered at the grassroots level.
Below are excerpts from his article:
A decade ago, Bangladesh pledged to become a technologically advanced country by 2021. Too many people couldn't believe it then.
When Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina took charge of the project in 2009, only 20 million Bangladeshis used mobile phones. But now 12 crore Bangladeshis use mobile. In addition, several lakh Bangladeshis have high-speed internet connection on their mobiles. Many of them live in remote areas. This has improved the lives and livelihoods of countless people.
The ambitious Digital Bangladesh Plan was launched in 2009 to transform labor-intensive, paper-based government services into easy-to-use Internet and smartphone-based programs. In addition, e-signature and electronic filing are widely introduced and encouraged. It matches the benefits. The government has built a network of 7,500 digital centers - which now provide people with virtually all types of online services. These digital centers are helping people get birth-registration, jobs and medical services online. Even many national activities are happening online.
This digital service online is the reason why government services were provided almost uninterruptedly during the coronavirus last year.
The courts also continued their functions with the help of a new judicial portal. Farmers can find out about the weather forecast and latest weather conditions through the online agricultural portal. Citizens are now able to know various information about Covid-19 using readily available mobiles.
There are now many programs added online that can fill almost all government forms, from passports to driving licenses.
