e-Governance Horizon Report 2007.pdf

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An

Prepared byAccess to Information (A2I) Programme

Chief Advisers OfficeGovernment of the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh

e- Governance is the

public sectors use of

information and

communication

technologies with the aim

of improving information

and service delivery,

encouraging citizen

participation in the

decision-making process

and making government

more accountable,

transparent and effective.

The horizon scan report of

Access to Information

Programme (A2I) was an

attempt to represent a

comprehensive picture of

the current ICT status to

foster the e-Governance

process in Bangladesh.


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ii

Copyright Access to Information (A2I) programme

Updated on December, 2007


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Summary of Access to Information (A2I)

Programme

e-Governance is a strategic issue that relates to redesigning the nationaladministrative process at the policy-making level to make the Government more

transparent, efficient, and service-oriented. It requires high level leadership and

participation from all stakeholders.

The Chief Advisers Office (the then Prime Ministers Office), established

an ICT Task Force with representatives from all major ICT stakeholders

including the private sector and industry. The office also undertook a publicly

funded project named Support to ICT Task Force (SICT) to implement Pilot ICT

project. The SICT project deals with implementation of various pilot ICT projects

utilizing public funds, various other government organizations continue to

undertake parallel initiatives mainly utilizing funding from development

partners.

The outcomes of such rather scattered initiatives have resulted in the

creation of many e-governance applications within the government system.

However, absence of coordination meant most of these initiatives are

incompatible with each other and lack complementarities in building a nation

wide e-governance platform. Thus there was a felt need to establish a

coordinating agency to spearhead e-governance efforts and to expedite execution

and improve coordination among initiatives of different organs of the

government. A committee was formed to strategize establishment of an enabling

environment and develop a plan of action to spearhead implementation of e-

governance in the country. Based on a series of national and regional

consultations, the committee made three strategic recommendations in their

report submitted to the PMO in 5 June 2006. One of the strategic

recommendations of the plan was to establishment of an e-Governance Cell or

Entity within PMO to lead and provide coordination support to all e-governance

initiatives taken at various levels of the government.

As a follow up action of this recommendation an e-Governance Cell was

housed within PMO/Chief Advisers Office. It was also recommended in the Plan

of Action to undertake an umbrella programme, with UNDP Bangladesh as the


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lead development partner, that will provide technical and knowledge advisory

assistance in the formulation and implementation of e-governance projects

including the facilitation of resource mobilization from both government and

development partners sources.

The Programme A2I was being designed as a follow up of the third

recommendation of the e-Governance Plan of Action. A2I programme aimed at

ensuring the appropriateness of new initiatives and programmes for ICT for

development within the context of national priorities. At the same time, this

programme will support the development of new projects and programmes for

ICT for development within the context of national priorities. At the same time,

this programme will support the development of new projects and programmes

for ICT for development and provide technical assistances for monitoring and

evaluation of these projects. This programme will also

Identify, prioritize and mainstream ICT into the national

development policies and to assist in the development of national

e-Governance vision and strategy that can harness digital

opportunities for development in consultation with the

stakeholders; and

Identify emerging opportunities for ICT for development initiatives

and programmes in support of national priorities in the context ofnational e Governance vision.

The journey for establishing e-governance system in Bangladesh faced

challenges that can be summarized by three As: Access, Awareness and

Applications. Being a developing country, it was always a challenge for the

country to finance capital intensive endeavours like access backbones and

communication infrastructure. Also, newer ICT tools remained beyond the

purchasing power of most Bangladeshis.

With the proliferation of mobile, while the communication infrastructure

challenge is somewhat resolved, the issues of awareness among the public

servants and citizen are still low. Such awareness (or lack of it) among middle

and senior public officials remained a particular of concern in the context of

establishing e-governance.


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Finally, there are only a few applications that are available to address

specific application needs of the civil services and other branches of the

government. Lack of software applications as well as lack of relevant digital

content remained one of the major obstacles towards attaining greater buy-ins

form government stakeholders.

Apart form the three major issues that are described above, lack of policy

level coordination and often fragmented mandate of various government

agencies represent another set of challenges in effective use of ICTs in better

public administration and efficient citizen service delivery.

The scope of Access to Information (A2I) programme is the provision of

knowledge advisory services and technical assistance to the e-Governance cell,

which is mandated to provide leadership in developing the national e-Governance vision, and to spearhead and coordinate the national efforts in

achieving the vision. The programmes scope also includes strengthening the

capacity of key government ICT championships-individuals or organizations- by

enhancing their ICT skills in promoting the transfer of knowledge on

project/programme management best practices.


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Acknowledgement VIII

Preface XV

Glossary of terms XVI

Executive Summary XVII

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Country profile of Bangladesh 1

1.2 Background 6

1.3 Methodology 9

1.4 Scope 12

1.5 Limitations 13

2. CITIZENS EXPECTATIONS

2.1 An overview of citizens needs, problems and theirrecommendations

15

2.2 An overall picture of the status of the ICT infrastructure in

surveyed areas

21

3. SUPPORTING POLICIES

Governing authority in ICT sector 26

4. INFRASTRUCTURE & SERVICE SECTOR

4.1 Infrastructure & Connectivity issue 42

4.1.1 Telecommunication 43

4.1.2 Data connectivity 464.1.3 Television network 50

4.1.4 Radio 52

4.1.5 Post 53

4.1.6 Tele center & cyber caf 53

4.1.7 Power sector 55

4.2 Service Sector

4.2.1 Government sector

4.2.1.1 ICT Status of different ministries/divisions 60

4.2.1.2 Support to ICT Task Force (SICT) Programme 62

4.2.1.3 Success & failure samples of Government ICT projects 69

4.2.1.4 ICT initiatives in Annual Development Programme 71

4.2.1.5 Website status of Government 73

4.2.2 Private Sector

4.2.2.1 Banking sector 78


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4.2.2.2 Bangladesh IT & ITES Sector 86

4.3 Recommendations in infrastructure & Service sector

5. HUMAN RESOURCES READINESS FOR ICT ADOPTION

5.1. Access to ICT learning 89

5.2. Research and Development 92

5.3. Content 95

5.4. Free and Open Source Software 97

5.5. Localization 100

5.6. Recommendations 105

6. THE WAY FORWARD 111

ANNEXURE

ANNEXURE 1: The detail report of citizen survey

ANNEXURE 2:Summary of ICT Status in ministries

ANNEXURE 3: Name & Status of SICT projectANNEXURE 4: ICT Initiatives of the Bangladesh Government in Annual

Development Programme (ADP)

ANNEXURE 5: Scope for ICT initiatives of Bank in Bangladesh

ANNEXURE 6: Questionnaire

ANNEXURE 7: List of Tables

ANNEXURE 8: List of Figures

ANNEXURE 9: Research Team


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Acknowledgement

The Horizon Scan Report, an outcome of comprehensive effort of Horizon Scan

team, has been successfully published. The scan of ICT status of Bangladeshwould not have been possible without the cordial support and cooperation of the

various Government and non Government stakeholders. We would like to convey

our gratitude especially to the different ministries and agencies of the

Government as well as to the public and private banks and institutions. Our

appreciation also goes to the survey team who tried to reflect the view of citizens

throughout the country which have enlightened our Report.

At last, we would like to acknowledge the amiable and instrumental

contribution of the following people. Without their support the Report wouldhave remained incomplete.

Our Stakeholders

(a) Technical Committee Members of A2I Programme

Mr. Ehsanul Hoque, Convener of TC of A2I Programme, DG (Admin),

Chief Advisers Office

Mr. Shamsul Alam Khan, Joint Secretary, M/O Science and ICT,

Bangladesh Secretariat, Dhaka.

Mr. ATM Monirul Alam, General Manager, Upazilla Telecom Region,

Mohakhali Transmission Building, BTTB, Dhaka.

Mr. Abdul Khaleque, Director (Admin), Chief Advisers Office.

Mr. Kazi Enamul Hassan, Director-8, Chief Advisers Office.

Mr. Md. Enamul Kabir, Secretary, Bangladesh Computer Council, Dhaka.

Mr. ANM Mustafizur Rahman, System Analyst, CPTU, Planning

Commission, Dhaka.

Mr. Md. Rabiul Islam, Systems Analyst, Chief Advisers Office, Dhaka.

Mr. A A Munir Hasan, Programme Implementation Specialist, A2I, Chief

Advisers Office, Dhaka.

Mr. KAM Morshed, Assistant Country Director, MDGs & e-Development

Cluster, UNDP.


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*** Special Invitee of Technical Committee

Mr. Aftab Ahmed, APS 1 to Chief Adviser Chief Advisers Office.

Mr. Mostafizur Rahman, Director-2, Chief Advisers Office.

Mr. Rafiqul Khan, Director-15, Chief Advisers Office.

Mr. Md Ziaul Hoque, Assignment Officer, A2I Programme, Chief Advisers

Office.

Mr. Md Aminul Islam, Protocol Officer, A2I Programme,Chief Advisers

Office.

(b) e-Gov cell members

Mr. Ehsanul Hoque, convener of TC of A2I Programme, DG (Admin.) Chief

Advisers Office.

Mr. Kazi Enamul Hasan, Director-8, Chief Advisors Office.

Mr. M. Azharul Huq, Director-1, Chief Advisers Office.

Mr. Md. Rabiul Islam, System Analyst, Chief Advisers Office.

Engr. Mahabub Sarwar, National Project Director & Member Secretary,

PIC, A2I Prgramme, Chief Advisers Office.

Mr. Mohammad Ziaul Haque, Assignment Officer, A2I Programme, Chief

Advisers Office.

Mr. Md Aminul Islam, Protocol Officer, A2I Programme,Chief Advisers

Office.

(c) ICT Focal Points

Mr. Md. Shamsul Alam Khan, Joint Secretary, M/O Science and

Information & Communication Technology.

Mr. Abu Reza Khan, Executive Member, Board of Investment.

Mr. Shafiz Uddin Ahmed, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Communications.

Mr. Md. Ali Mostafa Chowdhury, Joint Secreatry, Ministry of Local

Government, Rural Development & Co-Operatives.

Mr. Mainul Hasan, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Social Welfare.

Mr. Kamal Uddin Ahmed, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Information. Mr. Md. Ibadat Ali, NDC, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Defence.

Mr. Md. Khalilur Rahman Siddiqui, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Fisheries

& Levestock.

Mr. F.M.M Jalal Uddin Al-Quaderi, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Primary &

Mass Education.

Mr. Md. Mostofa, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Industries.


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Mr. Md. Abdur Rashid, Joint Secretary, Presidents Offfice.

Mr. Begum Mushfeka Iqfat, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Women &

Children affairs.

Mr. M. Shahidul Haque, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Law, Justice &

Parliamentary Affairs.

Mr. Md. Mushfiqur Rahman, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Youth & Sports.

Dr. Md Ruhul Amin Sarkar, Joint Secretary, IRD, Ministry of Finance.

Mr. Gazi Mizanur Rahman, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Post &

Telecommunication.

Mr. Chowdhury Md. Ziaul Haque, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Religion.

Ms. Ayesha Begum, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Housing & Public works.

Ms. Rowshan Ara Begum, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Chittagong Hill

Tracks Affairs.

Mr. Abdul Bari Khan, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Food & Disaster

Management.

Mr. Mohammed Jakaria, Additional Secretary, Election Commission

Secretariat.

Mr. Md. Shahabuddin, Joint Secretary, Bangladesh Parliament

Secretariat.

Mr. Miah Abdullah Mamun, Deputy Secretary, Planning Dept, Ministry of

Planning.

Mr. Qamar Muni, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Forest & Environment.

Md. Fazlul Haq, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Textile & Jute.

Mr.Aiyubur Rahman, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health & Family

Welfare.

Mr.Md. Mazibur Rahman, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs.

Mr. Md. Imdadul Haque, Joint Secretary, Dept of Mineral Resources

Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources.

Mr. Md. Waheed Hossain, Joint Secretary, Dept. of Power, Ministry of

Power, Energy and Mineral Resources.

Mr. Golam Murtaza, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Shipping. Mr. M.A.K. Mahmud, Director General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Mr. Mazbaul Alam, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation & Tourism.

Mr. Pius Costa, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Land.

Mr. Md. Mahbubul Alam, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources.

Ms. Shuraia Begum, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Cultural Affairs.


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Mr. Humayun Kabir Khan, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Liberation War

Affairs.

(d) IT experts in Govt. ministries/divisions/agencies

Mr. Mohammad Asadul Haque, Programmer, CPTU, IMED, Ministry of

Planning.

Mr. Md. Abdur Rob, Assistant Chief, Ministry of Textile and Jute.

Ms. Sharmin Afroz, System Analyst, Dhaka Metropolitan Police.

Mr. Md. Zulfiqur Rahman, Progammer, Ministry of Health and Family

welfare.

Mr. Md. Salahuddin Sarker, Programmer, Cabinet Division.

Mr. Md. Rabiul Islam, System Analyst, Chief Advisers Office.

Mr. Anuj Kumar Roy, Progammer, Directorate of Primary Education.

Mr. Md. Siddiqur Rahman, Programmer, Supreme Court.

Ms. Kazi Sayeda Momtaz, Progrmmer, MIS, RHD, Dhaka.

Mr. Md. Olid Bin-Asad, Programmer, Ministry of Food and Disaster

Management.

Mr. Md. Nashir Uddin, System Analyst, Office of the Controller General of

Accounts.

Mr. Md. Abu Baten Talukder, System Analyst, Finance Division, Ministry

of Information.

Mr. Eng, Md. Atiar Rahman, Office of the Controller General of Accounts.

Mr. Md. Mosharraf Hossain, Programmer, Office of the Controller General

of Accounts.

Mr. Mohammad Nurus Samad, System Anlyst/Administrator, CID.

Mr. Md. Nazrul Islam, System Analyst, BBS.

Mr. Eng. Md. Golam Sarwar, Programmer, BCC.

Mr. Mohammad Abdus Sobhan, Programmer, ERD, Ministry pf Finance.

Mr. Geias Uddin Ahmed Bhuyen, Programmer, Chief Advisers Office.

Mr. Md. Akter Ali, Senior System Analyst, Police Head Quarters.

Mr. Md. Mofakkharul Islam, System Analyst, Ministry of Education. Mr. Md. Shafiqul Alam, Programmer, Local Government Division,

Ministry of Local Government, Rural development & Co-operatives.

Mr. Khan Md. Elias, Senior System Analyst, Bangladesh Parliament

Secretariat.


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Mr. S. M. Shahid, Programmer, Compulsory Primary Education,

Implementation and Monitoring unit, Ministry of Primary & Mass

Education.

Mr. Md. Mizanur Rahman, Special Branch, Bangladesh Police.

Mr. Md. Shakhawat Hossain Bhuiyan, Assistant Programmer, ERD,

Ministry of Finance.

Mr. Mohammad Shafiqur Rahman, Senior System Analyst, NBR.

Mr. Md. Siddiqur Rahman, Programmer, Supreme Court.

Mr. M. M. Nuruzzaman, System Analyst, Dept. of Narcotics Control.

Mr. Mahbubur Rahman, Ministry of Water Resources.

Mr. Mohammad Asadul Haque, Programmer, CPTU, IMED, Ministry of

Planning.

Mr. Md. Mosharraf Hossain, Programmer, Office of the Controller General

of Accounts.

Mr. Md. Abu Baten Talukder, System Analyst, Finance Division, Ministry

of Information.

Mr. S. M. Shahid, Programmer, Compulsory Primary Education,

Implementation and Monitoring Unit, Minsitry of Primary & Mass

Education.

Mr. Md. Mofazzal Hossain, System Manager, BANBEIS, Ministry of

Education.

Mr. Anuj Kumar Roy, Progammer, Directorate of Primary Education.

Mr. Md. Shamsur Rahman, Computer System Analyst, Roads and

Highways Dept.

Mr. Md. Musleh Uddin, Senior System Analyst, Ministry of

Establishment.

Mr. Khan Md. Elias, Senior System Analyst, Bangladesh Parliament

Secretariat.

Ms. Kazi Sayeda Momtaz, Progrmmer, MIS, RHD, Dhaka.

Mr. Md. Mizanur Rahman, Special Branch, Bangladesh Police.

Mr. Alamgir Kabir, AP, Chief Advisers Office Mr. Eng. Md. Golam Sarwar, Programmer, BCC.

Mr. Md. Rabiul Islam, System Analyst , Chief Advisers Office

Mr. Md. Olid Bin-Asad, Programmer, Ministry of Food and Disaster

Management.

Ms Sharmin Afroz, System Analyst, Dhaka Metropolitan Police.


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Mr. Md. Shakhawat Hossain Bhuiyan, Assistant Programmer, ERD,

Ministry of Finance.

(e) Experts from BTTB

Mr. Asadul Islam, Secretary, Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board

(BTTB).

Mr. Md. Shahidul Alam, Director, Maintanance & Operation, BTTB.

Mr. Biddut Chandra Roy, Director, Planning. BTTB.

Engr. A.K.M. Habibur Rahman, Divisional Engineer, BTTB.

(f) University Grants Commision

Prof. Dr. Ehsanul Haque, Member, Bangladesh University Grants

Commision.

Mr. Anil Chandra Paul, Director (Acting), TID, Bangladesh UniversityGrants Commision.

Mr. Ziaul Haque, Associate Professor, TID, Bangladesh University Grants

Commision.

Mr. Khondokar Hamidur Rahman, Assistant Professor, Bangladesh

University Grants Commision.

(g) Experts in Banking Sector

Ms Nazneen Sultana, System Manager, Bangladesh Bank.

Mr. Md. Nurul Haque, DGM (IT), Agrani Bank, Head Office, Dhaka.

Mr. Jashed Atique, Manager IT, HSBC.

M.A. Zubair, General Manager, IT division, Pubali Bank Ltd.

Mr. Reazul Islam, Senior Vice President and Head of IT, AB Bank.

Mr. Abedur Rahman Sikder, Head of ADC, BRAC Bank.

Mr. Mamun Seraji, Senior Manager, IT, BRAC Bank.

Mr. Mohammad H. Kafi, Executive Vice President and Head of IT, Dhaka

Bank.

Mr. MD. Shameemul Haque, Assistant General Manager, Sonali Bank.

(g) Internet service Providers Association of Bangladesh and Cable TV

operators Association in Bangladesh

Mr. Russel T. Ahmeed, Secretary General, ISP Association Bangladesh.

Mr. S. M. Anwar, President, Cable Operator Association Bangladesh.


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Mr. Nizam Uddin Masud, Secretary General, Cable Operator Association

Bangladesh.

(h) Professionals in Mobile Content development

Mr. Asif Kahn, Managing Director, Marketing and Sales, I-Infomedia

Limited.

Mr. Fasial Alim, Managing Director, Wintel Limited.

Mr. Fafiur Rahman Khan Yusufazai, Managing Director, E.B. Solutions

Limited.

Mr. S. M. Arafat Ashfaq, Chief Executive Officer, Bangla Infoway.

Mr. Hasan Emon, Manager Marketing and Sales, Bangla Infoway.

Mr. Md. Aminul Haq, Director, Next Net Limited.

Mr. Md. Shafiul Islam, Sr. Executive Marketing, MMSL.

Mr. Kaymun Amin, Managing Director, V U mobile.

Mr. Rana, Admin and Project Team Leader, Amader Mobile.com.

(i) Policy Experts

Dr. Ananya Raihan, Executive Director, D.Net.

Mr. Reza Salim, Project Director, Amader Gram.

Mr. T.I.M Nurul kabir, Chairman, Digital Knowledge Foundation (DKF).

Mr. AHM. Bazlur Rahman, Chief Executive Officer, BNNRC.

Mr. Pallab Mohaimen, In-charge IT page, The Daily Prothom Alo.

(j) Technical Editor

Mr. ATM Monirul Alam, General Manager, Upazilla Telecom Region,

Mohakhali Transmission Building, BTTB, Dhaka.

(K) Style Editor

Ms. Rafat Binte Rashid, Editor, Lifestyle & Rising star, The Daily Star.


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Preface

In todays world Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has

tremendous impact on socio-economic livelihood of people of the country.Government functions are the most profound areas where ICT can play a pivotal

role in fostering and ameliorating the citizen centric services.

Adaptation of e-governance is a key for smart governance and making

information technology (IT) relevant to ordinary citizens in Bangladesh where a

large proportion of the population suffers from digital divide. e-governance will

allow ordinary people to interact with the government at various levels and

matters of governance to provide inputs for decision makers.

To achieve these desired objectives a critical assessment of ICT status at

various levels of government and society is needed. The horizon scan report

probably the first attempt to exert the countrys complete ICT status, which will

be of ample help for future documentation and planning. We hope the

participation and endeavor of various stakeholders will accelerate further to

enrich the e-readiness for the emerging interest in e-Governance.

Engr. Mahabub SarwarNational Project Director & Member Secretary PIC

Access to Information (A2I) Programme

Chief Advisers Office


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Glossary of Terms

A2I Access to InformationADSL Asymmetric Digital Subscriber LineATM Automatic Teller Machine

BANSDOC Bangladesh National Scientific and Technical DocumentationCenterBdOSN Bangladeshi Open Source NetworkBDT Bangladeshi Taka (Currency).BERNET Bangladesh Education and Research NetworkBOU Bangladesh Open UniversityBTN Bangladesh Telecentre NetworkBTRC Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory CommissionBTTB Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone BoardBUET Bangladesh University of Engineering and TechnologyCCNA Cisco Certified Network AssociateCDMA Code Division Multiple AccessCIDA Canadian International Development Agency

CRBLP The Center for Research on Bangla Language ProcessingCSO Civil Society OrganizationDCE Directorate of Continuing EducationDDN Digital Data NetworkDSL Digital Subscriber LineDL Distance LearningEDGE Enhanced Data Rates for GSM EvolutionFOSS Free and Open Source SoftwareGB Giga BytesGDP Gross Domestic ProductGNI Gross National IncomeGoB Government of BangladeshGPO General Post OfficeGPRS General Packet Radio ServiceGSM Global System for MobileHDI Human Development IndexHPO Head Post OfficeHSD High Speed DieselICT Information and Communication TechnologyIDRC International Development Research CorporationIP Internet ProtocolIPLC International Private Leased CircuitIRU Indefeasible Rights of UseISP Internet Service ProviderKB Kilo BytesLAN Local Area NetworkLC Local Centers

MAN Metropolitan Area NetworkMB Mega BytesMbps Mega bits per secondMCP Microsoft Certified ProfessionalMCSE Microsoft Certified Software EngineerMDG Millennium Development GoalsMMS Multimedia Messaging ServiceMW Mega WattsNGO Non Government OrganizationNLP Bangla Natural Language Processing


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NRI Networked Readiness IndexPD Professional DevelopmentPRS Poverty Reduction StrategyPSTN Public Switched Telephone NetworkRDCD Rural Development & Cooperative DivisionRRC Regional Resource Center

SEA- ME-WE4

South East Asia Middle East Western Europe 4

SMS Short Message ServiceSTM Synchronous Transport Module

TC Tutorial CentersUGC University Grants CommissionUNDP United Nations Development ProgramURC University Resource CenterUUCP Unix to Unix CoPyVSAT Very Small Aperture TerminalVPN Virtual Private NetworkWAN Wide Area NetworkWAP Wireless Application Protocol


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Executive Summary

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have brought major

transformations across the globe. ICTs have ushered an era of unprecedentedproductivity, effectiveness and transparency. Mobile phones have shrunk

distances. The Internet has allowed real-time participation of the masses in the

policy decision process.TV and radio capture and disseminates the updates of

the social and political portrait to millions in the blink of an eye. Just as

businesses are harnessing the power of ICT to deliver better, faster and cheaper

services to their customers, it is also causing a paradigm shift in governance

processes. Electronic Governance or e-Governance is the delivery of government

services and information to the public using electronic means and/or ICTs to

support good governance. Policy makers of developed countries like the US, the

UK and Singapore have fully recognized the power of e-Governance to make a

significant contribution in achieving the objectives of good governance. Along

with Governments of many developing nations, Bangladesh is also coming to a

fast realization that ICT is not only necessary for promoting economic growth

but also can be a great engine for driving good governance.

In the past decade, the Government of Bangladesh had taken various

innovative steps towards e-Governance. It is clear that Bangladesh is positioning

itself to be seriously moving towards e-Governance in a comprehensive way.

However, to realize the vision for e-Governance in Bangladesh it is imperative

to understand the current readiness of the country. This horizon scan report

analyzes the previous significant developments and presents the primary and

secondary research findings in the following categories:

Citizens Expectations, Supporting Policies, Infrastructure and

Connectivity issue and ICT and Human Resources.

Rationale behind previous e-Governance initiatives and future plans.

The Primary focus of e-Governance is not ICT itself, but leveraging ICT to

improve service delivery. Consequently, it is important to know the services that

are essential to citizens and then deliver those services efficiently and effectively

through electronic or non-electronic means. The Citizen Survey is therefore the

most important component of the Horizon Scan report. It tried to identify the

needs of citizens, challenges they face and find ways to overcome those using


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ICTs. Initially, the survey covered around 700 citizens from 11 districts

including Dhaka, Chittagong, Barisal, Sylhet, Rajshahi, Khulna, Rangamati,

Kurigram, Sunamganj, Sirajganj, and Narayanganj. These randomly selected

citizens represented important stakeholders of all key sectors including agro-

farmers, poultry farmers, fishermen, labors, professionals, housewives,

students, self-employed, job seekers, senior citizens (above 60), disabled

citizens, daily laborers, the very poor (under the $1 income margin), teachers

and Government employees.

The survey seeks to:

1. Assess status of the existing ICT infrastructure

2. Identify services that citizens seek the most

3. Identify obstacles in service delivery

4. Identify existing service delivery channels

5.

Identify most preferred ICT channels

Researchers found that the pace, extent, and effectiveness of ICT diffusion

can be directly shaped by having four generic types of balanced government

policiesprivate and public, domestic and foreign, monopoly and competition

and central and distributed.The ICT policy adopted in 2002 prioritizes improving

many areas which needs more followup to be more successful about the growth

of ICT path. As evidenced in the past, good policies (like the successful

Bangladesh Drug Policy, RMG Back-to-Back LC, etc) can truly accelerate the

pace of economic development in Bangladesh. A follow-up report (half-yearlyreview) will potentially make policy recommendations to support e-Governance

Vision and Strategies.

Although quite behind in the global race, Bangladesh is slowly improving in

the arena of Information and Communications Technologies; particularly in

infrastructure and human resource development. In the telecommunication

sector, Government owned BTTB, on which the masses still rely for connection

has the largest market share (89%) in the PSTN market. Other PSTN operators

are strategically trying to penetrate in the market through the introduction of

additional quality products and services.

Cellular Phone has revolutionized the telecommunication industry in

Bangladesh. Since 1989, cell phones have brought more than thirty million

people under the shade of telecommunication service. Currently six mobile

phone operators are operating with extreme competition through rendering


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customized services. This reaches out to the masses and creates an alternative

delivery channel for better service delivery. Although the call charge requires

further adjustment, it is now affordable for most people.

Bangladesh Post Office introduced Electronic Mail Service (e-Post) through

16 general post offices, which enable a user to send and receive email messages

without possessing an email id. There are around 1000 telecentres (year: 2007),

owned by local entrepreneurs, operating mainly in the rural areas of

Bangladesh. The business of cyber caf has been growing in Dhaka since the

late 90s which are used to browse, using e-mail facilties, video conferencing etc.

Energy is the prerequisite for a strong ICT infrastructure of any country. At

present, three state-owned organizations; Bangladesh Power Development Board

(BPDB), Dhaka Electric Supply Authority (DESA) and Rural Electrification Board(REB), under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources are

responsible for electricity of the country. Currently, there are 18 government

owned power plants with 45 units and 6 privately owned power plants with 37

units. PDB has initiated a pre-paid meter system. Solar panel can be a good

alternative for electricity where government took some projects to identify and

implement other sources for electricity like solar electricity for rural

electrification.

Bangladesh was connected to the information super highway through submarine cable in 2006. A project by BTTB is going on to establish the national

high-speed data-backbone. This project will setup Layer-3 Switches (ADSL Site)

in 12 districts with Fiber Optic Connections to the main data-backbone. After

this high-speed national data backbone is completed, a flurry of IT-enabled

services and related business activities will happen all over Bangladesh.

The Government with its organs is gradually moving towards the

computerized systems from the old manual systems. More than 50% ministries

now have their own Local Area Network (LAN). They are connected to the

internet via dial up connections or broadband connections. Some of the

ministries use customized software for their internal purposes and service

delivery. Some ministries have their own application servers and mailing

systems. Among various initiatives SICT was the largest initiative in the

Government Sector so far. 55 projects were taken through SICT (Support to

ICT Task Force) programme in different ministries and agencies, from which


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14 are already completed and remaining 41 are going. It can be noted that

these projects have created a favorable impact in rendering better services

to the Citizens.

Private sector is the driving force for our national economy. Integration

of ICT in private sector is increasing. Particularly, most of the banks are

getting automated in their various services like ATM (Automated Teller

Machine) booth, different types of cards (VISA, Master Card, Debit, Credit card),

point of sales (POS), online banking, SMS banking, Tele banking, etc. In terms of

trade, the local and global revenues of both the ITS and ITES are growing. ITS

and ITES supplying firms are becoming competitive day by day.

This report also takes a look at the ICT HR readiness of Bangladesh.

About 23 Public Universities offer Computer Science and ICT relatedcourses. Nearly all 54 Private Universities are offering ICT related courses.

ICT education is getting emphasis in secondary and higher secondary levels

also. The ICT Training Centers were surveyed to assess their status and

quality. The findings are not very encouraging. But the good news is that

the Government, academia, and industry are realizing the high-quality ICT

HR crisis, and they are coming up with some coordinated and concrete

plans to produce better ICT HR in the coming days.

Currently, 23 organizations are involved in producing ICT basedmaterials for Non Formal Education (NFE) sector. Among the 23

organizations: 9 are NGOs, 9 are commercial firms and the rest are

educational and research organizations.

e-Governance, which essentially aims at enhancing good governance and

strengthening the democratic process, can also be seen as a way of providing

access to information, freedom of expression, greater equity, efficiency,

productivity growth and social inclusion. It is evident that successful e-

governance initiatives have demonstrable and tangible impact on increasing

government efficiency, improving citizen participation and quality of life as a

result of effective multi-stakeholder partnerships. With that said, the

Government of Bangladesh should consider focusing on enabling environment

for the development and implementation of e-governance systems, including

undertaking institutional and organizational system reforms, promoting change

of attitude to work, enacting e-Governance enabler laws and legislation,


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promoting the development of requisite human resources and ICT infrastructure

and putting in place mechanisms to mobilize financial and other technological

resources.


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INTRODUCTION

The advent of information and

communication technology (ICT)

together with the diffusion of the

technological advances has resulted

in the digital revolution and theemergence of the Information age.

The revolution has created an

enormous impact on social, political,

and cultural livelihood of mass people

which took the whole world into a

different era. Bangladesh is one of

the developing countries driving

strongly for building the nation by

entering into global frontier through

ICT. This creates a platform for

interaction amongst the Government,

businesses and citizens and ensures

easy accessibility of information to all

levels of the society.


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Table: 1.1 Bangladesh Data Sheet1

Administrative Unit As per 2006

Division 6

Zilla 64

Upazilla 481

Thana 596

Municipality 308

Union 4498

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Country Profile of Bangladesh

Bangladesh, a sovereign state in the

South Asian belt encompasses a mass

population of 150 million people in a

geographical land of 147,570 sq. km.

Bangladesh has emerged as a sovereign

nation after a protracted bloody War of

Independence in December 1971.

Bangladesh takes great pride in its hard

earned political independence and also care for its long fought struggle &

movements from 1952 to establish Bangla as the National Language", respectedwidely among the locals as Mother Tongue.

Looking at the history on formation of Bangladesh, it is recorded that

dating back to several thousand years this country was formed from the alluvial

soil of the river Ganges while free-flowing from the Himalayas Mountain to the

sea. The new land is the largest Delta of its kind in the world. Being ideally

located in the southern footsteps of the Himalayas, this independent country is

surrounded by Indian states of West Bengal at west and north borders whilst

Assam & Meghalaya states shares the eastern borders. A south-east tip of the

land is bordered with Myanmar. The circumference of Bangladesh is between

20034 and 26038 North Latitudes and between 88001 and 92041 East

Longitude.

In regard to its geographical location, the country is environmentally

guided by tropical climates and therefore Mother Nature awards the country

with long hot summer, heavy monsoon, dry autumn, short-stayed cool winter

and festive spring round the calendar year. The average temperature is around

260 C and the average rainfall is 2540mm. The Bay of Bengal, rich in natural

wealth, directly lies at the south of the country where the country has two sea

ports to carry forth the international trade & commerce.

1Bangladesh data sheet, 11 July, 2007 (http://www.bbs.gov.bd/index.php)


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2

Along this Bay, the country proudly possesses the longest sea beach in the

world ranging in excess of 100 miles in length and also offers endless tourism

beauty therein. The country also wonders for the largest Mangrove forest in the

world named Sundarban a safe-haven of wild animals including fierce some

tigers and spotted deer as well resourceful plants & trees, namely Mahgoni,

Segun etc.

Over 98% of the people communicate in Bangla here in Bangladesh;

English however, is also spoken & understood in many of the urban areas. The

country succumbs to a mix of religion with 88% majority of the mass following

Islam and balance minority maintaining Hinduism, Buddhism & Christianity,

respectively in order of followers; yet the country takes pride to have an equal

opportunity to freedom of religious sanctity and practices and too enjoys

communal harmony, peaceful tolerance & co-existence.

Elaborating on the achievements & benchmarks acquired in the

international arena, the country acclaims to be the pioneer and vanguard in

micro-credit concept and operation for poverty reduction which has gloriously

brought the Nobel Prize in Peace for the country in 2006 by Grameen Bank and

its distinguished founder fore figure Professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus.

Furthermore, Bangladesh is one of the largest participants in United

Nations Peace Keeping Missions, contributing majority of the UN Armed Forcesfor the continuation of peace and harmony in the many war-torn countries

across the globe. The professional strength of Bangladeshi soldiers played in

reconstructing and peace keeping across Africa, Europe & Asian continent has

indeed earned her with worldwide praise, respect & recognition.

Bangladesh has been achieving more than 6% economic growth over the

last 5 years. The country has attained tremendous success in several areas

particularly at primary school enrollment, reducing gender disparity, child

mortality rate and achievement of immunization.

Still the country has vast economic potentials with 68 million people of

unused workforce and vast amount of unexplored natural resources like gas,

coal. It is pertinent, while forging the natural and human resources, the country

can augment better economic output and ensure better standard of living to its

citizens.


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The following table represents the economic and social indicators of Bangladesh

at a glance.

The next table represents the countrys economic structure and long term trend.

Table: 1.3 Key economic ratios and long term trends 3

Particulars 1986 1996 2006

GDP (US$ billions) 21.2 40.7 61.9

Gross Capital formation/GDP 16.7 20.0 24.7

Export of goods and services/GDP 5.4 11.1 19.0

Gross domestic savings/GDP 9.8 12.4 18.4

Gross national savings/GDP 14.6 19.8 33.7

2 MDG in Bangladesh, BBS report(http://www.bbs.gov.bd/dataindex/MDGs%20in%20Bangladesh.doc)

The World Bank Report (http://devdata.worldbank.org/AAG/bgd_aag.pdf)BTRC (www.btrc.gov.bd)HD Report, UNDP 2006-2007(http://devdata.worldbank.org/AAG/bgd_aag.pdf)Central intelligence Agency- The world Fact book(https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bg.html)3. The World Bank Report (http://devdata.worldbank.org/AAG/bgd_aag.pdf)

Table : 1.2 Bangladesh at a glance2

Poverty and Social: As per 2006

Population(million) 150.4 (July 2007 est.)

Literacy Rate 51.6GNI per capita (US$) 490 2

GNI (US$ billions) 70.7

GDP(PPP) billions 336.1

Poverty (% population below poverty line) 50

Life expectancy at Birth (years) 64

Infant mortality (per 1000 live births) 54

HDI Ranking 137

Teledensity 23.3

Growth of cellular phone Industry 135%

Unemployment Rate 2.5%

Household with electricity (%) 44.23

Household Access to computer (%) 1.36

Household Access to e-mail (%) 0.20

Annual Population growth % (2000-06) 1.9

Annual Labor force growth % (2000-06) 2.2

GDP growth rate (annual) 6.6


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Table: 1.5 Rank Status 5

BrownUniversityRanking

Year 2005 2006

Rank

status

86 155

NRI ranking Year 2005 2006

Rankstatus

100 118

Table: 1.4 Structure of the Economy 4

Percentage of GDP 1986 1996 2006

Agriculture 31.9 25.7 19.6

Industry 21.5 24.9 27.9

Manufacturing 14.0 15.4 17.2

Services 46.5 49.5 52.5

Household final consumption

expenditure

85.8 83.2 76.1

General govt. final consumption

expenditure

4.3 4.4 5.5

Import of goods and services 12.2 18.7 25.2

Export of goods and services 25.8

In this modern era ICT is playing a significant role in the economic

growth specially in poverty reduction. In that context ICT is yet to form a strong

foundation in Bangladesh. Each year Brown University and World Economic

Forum (WEF) conducts survey with some indicators to review the e-Governance

status around the world. Brown University's seventh annual analysis (which

was published on July 24, 2007) of

international e-Governance reflects

that Bangladesh ranked 155 out of

198 countries from 86 (last year

ranking). The 'Network Readiness

Index (NRI) measures the

propensity for countries to exploit

the opportunities offered by information and communications technology. The

NRI shows that Bangladesh ranked 118 out of 140 countries which is mainly

based on three components: the environment for ICT offered by a given country

or community, the readiness of the communitys key stakeholders (individuals,

businesses, and governments) to use ICT and finally the usage of ICT amongst

these stakeholders.

4. The World Bank Report (http://devdata.worldbank.org/AAG/bgd_aag.pdf)5.e-Government Study, Brown University(http://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/2006-07/06-007.html), Network ReadinessIndex http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Networked_Readiness_Index


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MDG and Bangladesh:

In the attainment of MDG Bangladesh has achieved noteworthy success. The

poverty reduction gap ratio has been decreased to 9% with a poverty reduction

rate of 1.23%. Progressing at this rate of the MDG goal #1, of halving the

number of people living on a daily income of less than a US$1 and the

proportion of people who suffer from hunger, will be meet on projected time.

Against the required target of 3.1% and 10.3% in primary and secondary

enrolment the country has already achieved 3.4% and 13.2% respectively. The

gender gap in primary and secondary level education has already been

eliminated. The current rates of progress in achieving Infant Mortality Rate (IMR)

and Child Mortality Rate (CMR) are -2.8% and -2.3% respectively which will

decrease the under-five mortality rate by at least two-thirds by 2015. The effort

in improving maternal health is not adequate. The spread and fatality of malaria

and tuberculosis have been decreased. Spread of HIV AIDS remains low.

Remarkable progress has been attained in ensuring safe drinking water and

sanitary latrines in urban areas. Among the indicators of goal# 8 access to

telephone, computer and internet is significant one. Telephone penetration

especially by way of cellular phone has increased substantially. But access to

computer and the internet still remain low especially in the rural areas.


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1.2 Background:

The advent of information and communication technology (ICT) together with the

diffusion of the technological advances has resulted in the digital revolution and

the emergence of the Information age. The revolution has created an enormousimpact on social, political, and cultural livelihood of mass people which took the

whole world into a different era. Bangladesh is one of the developing countries

driving strongly for building the nation by entering into global frontier through

ICT. This creates a platform for interaction amongst the Government,

businesses and citizens and ensures easy accessibility of information to all

levels of the society.

The government of Bangladesh already realizes the priority of this sector

and had declared ICT a thrust sector in 1997 and had promised to invest

enough in this sector. It is widely believed that ICT carries enormous potential in

establishing technical and organizational innovations, to reduce costs and

change the quality and types of capital equipment, labor and products. If we

want to portray a picture of entrance in digital era of Bangladesh, the journey

started in the late 1990s. Gradually mobile phone captured the market

tremendously as well as brought drastic changes in socio-economic livelihood of

people. In the same way Bangladesh Government have also taken some

initiatives in ICT field and are successfully operating them. The Government has

already initiated e-Governance activities from a holistic perspective, more

comprehensive than before. Setting a citizen centric service delivery vision for all

the significant stakeholders is an important step towards that process. Horizon

scan is an integral part of the e-Governance vision setting and Governments

initiatives of preparing citizen charter for all agencies. This document is initiated

as a part of scrutinizing the ICT effectiveness and status as well as act as

baseline for vision setting with regard to e-Governance of the country.

To understand the ICT status of a country World Bank also explains that:

To put ICT to effective use, a country must be e-ready in terms of infrastructure,

the accessibility of ICT to the population at large, and the effect of the legal and

regulatory framework on ICT use. If the digital divide is to be narrowed, all of

these issues must be addressed in a coherent, achievable strategy that is tailored

to meet the local needs of particular countries6.

6bridges.org, http://www.bridges.org/ereadiness


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Human

resources

Supporting

policies

Infrastructure

& ServiceSector

Citizensexpectations

e-

Governance

Horizon scan for e-readiness is generally defined as the degree to which a

society is prepared to participate in the digital economy with the underlying

concept that the digital economy can help to build a better society.

Regardless of a countrys level of development, readiness is assessed by

determining the relative standing of its societyand its economy in the areas that

are most critical for its participation to the networked world. However, e-

Readiness can be a relative concept and it could bedefined differently depending

on each countrys priorities and perspective 7.

Thus, it is evident that generally horizon scan assessment is absolutely

critical to help a countrys leaders measure and plan for ICT integration, focus

their efforts and identify areas where further attention is required. The

assessment is also expected to indicate pointers where future efforts arechallenged by both public and private initiatives. In this regard, the report

categorizes its thematic area into four contents. These are:

Citizens expectations

Infrastructure & Service Sector

Supporting policies

ICT and human

resources

The purpose of the horizon scan report comprises the following area:

A.To assess the current state of development of a specific ICT and e-

governance, its present and potential use in the Government systems.

B.To assess the citizens expectation regarding e-governance which reflects

a participation approach in this report. This part of the report mainly

highlights the common problems of citizens and their recommendations

how ICT can help in this regard.

7.GeoSINC International, e-Readiness Guide, p.5


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C.To build a coordination & network in the Government infrastructure to

strengthen the capacity of public sectors. Bangladesh as a country

already introduced the e-governance process or initiatives both in public

or private sector. In the public sector Government ministries have already

initiated ICT activities. But it is observed that there is no reflection of

coordination or networking among the activities of ministries. So, this

report will enable leveraging on the knowledge created and resources

available from completed/ongoing/planned e-governance initiatives of

various stakeholders.

D.To promote awareness of the need for action to increase e-readiness

throughout the country. This report is focused on to create attention on

where action is needed most to foster the e-governance system inBangladesh.

E.To identify and review the backlogs and problems that inhibits the e-

readiness and proposes solutions and recommendations to eliminate

obstacles and improve readiness.

F. To map out the interests and capabilities of the stakeholders to capture

the interests of various development partners with regard to e-governance

initiatives.


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1.3 Methodology

The methodological approach focused on the collection of data from primary and

secondary sources, together with survey of different groups, interviews with key

informants and informal focus group sessions. The collection of data has been

focused in the following ways:

Research on the past and ongoing projects

Surveys to find the stake holders perspective

Focus Group Discussions (FGDs)

Key Informant Interviews (KII)

Consultations and workshops

Draft Reports on all the surveys

Final Consultation

The surveys have been conducted in the following areas:

1. Literature survey

2. Citizen e-readiness survey

3. Government employee e-readiness survey

4. NGOs/CSOs Survey regarding e-governance

5. Business community survey regarding e-governance

The surveys alluded to above a combination of methods. The citizens

expectations utilize a combination of cluster or area sampling with significant

elements of randomness. Citizen survey, the most important part has been

conducted to know the citizens perspective of e-governance in different area.

The questionnaire for citizen survey is designed to get the idea about how ready

the citizens are for e-governance and what are the citizens wants and needs in

terms of e-governance from the government. As the citizens reflection is one of

the prominent areas in this report the survey has conducted in two areas as

pilot study. After successful conduct of pilot survey the questionnaire has

reviewed for main survey. And finally the citizen survey has been conducted


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prioritizing the areas Hill Tracks, Monga, Hawor, Char, coastal areas. The study

overall covered 11 Districts, namely, Dhaka, Chittagong, Barisal, Sylhet,

Rajshahi, Khulna, Rangamati, Kurigram, Sunamganj, Sirajganj, and

Narayanganj. The districts included around 700 citizens representing almost all

levels of the society, 44 small and medium scale business organizations, 10 local

business chambers from 10 Districts, 44 NGOs established mainly in the rural

part of the country, 22 Upazilla Nirbahi Officers, 11 Union Parishod (UNOs)

Chairman and 22 Members (including female members) from the same Union

Parishod as the Chairmen. The upazilla level has been identified so that people

interact more with the government officers. The 700 citizens included

stakeholders namely agro-farmers, poultry farmers, fishermen, labors,

Professionals, housewives, students, self-employed, job seekers, senior citizens

(above 60), disabled citizens, daily labours, the very poor (under the $1 income

margin), Teachers and Government employees.

In addition, a survey on ministries and divisions has been conducted with a

view to analyze the ICT infrastructure and connectivity status of that institution.

Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and Key Informant Interviews (KII) are the most

important parts of the methodologies. A number of FGD has been planned to be

held through out the whole period of horizon scan with all the stakeholders. At

the initial phase FGDs with some of the stakeholders have been conducted and

the recommendations provided by the different stakeholders added inputs to

this report.

Assessment Methodology:

The assessment of e-readiness, based on the review of information collected, is

undertaken through the brainstorming analysis which describes the

determinants of a communitys readiness for the networked world. Harvard

University Guide (HUG) prepared by the centre for International Development at

Harvard University, a diagnostic tool that is widely used around the world to

assess a communitys e-readiness is also reviewed in this report. The Harvard

University Guide follows the indicators for e-readiness: network society, network

access, networked learning, networked economy and networked government.

This Horizon scan report mainly postulates categories:Citizens expectations,

supporting policies, infrastructure and connectivity, Human resources

and a set of indicators which suggest the communitys actual state of readiness


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specifically information structure, internet availability, internet affordability,

digital content, network speed and quality, hardware and software, service and

support, workforce access, e-commerce and e-learning.

The assessment methodology has to be modified from the Harvard

University Guide to the assessment goals and purposes in our contextual

perspectives. Our purpose is to examine the countrys status and the capacity

for e-readiness as it relates to the development goals and priorities. This report

enables different stakeholders to analyze the status of Bangladesh in terms of

present situation regarding ICT implications, its hindrance and exploration in

the near future. The data analysis and presentation were organized to reflect the

urban and rural situation as well as the influence of economic, social and

demographic factors on e-readiness.

The horizon scan report will act as a catalyst in the terms of e-governance

to all stakeholders as for example research institutions, government sector,

private sector, international or national level institutions. As the report will be

defined as a guideline for reaching the goal of e-governance the report will be

updated at a regular interval of its publication. In fact, the information

assembled in the horizon scan report would be important for the design of any

development gateway.


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1.4 Scope

The horizon scan report of Access to Information Programme (A2I) was an

attempt to represent a comprehensive picture of the current ICT status of

Bangladesh. In doing so, horizontal width of this report got broaden. The scopeof this report basically was determined within the arena of citizens expectations,

infrastructure, human resource and existing policies related to information and

communication technology of the country.

To collect the primary data the conducted survey covered up to the root

level of countrys administrative structure as well as to the last level of

elected representatives meaning Union Parishad. In midst the district

level wasnt being included, although six divisional cities have been

covered up.

To represent the infrastructure, attempts were enlarged to cover up all

the stake holders related to ICT, through various focal group discussions,

bilateral meetings and key person interviews with the various govt.

ministries, Banks, Financial institutions, several non govt. institutions

and service providers associations.

To show the policies and regulations periphery the report extended its

outlook up to the ICT, MDG PRS etc. policies and also related acts and

regulations that are reflections regarding ICT.

The report also looked upon the stakeholders of ICT in the country. As

ICT is a cross cutting issue, the list of stakeholders seemed to be endless.

The report covered some important stakeholders like Banks, Mobile

content developers, ISP associations, connectivity providers etc. The

report also tried to look upon the opportunities for human resource

development through academy, government and other institutional

training capacity buildup.


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1.5 Limitations

The horizon scan report of Access to Information (A2I) Programme was an effort

to let the policy makers to have a comprehensive understanding and

visualization of current ICT status of the country. But the Report has variousconstrains to produce its best output. The limitations of this report have shown

below.

To represent the citizens expectations in this report, a citizen survey was

conducted around 800 people of 11 districts. In a country of one fifty

million people he sample size might not reflect the authentic picture but

as a pilot study it was a balanced survey with prior consideration of all

exceptions.

Many of the analysis and presentations of this report were based on

secondary data which might not reflect same outcome as like based on

primary data. Most important thing is data are unavailable and not

updated time to time which limits our level of reliance. Besides that, in

some cases data vary from source to source.

Lack of adequate response is one of the limitations which in some extent

limit the real status of any topic.

The Human Resource part of this report suffers slightly greater

limitations than other parts as there is no organized documents available

on HR issues particularly IT academics. No accurate facts and figures of

IT graduates, post graduates, diplomas and certified professionals from

various training institutes has been showed in this report.

One of the basic philosophies behind preparing this report was that it

would be a reflection of intentions and showed ways of all stakeholders.

Although most of the issues on this report have been concluded on the

basis of Focal Group Discussion (FGD), some parts remain out of which

renders the report under limitations in some arena.


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CITIZENS EXPECTATIONS

Citizens are

an important element of governance

and they form the primary

stakeholder in designing an e-

Governance model. Reflection of

common peoples thoughts in

Governance is the main demand of a

true democracy. To make e-

Governance sustainable and

effective it is the best to conceive the

idea and thought of the marginal

and general people in the rural and

urban areas.


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CHAPTER 2: CITIZENS EXPECTATIONS

The term e-Governance is mainly concerned with governance rather than the

electronic mode of providing it. Therefore it is of great importance to understand

the essential services to citizens and later select ways of providing with betterelectronic means. This survey also focused on the same arena and accordingly

relevant questionnaires were prepared. The survey was designed to cover

different classes of society & citizens and the technicality was least emphasized.

Citizens are an important element of governance and they form the

primary stakeholder in designing an e-Governance model. Reflection of common

peoples thoughts in Governance is the main demand of a true democracy. To

make e-Governance sustainable and effective it is the best to conceive the idea

and thought of the marginal and general people in the rural and urban areas.

The citizen survey is the most important component of the horizon scan

report. Decisions were reached to cover the stakeholders from every available

level of the society using first hand data collection and determine the state to

implement e-Governance in Bangladesh. Though initially planned, however due

to time limits not all stakeholders could be questioned upon.

The study overall covered 11 Districts, namely, Dhaka, Chittagong,

Barisal, Sylhet, Rajshahi, Khulna, Rangamati, Kurigram, Sunamganj,

Sirajganj, and Narayanganj.

The districts included around 700 citizens representing almost all levels

of the society, 44 small and medium scale business organizations, 10

local business chambers from 10 Districts, 44 NGOs established mainly

in the rural part of the country, 22 Upazilla Nirbahi Officers, 11 Union

Parishod (UNOs) Chairman and 22 Members (including female members)

from the same Union Parishod as the Chairmen.

The 700 citizens included stakeholders namely agro-farmers, poultryfarmers, fishermen, labors, professionals, housewives, students, self-

employed, job seekers, Senior Citizens (above 60), disabled citizens, daily

labours, the very poor (under the $1 income margin), teachers and

Government employees. The detail of citizen survey report is attached

Annex-I.


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The readiness of e-Governance in Bangladesh would not be viable if the needs of

the citizens could not be ascertained. The survey was very covert with regard to

the technicalities of ICT and very conspicuous about identifying the services

required. The survey seeks to:

1. Assess the status of the existing ICT infrastructure

2. Identify the services that citizens seek most

3. Identify the obstacles in availing these services

4. Identify ways by which they could be overcome using the existing ICT

infrastructure or introducing new technology

5. Identify the most preferred channel for e-Governance

The division of the categories and the regions were first selected and was

vetted by a sub-committee. The clustering of the regions was done on the basis

of the homogeneity of the challenges they usually face. The first five districtswere chosen as they are also the major Divisions of the country namely, Dhaka,

Chittagong, Rajshahi, Sylhet and Barisal. Khulna is not enlisted in the category

as it is choosen for Monga area. The other districts were chosen due to their

variation in facing natural disaster and obstacles throughout the year. Kurigram

was selected dut to its Monga every year, Sunamganj was selected due to its

geographical property of being the biggest swamp area, Sirajgonj was chosen for

being a great Char area of the country, Rangamati was chosen as one of the

districts of Chittagong Hill Tracts area, Khulna was chosen as in the coastal

area and battered every year by cyclone. Narayanganj was chosen as one of theclose districts from the capital to observe the, differences in services mere 21

kilometers. As it is a pilot study, the sample size was determined based on

previous experience.

After the questionnaire was prepared, the surveyors were selected and

trained for guiding the collection of data. A pilot survey was then carried out in

Savar and Doha of Greater Dhaka to get the feel how people responded. Some of

the questionnaires were then modified on the basis of problem identification

during pilot survey. The survey was done through statistical analysis for the

closed ended answers and summarizing the open ended answers.


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The part citizen expectations are divided into two main categories.

(1) An overview of what the different categories of citizens needs are and

what are the problems they are facing in achieving these needs, also the

recommendations provided by the citizens to solve these problems through

ICT.

(2) An overview of ICT infrastructure in surveyed areas.

2.1 An overview of Citizens Needs, problems and their

recommendations

Different needs were identified from the different categories of the citizens that

reflected from the answers during the survey. They have spoken on the

obstacles they face in achieving their needs and have made some

recommendations to avail them.

General Problems and Demands of the Citizens:

a) Inadequate health care: Health care problem is prioritized and crucial in

Bangladesh. Inadequate doctors & nurses and lack of facilities and

infrastructure are common in the rural areas. Sometimes people are deprived of

free medicine from government because of bureaucratic complicacy &

corruption.

b) Wide Spread Corruption: Corruption is the main barrier for the economic

growth of the country. Bribery is the most used form to obtain government

services. Lack of accountability & transparency among the government officials

make them insincere about responsibilities. Lack of transparency also inspires

corruption. All surveyed people depicted it as main hurdle to provide good

governance. They think ensuring accountability and transparency can really

change the scenario.

c) Lack of education: Access to education is still a great problem in

Bangladesh. Though the government has taken numerous steps to increase

literacy rate, the number of high schools, colleges and universities are

comparatively limited. Lack of teachers and their quality of teacher is a prime


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concern for the guardians. A difference in quality of education between urban

and rural area has been observed. Insufficient teaching materials in rural areas

are one of the reasons of rising of illiteracy in the children.

d) Insufficient Bank Loan:Investment capital is a major concern in economic

growth. Bank loan is a good source for providing capital. Agriculture loan is a

primary need for farmers; though some banks provide loan on other categories

like poultry firm loan and dairy firm loan etc. But it is not sufficient for marginal

people. The service should be expanded and easily allowed to the common

people. Massive people have voiced to make the loan refund process easy

avoiding undesired hassles.

e)Lack of Attention in Complain Centre:There is a complain centre in many

government departments but general people do not get effective and rapidresponses to their respective complains and sometimes the complain remains

unattended.

f) In Adequate Social Safety: Majority of the people of this country are still

beyond reach of the social safety. Government took some initiatives and

introduced old age allowance and widow allowance. This was supposed to have

great impact on the poor and helpless people. But the service are still very much

inadequate and limited.

g)Law and Order:Extortion is still a major problem to establish a new business

or operating a business in the country. Though there is a common perception

that it is city centric problem but the survey has depicted that it is also a major

problem in rural areas. Kidnapping and murdering is frequent in Bangladesh.

Violating law and order in rural areas generally occurs in the case of property &

land.

h)Middleman Ship:Price hike is the hottest topic in Bangladesh. The producer

is exempted from good sale price and the consumer forcibly pays excess value

for the purchased goods. The general people believe middleman-ship is to be

blamed.

i)Hassle In Getting Required Service:Government provides many services to

the citizen. But people are not satisfied with the way the service is provided.

They have to go through huge botheration to access these services. The surveyed


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people have expressed their deep concern to reduce the hassle to get a loan

service.

j) Lack of Information: Government offers many services to its citizen but

common people are not aware of them. People do not know how to get the help

from government when they face a problem. People are not even aware about

their rights. Access to information is very much limited and they are not even

aware of the availability of information.

k) High Price of Inputs and Raw Materials: High raw material costs are

hampering the social business. Especially the poor and marginal people are

affected by this. Reduced supply of raw materials also plays a role in increasing

the price of finished goods.

l) Lack of National Minimum Wage Policy:Right to receive fair minimum wage

is one of the human right for all working personnel at workplaces. It is

important to note that the Millennium Development Goal or poverty reduction

strategy of Bangladesh would not succeed without implementing minimum wage

standard for the workers. But the reality is that there is no national minimum

wage in Bangladesh yet. In Bangladesh the majority of the women workers are

deprived from this right for various reasons such as the weakness of relevant

rules/acts and lack of enforcement, negative attitude of the employers to violate

the rules/acts, lack of awareness among women workers about this specialright.

m) Insufficient Utility Services & High Cost: Mass people are not happy with

the supply & quality of utility service. People face many difficulties to receive

utility service (i.e. electricity connection, water, gas etc.). High utility price is

also a common problem.

Some Specific Problems:

a) Disability Unfriendly Environment: Physically or mentally challenged

people comprise a significant part of the society. Disable people are significant

part of the society. Government has taken some initiatives to facilitate their

access to all facets of everyday life. But the real scenario is not very pleasant.


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Organizations like Ministry of Social Welfare and Bangladesh Organization for

Disabled Advancement (BODA) who are working for the disable people are not

fully aware of the infrastructural requirements like separate rooms of the

ground floor, easy movement of the wheelchair etc while implementing any

project.

b) Lack of Information While Deep Sea Fishing: Every year Bangladesh is

struggling with many natural calamities like cyclone, tornado which ultimately

takes lives from the coastal belt. Many fishermen go for deep sea fishing without

any precautionary measures during bad weather and often they are not

concerned about the precautions at all. Improved mechanism is yet to develop

in this area for providing adequate information about the precautionary

measures and of bad weather. The lack of information in deep sea fishing is a

serious concern. Wireless technology for that specific area can be used to helpthem in crises moment.

Recommendations of citizens:

The surveyed citizens not only conveyed their problems but also identified their

solutions. Most of the people think their access to information is low due to both

lack of both infrastructure and ability. People could have got better solutions of

various problems if information were available to them. Although departmental

complain and investigation procedures are available but are of no use. For this

reason the people recommended the formation of a national complain center to

properly address those problems. In particular cases, new policies should be

formed and repeatedly reviewed. Still any national minimum wage policy has not

been planned to formulated to reduce the sufferings of labors and farmers. It

should immediately be addressed to redeem marginal people from deprivation of

basic necessities. To reduce the miseries of mass people in getting better

services bribery and irregularities must be removed. This can only be achieved

through a transparent, accountable and efficient administration. It should be

utmost priority of the Government to ensure transparency and to createaccountability in all layers of administration.


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Recommendations provided by the citizens to solve theseproblems through ICT

a) Provide Information Through Village Info Centers: Access to information

is very much limited in our society. The situation in the villages is worse than

that in the city. Village information centres can be a solution to provide

necessary information.

b) Establish Online Mobile Phone Based Complaint Centre:Use of Internet is

no more a dream in Bangladesh it is a reality. In the recent time the usage of

mobile phone is increasing day by day. So mobile phone can be used as a strong

tool to provide service to the mass people.

C) Arrange More TV Programs on Social and Economic Development issues:Television is the most popular media of transmitting information in Bangladesh.

41% of people watch television. So television should be used to increase

awareness and disseminate information dissemination. Rural people watch BTV

as it is the only terrestrial channel in Bangladesh, so the programs should focus

more on the different development programs like agricultural program, health

care, education, gender issue etc.

d) Provide Weather Forecast Through Mobile Phone: Mobile phone is used

widely among the citizens. It can be used to broadcast weather forecast in times

of national emergency.

e) Promote Labor Policies and Laws in Mass Communication Channels:Most

of the day laborers are not aware about their rights due to illiteracy. Radio and

television can be used to inform and aware them about their rights.

f) Submission of Utility Bills through SMS:Payment of utility bill is a hassle

and time consuming for general people. It wastes important working hours.

Broader ICT delivery channels, like SMS, web etc can be used to pay the utility

bills.

g) Provide Website, E-Mail and Phone Based Government Services:Different

countries around the world provide the services through websites and

telephones. The successful story in SSC and HSC result in Bangladesh are


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40%

25%

25%

1%

9%

Personal

Proff esional

Business

Education

Others

Fig 2 1: usages of Mobile Phone (on the basis of

Expenditure)

21%

39%

31%

9%

Less than 50 paisa

50 Paisa to 1 Taka

1 Taka

More than 1 Taka

Fig 2.2: Expected Call rate of Mobile Phone

remarkable initiative in this section. Now anyone can get his/her SSC/HSC

result through SMS.

h) Internet which Could Decrease the Educational Expense:Internet can be

used to deliver education to every corner of the country. Distance learning

should be strengthened as our infrastructure for formal education is still lacking

in resources.

i) Make Disability-Friendly software with steps from the Government:

Disability issue is still underestimated in our country. Government should take

some steps so that other organization can be influenced from this. In this

regard, Government can develop read out software to teach the blind people.

2.2 An overview of ICT infrastructure in surveyed areas

Mobile Telephones:

Mobile phone network is spread all

over the country and it has already

reached in every social stratum. The

survey was run on 700 citizens from

11 districts. It has been found that

(81%) people use mobile phone in

various purposes and 55.55% have

their own mobile set.

Most people use mobile phone in

their personal affairs which is why

survey result shows that 41% of

mobile bills incurred on personal

issues. Now people consider mobile

phone as a means to maintain social

relationships with their friends and

family members.


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Fig 2.3: Use of Computer in Different Purposes

29%

14%

18%

11%

17%

5% 6%

Compose

Gaming

Entertainment

Accounting

Education

Business

Others

But the largest portions of participants are not satisfied with the call rate of

mobile Phone. Only 23% participants think that the call rate is normal but the

majority portion give the opinion to decrease the call rate below 50paisa.

Computer Usage

Computer is not very popular among the citizen. But people at least know about

computer. Among the surveyed people 78% dont use computer. Out of 22%

computer users, only 10% have

personal computers and 12%

use computers in cyber cafs,

educational institutions, offices

etc. A large number of

Computers are mainly used in

big cities like Dhaka, and

Chittagong. 75% users use it for

compose or writing purpose.

Beside this they entertain

themselves by listening to song, watching movies, TV etc. Students use

computers to complete different study related paperwork. 37% users play

computers games. Though the use of computer is now increasing all over the

country but people are not satisfied with the price. 69% participants think that,

for locally assembled (clone) Personal Computers (PC) the price should be

between TK 13000/-TK 15000/- range.

Use of the Internet

The scenario of using internet is not very pleasing but the awareness is

increasing among the users. In this survey only 11% people disclosed that they

use the internet. Some of them have own internet connectivity while others use

cyber cafs, offices, business firms for internet connectivity. Many internet usersuse internet through mobile phones. But most of the participants say that

internet is not that much available and quite expensive.


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Fig 2.4: Status of Different TV Programs

25%

20 %

7%14%

18%

11%

5%

News

Drama

Talk Show

Song & Dance

Entertainment

Ag ricult ural

Others

Television

Survey result shows that among

the mass media channelTelevision is the most popular.

86% participants watch TV.

Among the private and public

channels Bangladesh television

(BTV) is the most popular

channel especially in rural areas.

Interestingly, People ranked the

news as their most favorite TV

program followed by dramaserials.

Radio

From survey it is found that radio is less famous than the TV in Bangladesh.

Only 29% participants listen to radio and most of them hear Bangladesh Betar.

Among other programs broadcasted from Radio, radio news is just as popular as

TV news. Beside this, weather and agricultural programs are also popular. In

Dhaka and Chittagong private radio channels are becoming popular because of

FM radio. Young generations are now highly attracted to FM radio programs. FM

radio is now able to create this fascination among them because of their easy

accessibility through mobile phones. It has been found from the survey that the

high rate of radio listeners in Rangamati due to the lack of other entertainment

channels.


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SUPPORTING POLICIES

The policy and legislative framework

is the most important and highly

weighted assessment category

specially for pushing up the ICT sector

of Bangladesh.


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CHAPTER 3: SUPPORTING POLICIES

Policy, Legislation, Regulations, Operations

In Bangladesh the IT has been declared as the thrust sector and the

Government and the private sector have committed themselves to collaborateactively with a view to improve the quality of life of its people and acquire the

necessary capability to meet the challenges of rapidly growing demands of the

information age.1 Being as a member of United Nations Bangladesh has also

committed to work in the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS)

declarations and plan of action. Based on internationally agreed development

goals, including those in the Millennium Declaration many laws and regulations

have been formulated or modified for guiding the development of information

and communication sector of Bangladesh. Several important pieces of legislation

have been enacted by or tabled in the legislature. However, other very important

legal initiatives have not yet been placed on the legislative agenda nor have they

been the subject of public discourse and debate.

The policy and legislative framework is the most important and highly

weighted assessment category specially for pushing up the ICT sector of

Bangladesh. The following issues for consideration in formulating the legislative

framework are:

Extent of access to information

Competitive framework

Impact of fiscal policy on national economy

Private sector investment

Investment promotion

Human resources development

Implementation strategy

1 e-readiness and Need Assessment Report by Country Gateway, Network Policy, page-26


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ICT in PRS

In PRS, ICT is seen as an indispensable tool in the fight against poverty and ICT

has the potential to provide the nation with an unprecedented opportunity to

meet vital development goals such as poverty reduction, basic healthcare and

education far more effectively than ever thought humanly possible. It is also said

in the poverty reduction strategy to convert the vast population into human

resources trained in ICT-both in rural and urban areas.The relevance o

e-Governance Horizon Report 2007.pdf

Documents

Transcript of e-Governance Horizon Report 2007.pdf