Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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.
Prepared by
Access to Information (A2I) Programme
Chief Advisers Office
Government of the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh
Horizon Scan Report 2007
ii
Horizon Scan Report 2007
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.
iii
Horizon Scan Report 2007
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.
iv
Horizon Scan Report 2007
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.
v
Horizon Scan Report 2007
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 their 15
recommendations
2.2 An overall picture of the status of the ICT infrastructure in 21
surveyed areas
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 46
4.1.3 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
vi
Horizon Scan Report 2007
vii
Horizon Scan Report 2007
Acknowledgement
Our Stakeholders
viii
Horizon Scan Report 2007
ix
Horizon Scan Report 2007
x
Horizon Scan Report 2007
xi
Horizon Scan Report 2007
xii
Horizon Scan Report 2007
xiii
Horizon Scan Report 2007
xiv
Horizon Scan Report 2007
Preface
xv
Horizon Scan Report 2007
Glossary of Terms
xvii
Horizon Scan Report 2007
Executive Summary
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
xviii
Horizon Scan Report 2007
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-yearly
review) will potentially make policy recommendations to support e-Governance
Vision and Strategies.
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.
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.
xxii
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
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 INTRODUCTION
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.
Horizon Scan Report 2007
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1
Horizon Scan Report 2007
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.
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.
2
Horizon Scan Report 2007
The following table represents the economic and social indicators of Bangladesh
at a glance.
Table : 1.2 Bangladesh at a glance2
Poverty and Social: As per 2006
Population(million) 150.4 (July 2007 est.)
Literacy Rate 51.6
GNI 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
The next table represents the countrys economic structure and long term trend.
Table: 1.3 Key economic ratios and long term trends 3
3
Horizon Scan Report 2007
4
Horizon Scan Report 2007
5
Horizon Scan Report 2007
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 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.
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.
6 bridges.org, http://www.bridges.org/ereadiness
6
Horizon Scan Report 2007
Citizens
Citizens expectations expectations
Infrastructure & Service Sector
Supporting policies
Human e- Infrastructure
ICT and human resources Governance & Service
Sector
resources
Supporting
policies
The purpose of the horizon scan report comprises the following area:
7
Horizon Scan Report 2007
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.
8
Horizon Scan Report 2007
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:
Final Consultation
1. Literature survey
9
Horizon Scan Report 2007
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.
Assessment Methodology:
10
Horizon Scan Report 2007
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.
11
Horizon Scan Report 2007
1.4 Scope
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 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.
12
Horizon Scan Report 2007
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 various
constrains to produce its best output. The limitations of this report have shown
below.
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.
13
Horizon Scan Report 2007
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
CITIZENS EXPECTATIONS
urban areas.
14
Horizon Scan Report 2007
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 better
electronic 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.
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.
15
Horizon Scan Report 2007
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 districts
were 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 the
close 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.
16
Horizon Scan Report 2007
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.
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.
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.
17
Horizon Scan Report 2007
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.
people have expressed their deep concern to reduce the hassle to get a loan
service.
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 special
right.
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.
19
Horizon Scan Report 2007
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 create
accountability in all layers of administration.
20
Horizon Scan Report 2007
21
Horizon Scan Report 2007
remarkable initiative in this section. Now anyone can get his/her SSC/HSC
result through SMS.
Mobile Telephones:
their own mobile set. Fig 2 1: usages of Mobile Phone (on the basis of
Expenditure)
family members.
22
Horizon Scan Report 2007
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% 5%
6%
Compose
use computers in cyber cafs, 29%
Gaming
17% Entertainment
educational institutions, offices
Accounting
etc. A large number of Education
11% Business
Computers are mainly used in 14%
Others
18%
big cities like Dhaka, and
Chittagong. 75% users use it for
compose or writing purpose. Fig 2.3: Use of Computer in Different Purposes
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.
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 users
use internet through mobile phones. But most of the participants say that
internet is not that much available and quite expensive.
23
Horizon Scan Report 2007
Television
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.
24
Horizon Scan Report 2007
SUPPORTING POLICIES
25
Horizon Scan Report 2007
In Bangladesh the IT has been declared as the thrust sector and the
Government and the private sector have committed themselves to collaborate
actively 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:
1 e-readiness and Need Assessment Report by Country Gateway, Network Policy, page-26
26
Horizon Scan Report 2007
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 of ICT to
the goal of accelerated poverty reduction has been seen in the following three
folds:
Firstly, ICT as an employment frontier
Secondly, ICT as a facilitator for strengthening the role of the poor in the
market and
Lastly, ICT as a bridge reducing the distance between the citizenship
including the poor and the state.
Some specific strategic goals and agendas have been identified for ICT in PRS.
Present status of goal 1: To achieve the goal at the policy level, a number of
measures have been taken including:
Formulation of a National ICT Policy;
Adoption of e-Governance Initiatives in selected areas;
Formation of a National Task Force on ICT and Biotechnology;
Amendment of the Copyright Act 2000; and
Legislation of the ICT Act.
27
Horizon Scan Report 2007
With a view to making internet facilities available to the poor at a low cost
and to bring about drastic changes in their livelihoods by introducing this
29
Horizon Scan Report 2007
modern technology in all sectors of the economy, the Government has initiated a
number of projects and programmes.
The Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) has been made accessible to the
private sector to facilitate internet expansion at a low cost. The Government is
also exploring the possibility of establishing an alternate broadband network for
large-scale data and voice transmission. BTRC has conducted a study in this
respect through independent consultants and their recommendations are being
reviewed.
Strategic Goal 4: To promote use of ICT. To achieve the goal ensuring good
governance and disaster management and to increase capacity using of ICT.
30
Horizon Scan Report 2007
Appropriate steps have been taken to introduce new services like data
communication and countrywide digital networks connecting all districts. BTTB
is working to bring 64 districts under a digital network and a National Digital
Data Network (DDN) has been implemented, which will integrate the whole
country under a single digital network.
These are the main strategic issues of growth of ICT in PRS. Although
some challenges have been mentioned for reaping the potential such as:
incomplete connectivity, weak development of application areas such as
integrating the poor to the market, in hardware trouble shooting in e-governance
etc and finally in the pronounced lack of quality and system perspective in ICT
training. A related challenge is the undertaking of a comprehensive initiative to
enable rapid acquisition of functional proficiency in English language.
Bangladesh Government has been taken many important initiatives or actions to
achieve the goals set in Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS).
31
Horizon Scan Report 2007
ICT in MDG
Indicator 46: Telephone lines and cellular subscribers per 100 population
Indicator 47: Personal computers in use per 100 population
Indicator 48: Internet users per 100 population.
However, in the context of Bangladesh the indicators which have been set in
MDG may vary from other countries. Some alternative indicators may provide
better picture in terms of accessibility to the ICTs which have to intervene.
32
Horizon Scan Report 2007
ICT Policy:
For the development of ICT sector within the framework of overall national
development, the Government has approved the National ICT Policy in October
2002. The Vision of this Policy aims at building an ICT-driven nation comprising
of knowledge-based society by the year 2006. The ICT policy gives prioritization
on ICT infrastructure, capacity building, research and development in ICT, ICT
industry, E-Commerce, e-Governance, data security, software copyright
provisions, telemedicine system network, development of health portal and
online booking and ticketing services for all private and public transport
companies. In order to make best utilization of ICT and exploit its immense
potential in the economic, social, commercial and scientific fields a National ICT
Task Force has formed with Honorable Prime Minister as its Chairman. As its
implementing agency Support to ICT task Force Programme has been
undertaken under the Planning Division. The Ministry of Science and
Information & Communication Technology (MOSICT) and BCC is stated to act as
coping with the present need and future requirement of ICT.
33
Horizon Scan Report 2007
The Policy also highlighted the local software industry, hardware industry
and service industry and promotes business in electronic form. It is also stated
that the Government will introduce and promote ICT based services like G2G
(Government to Government), G2E (Government to Employee), G2C
(Government to customer) etc.
The ICT policy also incorporates the ICT issues in health care system,
agriculture, social welfare, transportation, tourism, environment, judiciary,
regional and international cooperation to introduce an ICT driven society.
Digital Signature:
34
Horizon Scan Report 2007
issues of digital signature have been included in ICT Act which have been
enacted in October, 2006. Steps needs to be taken to implement the act. The law
also emphasizes for electronic documentation which ultimately clear the path of
implementation of e-Governance.
Telecommunication:
As of today there are six cellular operators of which one is owned by state
and others are private. These cellular operators have completely leveraged the
prior market situation. Now the tele density is almost 23.3% which was
considered impossible dream when the Telecommunication act was formulated
in 2001.
Broadband:
35
Horizon Scan Report 2007
proposed identifying short, mid and ling term goals which is designed following
the millennium development goals.
Local Content:
To help the ICT sector flourish in the country, there is a need for an effective
legal framework. Timely and suitable legal reforms can create an ICT-friendly
legal environment. Such an environment will help this sector grow by attracting
investment. Bangladesh Government passed the copyright legislation, called
Copyright Law 2000 which is expected to accelerate the development of IT
industries and boost the economic status of the country. The law is intended to
36
Horizon Scan Report 2007
As evidenced in the past, few good policies (like the successful Bangladesh Drug
Policy, RMG Back-to-Back LC, etc) can truly accelerate the pace of economic
development in Bangladesh. The follow up activities of this report (half-yearly
review) will also bring the needed policies to support the e-Governance Vision
and Strategies. Policy experts recommended for reviewing The ICT and
Telecommunication policy. ICT policy had drafted in 1999 and it is approved in
2002. As the same way while drafting the telecommunication policy, the mobile
penetration rate of that period and the present rate have huge difference. So the
statement of that policy needs revision and new directive measures have to be
focused in that act according to the present status of ICT.
There are governing authorities in ICT sector which deals with the ICT
application, adoption and other relating activities in the country.
BCC is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Science and Information &
Communication Technology, Government of Bangladesh for encouraging and
providing support for ICT related activities in Bangladesh. It is established by
Act No IX of 1990 passed by the Parliament.The main objective of establishing
BCC was to ensure the effective application and expansion of the use of
information technology. In view of this BCC has been formulating appropriate
policies and implementing them since its inception. BCC has taken some
projects to expansion of activities of BCC; to expansion of uses of computer and
IT in the country; development of skilled manpower; expansion of IT-based
export business.
Advisory Services
38
Horizon Scan Report 2007
Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone (T&T) Department was created under the
Ministry of Posts & Telecommunications after the independence of Bangladesh
in 1971 to run the telecommunication services on a commercial basis. In 1976
Bangladesh T&T Department was converted into a corporate body. In pursuance
of an Ordinance promulgated by the President on 24 February 1979, the
department was restructured into Bangladesh Telephone and Telegraph Board
39
Horizon Scan Report 2007
40
Horizon Scan Report 2007
ICT infrastructure
is the main component to provide
services electronically. The rationale
is simple: without ready access to
voice and data communication
networks, the population cannot
make use of advanced digital
services. For this reason, connectivity
and technology infrastructure remains
one of the most heavily weighted
components in this horizon scan
report.
41
Horizon Scan Report 2007
The report has highlighted the overall infrastructure into some relevant sub
categories to give a specific and clear idea. These following categories presented
on the basis of mode of service delivery.
1. Telecommunication Network
2. Data Connectivity
3. Television Network
4. Radio Network
5. Post
6. Tele center and Cyber caf
7. Power sector
42
Horizon Scan Report 2007
43
Horizon Scan Report 2007
Mobile phone is the strongest tool to reach the mass people in Bangladesh.
People from almost all economic levels can afford to access mobile phones. The
following figures show the revolution that has happened in telecommunication
sector in Bangladesh.
Total Mobile Phone Subscriber Growth Year wise Teledensity (only mobile phone)
N u m b e r o f S u b s c rib e rs
35,000,000 18.00%
30,000,000 16.00%
14.00%
25,000,000
P e r c e n ta g e
12.00%
20,000,000 10.00%
15,000,000 8.00%
10,000,000 6.00%
5,000,000 4.00%
2.00%
0
0.00%
n -1 8
J a 99 9
J a 00 0
J a 2 00 1
n- 2
J a 19 9 7
n- 3
n- 4
n- 5
n- 6
ly- 7
07
J a 1 99
J a -2 0 0
J a 998
J a 999
J a 000
J a 001
J a 002
J a 20 0
J a 20 0
J a 20 0
J a 20 0
J u 20 0
J a 99 7
J a 00 3
J a 00 4
J a 00 5
J a 00 6
07
20
n -2
20
n-
n-
n -1
n -1
n -2
n -2
n -2
1
2
2
2
2
n
n-
n-
n-
n-
n-
n-
n-
Ja
Ja
Time Period Time Period (Jan-1997 to Jan-2007)
Fig 4.2: Total Mobile Phone Subscriber3 Fig 4.3: Tele density (in Mobile Phone) 4
The mobile web and web based service has started in Bangladesh in recent
times, but not in a large scale. The subscribers have yet treated data service as
a costly and luxurious service. There are two basic subscriber classes in cellular
market: Post-Paid and Pre-Paid.
44
Horizon Scan Report 2007
Based on the general data service tariff plan, there are two packages are
provided by almost all the operators. One is pay per use and another is
unlimited usages. The subscribers have to pay a flat fee for unlimited usages
monthly. The user classes of these packages are generally the corporate. It is
getting popular among the students now. City Cell, one of the operators, having
CDMA network, is providing data service package based on segmented download
size with the brand name myCityCell Zoom. They are providing data services
based on monthly download usage of 100MB, 300MB and 3GB. They are also
providing pay per use data service. CityCell also provides the data card with the
package.
Services:
As the data service is still treated as the costly service by the subscribers so
operators are sluggish to take initiatives on data service. Among the six (6)
operators only two are found to be leading the data service market in
Bangladesh. They are: AKTEL and Grameen Phone. AKTEL having almost 6.5
million subscriber base. Grameen Phone is currently leading the market of
subscriber base of almost 15.5 million. Here the subscribers are enjoying and
experiencing the mobile web through several services like: WAP browsing, MMS,
Peer to Peer, MMS Peer to Email, download service (like game, wallpaper, ring
tone etc.).
So far compared to voice service revenue data revenue is very much lower
and the subscribers as well as the operators are not so much concerned about
the data services. So there is very less promotion in this sector. But there are
huge potentialities in this sector.
45
Horizon Scan Report 2007
France(Marseille
)
Italy(Palermo
)
Algeria(Annaba
)
Tunisia (Bizerte Egypt(Alexandria
) ) Segment
Cair 3
o Egypt(Suez
)
Pakistan(Karachi Bangladesh(Coxs
Saudi ) Bazar)
Arabia India(Mumba
)
UAE(Fujairah
) India(Chenna
)
Thailand(Satun
)
Singapore(Tuas
)
6 www.fujitsu.com/img/PR/2005/20051213-01.jpg
46
Horizon Scan Report 2007
The establishment of submarine cable link provides the infrastructure for large-
scale software export and scopes for investment to establish IT-enabled value-
added service e.g. call centre, tele-medicine, and distance education at overseas
universities. BTTB believes government earnings from telecommunications
sector will shoot up as it can raise the number of telephone circuits with the
consortium members.
The Utilization Plan for the cable capacity has been prepared to address
the national interest first. It will consider the requirement for voice, data, video,
entertainment and similar other broadband services by BTTB and other service
providers for next 10 years. It will also facilitate overall ICT activity to enhance
the socio-economic growth of the country. Utilization plan has focused on to
meet requirements specified by ICT Task Force and BTRC regarding VoIP and
make effective use of the surplus capacity.
BTTB has already started the following facilities by using sub marine
cable, Post-paid Dialup Internet Service, Leased Internet Access (Broadband
Internet), Nationwide DDN circuit, Multi-exchange area DDN circuit, E1 Access
to PSTN from ISP, IPLC (International Private Leased Line Circuits).
At present (2007) most cities and towns are covered by digital telephone
exchanges. All Upazilla exchanges will have digital exchanges by the end of
2008-09. So all telephone subscribers up to Upazilla level will have voice and
Internet connectivity through the submarine cable. Rural growth centers will be
brought under digital exchanges by installing suitable access network to extend
benefits of submarine cable in to the rural areas.
47
Horizon Scan Report 2007
7 BTTB (www.bttb.gov.bd)
48
Horizon Scan Report 2007
A project is going on to establish the national backbone. Under this project there
will be a setup for Layer 3 Switch (ADSL Site) in 12 districts connected by Fiber
optics to main backbone. These districts are Dhaka, Comilla, Chittagong, Sylhet,
Khulna Bogra, Barishal, Rajshahi, Gazipur, Savar, Mymensigh, and Jessore.
Any organization can lease their connection from these centers. But one
constraint is that if any one wants to take a fiber optic link connection, they
have to take a connection of 3Mbps. This project will hopefully be ended within
June 2008.
The internet came late in Bangladesh, with UUCP e-mail beginning in 1993 and
IP connectivity in 1996. In June 1996, the government decided to allow private
entrepreneurs to act as ISPs using VSATs (Very Small Aperture Terminal). In
1999, there were 10 ISPs (8 in Dhaka and 2 in Chittagong) while in 2007, there
are about 203 ISPs in Bangladesh among them 77 are nationwide ISPs. ISPs
cover and provide their service in 18 districts in Bangladesh.
Maximum ISPs are Dhaka based and they lease bandwidth from BTTB
and sell bandwidth among different organizations and also provide single user
connection. ISPs outside Dhaka are mainly connected to international backbone
by their own VSAT.
49
Horizon Scan Report 2007
Though bandwidth price remain the main barrier to increase the internet
penetration in the country but in recent times it is decreasing as the number of
users are increasing. Still it is higher than our neighbor countries. To foster the
IT enabled service there is no other alternative to decrease the bandwidth price.
Here is the list of Core to ISP bandwidth charge for Bangladesh, India and
Pakistan.
50
Horizon Scan Report 2007
(b) Local Satellite TV: Satellite TV has been gaining popularity since the end of
nineties. It is now a well-networked infrastructure in Bangladesh. There are 9
private channels. These channels are very popular among the citizen, especially
the news service.
51
Horizon Scan Report 2007
These channels promote our culture and heritage worldwide, especially with the
non resident Bangladeshis watching the programs. Local cable operators
broadcast different information relevant to the viewers and can be treated as an
alternative channel for information dissemination for local areas.
(b) FM Radio:
Nowadays FM radio has gained much popularity among the citizen, especially
among the young generation. FM radio service is now only available in Dhaka
and Chittagong. FM radio can be a great tool for local services and information.
As such it is an important way to broadcast about the traffic situation in the
city.
The ownership & reach of the radio seemed to be declining. Only 32%
people own radio of which only 27.3% radios are in working order. This is
because public radio has failed to attract people and the opportunity to watch
TV has gone up rapidly. Only 22.5% people listen to the radio. Radio audience
has declined in urban areas sharply. As in the past, radio reach remained
higher among males (30%) compared to females (16%). Dhaka is the most
popular radio station having 31.3% listener-ship.11 Radio is still popular in rural
and hill tracts area of the country. Community radio has a good potential in the
country with neighboring countries like India, Srilanka and Nepal have
exercising huge positive impact of community radio among the mass people.
11 http://www.sdnbd.org/sdi/issues/IT-computer/ict4d-2007-bytesforall.pdf
52
Horizon Scan Report 2007
Bangladesh Post Office introduced Electronic Mail Service in the name of e-Post
from 16 Aug 2000. e-Post service enables people to send and receive messages
or scanned images through email from these post offices in the country.
People who do have access to internet would be able to send and receive
email messages without possessing an email ID. Thereby bridging some of the
digital divides in the arena of public communication systems.
Now the service is available in our 16 Head Post offices namely Dhaka
GPO, Chittagong GPO, Sylhet HPO, Moulavibazar HPO, Feni HPO, Comilla HPO,
Noakhali HPO, Mymensingh HPO, Jessore HPO, Kushtia HPO, Barisal HPO,
Bogra HPO and Sirajgonj HPO ZIA, and International Airport Post Office.
Some of the most marginalized segments of digital divide are the rural
communities around the world most of which lack access to information and,
more often than not, lack access to technology. One of the key challenges facing
development practitioners today is how to utilize information and
communication technology (ICT) tools to provide service to this underserved
segment with the objective of decreasing human poverty and improving
livelihoods. The services delivery platform of choice for various poverty
alleviation interventions so far has been through the humble telecenter often
given names relevant to the region or community within which it is based.
53
Horizon Scan Report 2007
ICT Centers (RICs) run by the Digital Equity Network (DEN) with support from
KATALYST disseminates livelihoods information for local businesses in sectors
that are relevant to the community such as information for fishermen or
potato farmers or poultry farmers.
The business of cyber caf has been growing in Dhaka since the late 90s.
Cyber caf is now available even at the district level. People use cyber cafs to
browse, send and receive e-mails, transfer data and even for video conferencing.
The caf owners association presented, an estimate showing that 40 per cent of
their users are students, 30 per cent job-seekers, 20 per cent business users
54
Horizon Scan Report 2007
and 10 per cent of them fall in the mixed category. Everybody was dreaming of a
high bandwidth after the connection to the SE-ME-WE-4, but it will take time to
benefit from such connectivity. The rate for browsing in cyber caf is BDT 20-35
(approx) per hour.
Undisrupted supply of electricity is an important factor for the ICT sector and as
well as for overall economic growth of Bangladesh. Without ensuring the
uninterrupted power supply ICT enabled services cannot be ensured. Due to
huge amount of load shedding, our economy is losing significant amount of
money and working hour every single day. However, the condition of the power
sector of Bangladesh is improving. But the situation is not yet satisfactory and
there is still a long way to go.
At present, four state-owned agencies under the Ministry of Energy and Mineral
Resources are responsible for electricity development and distribution in the
country. These are:
Dhaka Electric Supply Authority (DESA) Responsible for distribution of electricity in the
greater Dhaka area including the metropolitan city
of Dhaka.
55
Horizon Scan Report 2007
The installed capacity of the all the power plants was 5245 MW including 1260
MW in the private sector (IPP) in the fiscal year 2006. But the maximum power
generation in fiscal year 2006 was 3,782 MW, which was about 1.65% higher
than the previous year. The net energy generated in 2006 was 14,456 Gwh in
public sector power plants under BPDP. In addition to this about 8, 286 Gwh of
electricity was purchased by BPDB from IPP. As a result, the net energy
generated by public and private sector power plant stood at 22,747 GWh, which
was 7.46% higher than the previous year. System loss in BPDB system for the
fiscal year 2006 was 7.82% of the net energy generation, which was 9.29% in
the year before.12
Most of the power plants use gas as fuel; others use Hydro, Foil, HSD as the raw
materials for electricity production. Unavailability of necessary gas is one of the
major problems for power generation.
81.42%
There are 21 government owned power plants in the country. In the private
sector there are 6 plats. Among those some of the power units remain shut down
for maintenance work regularly.
12 The daily Star, 1st page, Dhaka Saturday, September 22, 2007
56
Horizon Scan Report 2007
Bangladesh has been experiencing huge electricity shortage for several years. As
a result load shedding has become a part of our daily life. It is also evidenced by
the statistics provided by BPDB annual report 2005-2006. It has shown that the
load shedding was imposed on 347 days in the fiscal year 2005-2006.
The maximum level of demand served in 2006 was 3,742 MW against the
forecast demand of 4,693 MW as per Power System Master Plan (PSMP-2005).
The power development board worked hard to improve the efficiency of the
existing plants and to start more power units.
13 The daily Star, 1st page, Dhaka Saturday, September 22, 2007
57
Horizon Scan Report 2007
The government has already taken some initiatives to set up new power
plants through private investors. The government signed deals with private
sponsors to set up 10 small power plants across the country, having total
capacity of about 200 MW. The private sector sponsors will set up the plants,
each with 10-30 MW capacity, at 10 separate locations on `Build-Own-Operate''
(BOO) basis.14
BPDB has implemented the prepaid meter project at a cost of Tk 4.15 crore. It
was introduced in Sylhet, Sirajganj and Uttara of the Dhaka city under some
pilot projects. Prepaid meters for electricity consumers in Bogra town were also
introduced with a view to lowering system loss.People can buy prepaid cards of
the meters at a vending centre of the local PDB office. Consumers can recharge
the prepaid electricity cards from the vending outlet.
The new system can remove the existing hazards like maintaining meter reading
and regular bill payment. Under this system, the consumers need not to pay a
minimum amount if they do not use the electricity.
14 www. Energybangla.com, Bangladesh Govt Signs Deals with Private Cos for 10 Small
Power Plants
58
Horizon Scan Report 2007
59
Horizon Scan Report 2007
The report briefly summarizes the ongoing ICT related projects or any
initiatives in the ministries which fosters the e-Governance issues in
Bangladesh. Most of the ministries have their own websites. It is seen that the
offices are equipped with sufficient computers, printers, scanners and other
tools. Most of the offices are Internet connected with the line of broadband or
dial-up system. LAN, WAN & MAN connection is available in some of the
ministries. Some of the ministries use different customized softwares for smooth
operation of the ministries. For example, some of the subordinate organizations
of Ministry of Industries uses different types of software for payroll system,
share, accounting, personal system, daily production, sales and staff monitoring
etc. The details of infrastructure and connectivity of different ministries and
divisions are attached in the Annex - 2
Connectivity issue:
More than 50% ministries have their own Local Area Network (LAN). They
are connected to internet via dial up connection or broadband connection.
Some ministries have also connected their zonal offices to LAN and the
internet. For example, Ministry of Primary and Mass Education has 30
computers in the ministry and 100 computers in primary education office,
which are LAN connected. In Primary Education Ministry 6 divisional offices
60
Horizon Scan Report 2007
and 16 district offices are connected with WAN through a central server.
SICT is the responsible body for LAN setup in the ministries and they has
already setup LAN in couple of ministries.
Software Issue:
Some of the ministries use customized software for their internal purpose
and service delivery. They mainly use payroll system, accounting software,
daily production monitoring software, sales and staff monitoring software
etc. The software usually used in the ministries are listed below:
Hardware Issue:
Training:
61
Horizon Scan Report 2007
Web based service is a good tool for better and easy service delivery channel
for government. Some ministries already give web-based service to the
citizen. Such as
Publication of SSC/HSC resul. (http://site.educationboard.gov.bd/results_db/ )
To realize the goals set forth by the ICT Policy, an ICT Task Force had been
formed, In 2003, the government launched a Support to ICT Task Force (SICT)
program at the Ministry of Planning, with the mandate of providing
administrative and secretarial support to the ICT Task Force in realizing various
ICT projects, particularly e-Governance. The Support to ICT Task Force (SICT)
Program was created by the governance to provide various strategic and
implementation support to some of the decisions taken by the National ICT Task
Force, which is headed by the Honorable Prime Minister. Currently, the primary
responsibility of SICT is to implement e-Governance projects in different
government offices across the country. Further, another of its responsibilities is
to provide support to the National ICT Taskforce to ensure access to information
by every citizen to facilitate empowerment of people and to enhance democratic
values and norms for sustainable economic development. The project is
generally divided into two components for outsourcing purposes: software and
training services, and hardware and networking equipment.
62
Horizon Scan Report 2007
Completed Projects:
An interactive website has been developed for the Ministry of Land, which
contain relevant information about the responsibilities and activities of the
Ministry and its subsidiaries, database of key personnel, annual reports,
strategic plans, portfolio budget statements, laws and regulations, various
downloadable forms, tribal land management, dynamic land tax calculation.
After being successful completion of the project of Land Record Archiving at
Manikganj Record Room under the Ministry of Land citizens have been receiving
much quicker services in obtaining porchas and a good quality printed and
certified copy of Khatian/ Mouza map, instead of a hand-written copy. Digital
storage helps to prevent tampering of old records. The Board of Investment (BOI)
is the primary government body dedicated to attracting foreign and local
investment in the country. It is crucial that the internal processes of BOI are
automated so that it is better prepared to carry out its functions more
effectively. The successful automation of BOI will also help to portray a positive
image of Bangladesh among foreign and local investors. Potential investors are
now better informed about investment opportunities. BOI officials are now more
efficient in carrying out their daily activities.
65
Horizon Scan Report 2007
Ongoing Projects:
Apart from these completed projects there are 41 projects still under SICT
programme are going on. In the ground of existing problems of the system these
initiatives were being taken in various sectors and departments. Process
Automation at Post Office is one of those projects. Currently the post office does
not have an effective mechanism for tracking mails. It may take several weeks
for the Post Office officials to respond to a clients query regarding the status of a
mail. The business process of the post office is also riddled with inefficiency,
causing a client to have to go to several counters for one service. Due to the lack
of an integrated system, the same information is sometimes entered in register
books at different desks/counters. With availability of private postal services,
citizens are becoming increasingly aware of the inefficiency of the government-
run postal system. Some of the services that will be provided under the project
are tracking of mails, one-stop service at GPO, electronic money order, e-mail
service for the public etc. The benefits that citizens will get after successful
completion of this project are postal services at low price, one-stop service, send
and e-mails at low cost.
66
Horizon Scan Report 2007
67
Horizon Scan Report 2007
Overall Comments:
The SICT programme under the Ministry of Planning had submitted a status
report on various ongoing projects. The status report was further being
examined with prior scrutiny and physical visit of the sub projects. It was found
that website is considered as the only way to explore information in all the sub
projects. Other channels were not being considered in that sense. Response of
customers about the status of bill in the website of BTTB was minimal. In the
same way the website of the Agricultural Marketing Department didnt reach its
prime consumer, meaning the farmers. But this website added significant value
to the secondary stakeholders. It is being manifested that in some cases system
study was not properly conducted prior implementation of those sub projects.
So estimation in the time of software development was not proper.
69
Horizon Scan Report 2007
Success Story
Among these a success story is Hajj Management System. The website had a
startup cost of about Taka 20 million, which was borne by the Ministry of
Religious Affairs from its own resources. The operational expenses of
maintaining the website are now covered through a small computer fee
collected from individual pilgrims. The project used tripartite business model
involving the government, the private sector, and academia. The government
outsourced the development and maintenance of the website for two years to a
private firm named Hatil IT, which in turn engaged the Institute of ICT (IICT) of
the Bangladesh University of Engineering Technology (BUET) to develop the
website and to manage the various technical aspects. Hatil IT is now
responsible for updating and maintaining the website. The Hajj site had a
tremendous impact on the Hajj management system of the country. Now the
relatives of the pilgrims can easily be informed about the latest status of the
Hajjis in abroad. They can easily communicate to the pilgrims as and when
required. This has really exempted many people out of tension. Fraud and cheat
of the various agencies have significantly lowered due to the strict monitoring
and handling of the management through the website. Various complexities
regarding form collection and their filling up have reduced due to the
downloaded services and guidelines to fill up forms as provided by the website.
Pilgrims can prepare themselves earlier accordingly to any policy oriented
changes made by the Government.
Failure Story
Simply opposite of this, a failure story, is the National Data Bank Project. As the
name implies, the National Data Bank (NDB) project was planned to provide a
broad range of data and information support to many levels of stakeholders both
inside and outside Bangladesh. The NDB was to link twelve ministries and
divisions with scope for further network connections to the planning cells of all
70
Horizon Scan Report 2007
71
Horizon Scan Report 2007
It was found from ADP that government has taken many initiatives to
implement e-governance. The listed projects have been identified through the
impact of ICT in ADP. The list of some initiatives by Bangladesh government in
the Annual Development Programme of last three years (from fiscal year 2004-
2005 to 2006-2007) is attached in Annex -4.
72
Horizon Scan Report 2007
Though the allocation in the budget for ICT is increasing but ration of ICT
allocation with respect to total budget is decreasing. In the fiscal year 2004-
2005 the allocation for ICT was 1.53% of total budget while it is only 1.46% in
2005-2006 and 1.34% in 2006-2007.
73
Horizon Scan Report 2007
74
Horizon Scan Report 2007
websites are almost static therefore in spite of having search option it does not
really meet the need of mass people and organizations. It is being seen that
some of the ministries do not provide download services for the downloading of
the information provided by the ministries.
Update of information is also very important. It has been found that the
maximum of our government organization regularly update their websites. But
more emphasis should be given
Form Download
to update of information.
100 91
Although there are various 90
80
Number of Ministry
68
information provided in general, 70
60
50
but most of the organizations 40
30
websites do not have search 20
10
options. Out of the studied 0
Form download No download Option
websites it has been found that
only 15% of organizations have
Fig: 4.11 Number of Form Download
search option in their websites.
75
Horizon Scan Report 2007
It is seen that most organizations do not provide download service. But it is a big
crucial factor for better and easy service delivery.
SMS Service:
It was that found one government website that is SMS-enabled. And that is:
1. Bangladesh Hajj Information (http://www.bdhajjinfo.org/)
Disability:
Disable people is part of our society. Policy makers and development
practitioners should think of them and government should facilitate their
accessibility. It has been found that none of the studied websites have admitted
this issue. If Government websites ensure this issue then other organizations
will be influenced.
The main drawback of our government sector websites is its static nature. These
websites should be dynamic. Dynamic websites will provide enhanced search
option, easy to update and not but the least the greater functionality and ease to
maintenance.
Finally it can be said that the publishing information is the first steps
towards e-Governance. From this study it is found that at current time(2007) e-
76
Horizon Scan Report 2007
Already all industrial sectors except the following four categories have been
opened up for private investment to pave rapid expansion of the private sector:
Arms, ammunition and defense equipment;
Nuclear energy;
Security printing (paper currency) and mint; and
Public reserve forests.
77
Horizon Scan Report 2007
The significant and promising Bangladeshi private sectors from both the
manufacturing and service sectors are:
Ready Made Garments (RMG)
Textiles
Telecommunications
Housing & Construction
Banking
Media & Advertising
Pharmaceuticals
Energy
Agro, Poultry, & Fisheries
IT Services (ITS) and IT Enabled Services (ITES)
This report focuses the ongoing ICT related services or facilities and the
automation process of the banks which can foster e-Governance system in
Bangladesh. Most of the banks have their own website and a few banks are on
the line. In addition most of the banks have online banking facilities for
78
Horizon Scan Report 2007
customers and some of the banks are planning to transform the manual system
into full automation process. The detail of ICT status is attached in theAnnex -5
Online banking:
Service Line:
The commercial banks are providing online banking, ATM support, SMS and net
banking services in the country. These technology based services also provide
fund transfer through internet, debit/credit Card facility and SMS service for
different queries and bank statement etc. The major services offered by bank
through ICT infrastructure are as follows:
79
Horizon Scan Report 2007
Point of Sales (POS) terminals are mainly established for online payment of
shopping bills. There are many POS centers in the big cities which accept card
from different banks. They provide facilities of account info, transaction within
own account, viewing and printing the balance and account statement for the
last 20 (twenty) transactions. But no bank in Bangladesh provides full- featured
online banking.
At present several utility service providers along with many banks have started
using electronic payment system in Bangladesh. But the system still has not
reached the mass majority. Bangladesh Bank has posted an ICT Guideline in
their website for the banks and financial institution to create their own ICT
policy for the security of the online transactions. Nationalized bank like Sonali,
Janata, Agroni and Private banks like Dutch Bangla bank, Brac bank, Eastern
Bank, Standard Chartered, and HSBC etc are using ATMs and POS for payment
of utility bills electronically. Ready Cash card, Q-Cash card, ATM card and POS
are the most used options for the electronic payment. One of the problems is
that these services are mostly available in big cities and towns. People living in
remote villages still have no idea that such services are available.
80
Horizon Scan Report 2007
Currently (2007) they provide the service of mobile telephone bills. Some
other utility service providers like PDB, DESA etc. are using Ready Cash to pay
the bills. In some cases an ATM card can be used. Recently, PDB has taken up a
pilot project at Chittagong where the PDB electricity bill can be paid through
Grammen Phone connected mobile. Other service providers which provide rates
like TITAS, the bills could be paid automatically through banks every month.
Some Banks have recently adopted V-SAT communication system to bring its
rural branches under the online branch banking facilities. The software used in
banks ensures the highest level of security at application, network, database
and operating systems level ascertaining the confidentiality and security of
customer's personal and account's information. Banking software used in
Bangladesh are mostly imported from India and Pakistan. Bangladesh software
industry still has not earned the confidence of the bank owners. In some case
like Bangladesh Bank, customized software applications are in use.
81
Horizon Scan Report 2007
Further Services:
Besides offering current IT based services the commercial and specialized banks
are drawing their future plan to provide further services. Opening L/C through
using internet banking, transferring fund using internet banking, providing the
rate of foreign exchange to customers etc are the services which banks are
currently pondering to offer. In the last decade a revolution has occurred in
banking sector. A major portion of automation in banking sector has already
been completed.
In Bangladesh the ICT (IT & ITES) industry is yet to become a significant part of
main stream economy. But we have experienced a remarkable growth in the last
five to ten years. Currently the industry is growing faster as the younger
generation has a positive attitude toward ICT. The current trend and trade in
ICT sector is very significant.
82
Horizon Scan Report 2007
Computer &
Network
Hardware
Software
Tk.200 crore
(approx.)
Internet &
Network Other ITES
Services
Software Trade:
25
countries, the Middle East, 20 Export
15 12.68 Import
Japan, Australia, South Africa 9.03
10 7.19
4.2 5.36
and some of the South East 5 2.8 1.33
0
Asian countries. The industry Fig: 4.15 Status of Software $ ITES export
2001-2002 2002-2003 2003-2004 2004-2005 2005-2006
and Import 15
Fiscal Year
has experienced more export
than import in software and
Fig: 4.15 Software & ITES Export and import
ITES sector in the fiscal year
2005-2006. This clearly shows our ability to compete with the interventional
market. The quality of softwares is also appreciated by the big business houses
and governments equally.
83
Horizon Scan Report 2007
It is estimated from the BASIS survey that around 7,000 software professionals
are employed in more than 400 registered software firms in the country
IT Enabled Service:
84
Horizon Scan Report 2007
The global BPO Industry is estimated to be worth 120150 billion dollars; of this
the offshore BPO is estimated to be some US$11.4 Billion. India has 63% share
of the offshore component 15. Bangladesh can get a subsequent share of this
offshore component. Initially, Bangladesh can get the BPO contracts which are
low in the value chain. Some of the prospective areas are:
15. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Process_Outsourcing
85
Horizon Scan Report 2007
installed (or almost completing the installations) of country wide high speed
network backbone, and also the high speed submarine cable connection to the
internet; so the citizens can access these paying only minimal bandwidth costs.
Although the Government may lose some short term bandwidth rental revenues;
but the longer term the indirect Government revenue potential is very large.
That will happen throughout the country with lots of new and interesting
businesses coming forward and they then paying taxes to the Government,
which will be much larger than the direct bandwidth rental revenues alone! The
businesses and citizens also demand to slash down the higher taxes / tariffs on
the very expensive Network Equipments. Since the Government still favors the
computer hardware imports with zero taxation policy; so it is the popular
demand that they do the same for all the network equipments. This will also
help to reduce the network access and bandwidth costs for businesses and
general citizens. The recently legalized IP Telephony should also fall into this
greatly reduced access and bandwidth pricing recommendations.
87
Horizon Scan Report 2007
There is continued
necessity of a highly skilled human
resource pool in Bangladeshs ICT sector.
Skilled human resources are currently in
high demand and short in supply. This
chapter aims to understand the state of IT
education infrastructure of Bangladesh
and the challenges citizens face in
accessing IT education
88
Horizon Scan Report 2007
Formal education in computers was first started in 1984 with the foundation of
Computer Science and Engineering Department in Bangladesh University of
Engineering and Technology. ICT education thereafter gradually extended to the
bachelor's degree, higher secondary and secondary school levels. In Bangladesh,
there are about 83,796 primary level institutions, 5,694 and 15,748 junior and
secondary level institutions respectively, 2,339 higher secondary and degree
colleges and more than 1,000 ICT training centers. 1
1
http://www.digitallearning.in/articles/article-details.asp?articleid=907&typ=Perspective
89
Horizon Scan Report 2007
The first five years and the next three years of education constitute the primary
and junior secondary levels respectively. Students become, in a very small way,
aware of computers and their vast applications through their general science
textbooks at these levels. A majority of schools in the country cannot afford to
buy computers for their students. Though a small number of city-based schools
have very limited computer laboratory facilities, yet they fail to make their
students familiar with internet, e-mail and related technology because of the
lack of nationwide telecommunication infrastructure and internet facilities. In
addition, school teachers at these levels lack the minimum level of training on
IT.
Secondary and higher secondary levels
The 9th and 10th years of a school-going student and the next two years of a
college-going student constitute the secondary and higher secondary levels
respectively. Computer science was introduced as an optional subject for
secondary level students from the beginning of 1994, and about 150 schools
were permitted to start up the subject. Many more schools have shown interest,
and the quantitative expansion of ICT education at the secondary level is
phenomenal. The National Education Policy has recommended compulsory
computer courses from the secondary level of education. The Board of
Intermediate and Secondary Education, Dhaka introduced computer science as
an optional subject in 1991. Already, more than 200 colleges have introduced
computer science as an optional subject for science stream students. Moreover,
about 30 polytechnic institutes of the country (mostly located in Dhaka) are
offering four-year diploma courses for those who have graduated from SSC in
computer technology. Bangladesh Open University is now offering three-
semester diplomas in computer applications.
90
Horizon Scan Report 2007
IT Training Institutes
Due to their growing demand, IT training institutions are spreading all over the
country. A survey shows that most trainees at these institutes enroll in software
application courses, especially MS office. When inquired about the quality of
training, 48% of the trainees were found very satisfied, 39% were satisfied and
the rest 13% were unsatisfied. Inadequate logistic support, backdated course
plan and inefficient trainers were some of the reasons for trainee dissatisfaction.
Survey also reveals that nearly 85% of the trainees plan to train further in IT
and take courses in Photoshop, Dream waver, flash. Certification programs such
as MCSE, CCSP, MCDBA also run popular amongst trainees. In relation to
performance in the job market, while most trainees responded positively, 3% felt
that these trainings were insufficient to compete in the job market.
91
Horizon Scan Report 2007
92
Horizon Scan Report 2007
broadband connected networking facilities to ensure all out high quality cyber
services to the users.
BERNET can act as a centrally controlling body for the knowledge share
of the universities. It would have discussion with the universities having certain
facilities to be shared with others so that others could also take the advantage
93
Horizon Scan Report 2007
rather than starting from the scratch. BERNET would also keep its role for
providing internet connection for those in need of it.
5.3. Content
ICT consist of not only the computer and the internet but also mobile phones,
radio, TV, among other things, present unprecedented opportunities in the field
of education as well as different livelihood issues. Educational content that is
much more true to life, timely and demand driven is being developed in the
audio-visual form in many countries and promoted through computer, TV and
portable computing and multimedia devices. ICT enhances learning for all ages.
For example, radio, television, VCD etc. used in combination with printed course
material, can make literacy lessons more true-to-life and interesting. Multimedia
ICT provides words, images, movement and animation in combination with
audio to enhance learning. Such forms of ICT can also be entertaining and
thereby motivate the target audience to watch and learn. Television and other
audio-visual media can also provide a means by which to stimulate discussion
and critical thinking.
94
Horizon Scan Report 2007
low penetration of ICT and interruption of power supply were identified as major
problems by the developer institutions.
In some cases the search mechanisms are complicated for the common
people. Printed information is available but it is priced and one has to pay for
printing out information found in the web. Some printed information is available
but again lacks clarity.
Nowadays Asia is the focus market for the service providers and the vendors.
One survey carried out by the researchers from the Russian School of
Economics, the London Business School, various colleges of Cambridge
University and the Anglo-Russian telecoms investment group reported
Bangladesh as the number one telecom opportunity market for the
manufacturers, service providers and the vendors. According to the report the
top five countries for telecoms investment are Bangladesh, China, India,
Indonesia and Russia.
95
Horizon Scan Report 2007
have realized and admitted this new demand. And they are now providing
different popular and attractive value added services. In this context it is
observed that new mobile content developers are coming forward to meet up the
market demand.
Technology:
Content and application services are developed mainly on the following
technologies in Bangladesh:
Short Messaging Service (SMS)
Enhanced Messaging Service (EMS)
Smart Messaging
Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS)
Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)
Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME)
IVR
Services
Content developers are providing many useful and attractive features and
services. Some of the services are very much popular among the target groups.
There is a variation on the peoples demand and the developers have also
focused on those demands. Following are the popular services provided by the
content developers:
Entertainment content (ring tones. logos, wallpapers, karaoke, mobile
comics, picture message, animations and many more)
Advertising and Promotion
Voting, Survey and Public Opinion
Lifestyle Content (ie. horoscope, sports, news, movies, fitness)
Interactive Contests and Games
Custom Application development
Business applications development (banking/sales force automation and
more)
Service for media (print media/TV channels)
The customers who are interested to use these services are charged from Tk 2 to
Tk 40, depending upon what services he/she is using. Mobile phone has spread
out largely among the mass people. They are using it for different contents, like
emergency numbers, news, voting etc. So it can be used widely as a service
delivery channel for government or other organization. For example, government
can quickly scan the public opinion about a national issue or the like.
96
Horizon Scan Report 2007
Here are some examples of technologies that have evolved past the mature stage
and where the FOSS implementation is at least on par with the proprietary
implementation:
Software Industry
As the main focus of this report was on the usages and development of FOSS
around the country, software industry is a very important stakeholder. A survey
has been conducted around 20 most prominent software companies in
Bangladesh to know the usage pattern of open source. It has been found that
97
Horizon Scan Report 2007
98% of our industry people have heard about the name of FOSS, and have
interest on this and believe that it is a strong alternative of proprietary software.
9% 4%
9%
Very High
26% High
Medium
Low
VeryLow
52%
As FOSS is not yet very popular yet in Bangladesh, it has been surveyed among
the business people, on which issues, the FOSS community should focus to
popularize it in the software industry. They mostly believe that stability is the
most important factor, then security, technical help etc. The real picture is some
what as follows
Citizen Survey:
A survey has been also conducted on 60 people of different location and age who
are familiar with open source software. In the citizen level FOSS is still at the
beginners level. Maximum of the surveyed people only heard about the open
98
Horizon Scan Report 2007
source. The most popular open source software among the citizen is Mozilla
FireFox web browser. Usage of FOSS in the citizen level is diversified which is
reflected in the following graph.
40 35
35 28
30 24 23
25 20
20
15
10
5
0
OpenOffice.org
Mozilla/Konquer
Apache
MySQL/Postgre
Linux
SQL
or
Some of the surveyed people showed their keen interest to participate in open
source project.
Capacity building & localization: FOSS has the tendency to improve capacity
locally, i.e. within the organization, region, or country. As source code is open,
we can localize many world renowned software for our specific need.
Enable learning: Anyone can study the source code to learn how the software
works internally and what its developers considered good programming practice.
This knowledge can then be applied to improve the software at hand or to use
related techniques on other software projects.
99
Horizon Scan Report 2007
Vendor independence: Anyone can obtain services from any provider, including
source code changes according to specic requirements, such as security
enhancements, xes for defects, and particular functionality.
FOSS can be a good alternative for proprietary software technically, but most of
our people do not aware of it. And software industries as well as citizen have
demanded that a committee should be formed to grow awareness and give
technical help to the industry and conduct necessary research to localize it. So,
lastly it can be said that Throughout history, every generation has had to
stand up for freedom. Now it's our turn for our software independence.
5.5. Localization
The first attempt of localization started in the early 1980s with Bangla font
development in windows environment and many fonts were developed in ad hoc
ways resulting in a gross interoperability. Absence of planned activities and
policies resulted in different key-board mapping and made the localization a
cumbersome process. The UNICODE in late 90s shed a new light on this issue
and after that, the process of localization began to take a new shape in the
country. The open source software till then has the most significant effect in the
localization efforts in Bangladesh. The major initiatives are run by the
volunteers. However, in recent days the institutional initiatives are also in the
scene.
100
Horizon Scan Report 2007
The local language computing policy in Bangladesh was set in motion by the
Government of Bangladesh (GoB) circular that states that Bangla is the primary
language for official correspondence and reports. Specifically, the circular states
the following:
Policy Initiatives
The GoB has in recent years made significant strides in formulating policies to
enable the growth of ICT in Bangladesh, with references to the need for local
101
Horizon Scan Report 2007
language computing. The publication of the National ICT Policy is one such
initiative that has been driven directly by the Prime Ministers office. However,
there is a distinct lack of initiatives that may directly affect the development of
local language computing, such as directed research funding and other forms of
assistance.
Success Stories
The notable successes in local language computing arena have been due to the
open-source volunteer efforts, led by Ankur and BdOSN. Ankur
(http://www.ankurbangla.org) started localization of open source software like
Linux, open office, gaim etc. Ekushey (www.ekushey.org) started developing
open source Unicode-enabled fonts and Bangla input methods. Some other
volunteer groups and individuals came into the scene as well. The only notable
effort from the public sector is the initiative by Bangladesh Computer Council
(BCC) in 2004, which created a national keyboard mapping and a collation
sequence.
There are two parallel efforts currently underway: the various Bangla natural
language processing activities, and the localization efforts.
102
Horizon Scan Report 2007
Localization Efforts
There are two primary areas of localization efforts open source localization and
open content localization both driven by volunteer efforts. Ankur and BdOSN
completed the creation of glossary (Bangla version of computer terms). Ankur
and associates volunteers had already localized different open source software.
These included Linux distribution like Fedora, Mandriva, Suse and Ubuntu;
Desktop environment like Gnome and KDE; Applications like OpenOffice.org,
GAIM, Firefox and Thunderbird.
103
Horizon Scan Report 2007
it through print and electronic media, and providing the support infrastructure
for collaboration.
Since its launch in late March 2006, the Bangla Wiki project has been
very successful. Although the Bangla Wikipedia was initiated in 2004, it only
had 540 articles till March 2006, with very little actual content. Initially, a target
of 10,000 articles in one year was set. The project has been able to attract a
large number of editors. As of October 2005, the total registered editor count is
865. The number of articles in the Bangla Wikipedia has grown initially at a rate
of 800 articles per month, with occasional burst of activity raising the rate
beyond that. As a result of these activities, the Bangla language Wikipedia
crossed the 10,000 article mark in September 2006, becoming the 50th
Wikipedia, and the 2nd language from South Asia to achieve this. Now
(November, 2007) the total Bangla language articles is 16531 and it growing very
rapidly.
1. There are more than 200+ local language websites in Bangladesh. Major
daily newspapers and some magazines have their own website in Bangla.
However, there is a tendency to use non-standard encodings instead of
Unicode.
2. Some local initiatives are there which developed website in Bangla. Some
Bangla blogs are beginning to appear locally.
104
Horizon Scan Report 2007
5.6. Recommendations
Not only those who are intellectually gifted or economically privileged, but
everyone should have access to ICT learning and training. Special attention
should be given to the needs of the disadvantaged. The use of ICT as a teaching
tool and for delivery of distance learning can help stretch our limited teaching
resources and provide a high quality education to all. Everyone should be
encouraged and enabled to continue ICT learning throughout their lives, not just
in the years of compulsory schooling.
For primary and junior secondary level, general science textbooks should
adequately cover fundamental concepts on computers and their numerous
applications. Differences between hardware and software, history of computers
105
Horizon Scan Report 2007
and encourage the younger generation in these activities. The ICT industry may
fund for R&D activities for new ICT products and services through Industry-
Academia collaboration.
There have been cases where the governments of some countries have refused to
use certain software in fear of security vulnerabilities. Some have warned that
proprietary software whose source code is not made available may have hidden
logic bombs through which unwarranted leakage of sensitive information may
be possible. The Chinese government has openly declared that China thinks
Microsoft software contains secretly embedded code that the United States
government can manipulate at will. So, in case of dissension between the two
countries, a Pentagon official can hit a switch and--presto!-- cripples China's
computing infrastructure.
107
Horizon Scan Report 2007
Open source technologies are completely transparent for the following reasons:
2. They are developed by programmers from all over the world who are not
necessarily within the confinements of a single company as it happens with
proprietary software
5.6.4 Localization
Localization challenges vary from the lack of rendering support for the Bangla
script to the immaturity of Bangla Natural Language Processing (NLP), and the
lack of a national initiative to make local language computing a priority.
108
Horizon Scan Report 2007
109
Horizon Scan Report 2007
Implementation of e-governance in
Bangladesh has been identified as an
important aspect of the countrys path
forward. This horizon scan report is a
baseline assessment of existing
capacity, needs and options for
implementing e-Governance in
Bangladesh. In the light of the
recommendations made by the citizens
and service providers, some priority
focus areas may be identified and
action plans may be developed as a
THE WAY FORWARD
way to move from statements to real
results towards e-Governance.
110
Horizon Scan Report 2007
111
Horizon Scan Report 2007
112
Horizon Scan Report 2007
113
Horizon Scan Report 2007
(e) Establish and Support Dedicated Initiatives for the ICT Inclusion
114
Horizon Scan Report 2007
115
Horizon Scan Report 2007
Horizon Scan Report 2007
The usages of mobile phones were found to be highest. Among the survey
participants, 77% use mobile phone, 22% computer, 11% internet (this portion is
calculated from the 22% computer users). But the common thing is that, the cost of
this information technology mediums are not controlled yet. Thats why every
survey participants suggest that to reduce the call rate, decrease computer price
and make the internet more available and cheaper. TV audiences are higher
between radio and TV spectator (86%) and the interest of listening radio is very little
(23%). But now FM radio creates it image thats why the rate of radio listeners is
also increasing.Generally, normal people prefer mobile phone and use it as a
successful medium of information technology and than thy use electronic mediums,
newspapers, and Internet accordingly.
Citizens dont know how they get Government services. Survey result shows that
most of them believe, it is not possible to give information through Internet.
However they think if the Government offices and officers become more helpful and
conscious about their duty it will be more useful for them.
It had seen that 22 UNO offices have computers but a little connected with internet.
They only use computers to compose. Here, one thing is very important and work
as catalyst that they have lack of computer skilled and trained employees. Thats
why most UNO officers suggest recruiting skilled people or trained the existing
employees. But none of them had interest to use computer in making database or
computerized automation.
The survey is conducted on 11union community chairman and 22 members. Only 4
UP offices have computer without internet connectivity. They use the computer to
compose only.
44 small and medium business are also under this survey and it had been seen
that only computer & information technology related business have use the
computer in proper reason otherwise the use of computer is not that much
mentionable. But if the business earns profit than all of them have interest to use
it.Most of NGOs are use computer, among 44 which are surveyed. But all works
are composing and accountancy related. Some NGOs are also use it in e-mail
exchange.All 11 local cambers have computer. They use it mainly on administrative
and writing purpose
Horizon Scan Report 2007
Introduction:
1.1 Background
The term e-Governance is mainly concerned with Governance rather than the
electronic mode of providing it. That is why it is important to know the services that
are essential to citizens and then finding a way to provide them electronically. The
citizen survey was designed keeping that in mind. The survey tried to identify the
needs of the citizen and finding ways to overcome the problems through ICT. The
questionnaires of the survey were designed keeping also mind that it would cover
citizens from all levels of society and so technical aspects were kept to the
minimum.
The Citizen Survey is one and probably the most important component of the
Horizon Scan report. It was decided that when finding out the present status of
Bangladesh to implement e-Governance, a first hand data collection would be done
covering citizens or stakeholders from every possible level of the society. Even
though in the initial plan many more stakeholders were decided upon, not all could
be covered due to shortage of time.
The study overall covered 11 Districts, namely, Dhaka, Chittagong, Barisal, Sylhet,
Rajshahi, Khulna/Bagerhat, 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 UP Chairman and 22 Members
(including female members) from the same Union Parishod as the Chairmen. The
700 citizens included stakeholders namely Agro-farmers, Poultry farmers,
Fishermen, Labors, Professionals, Housewives, Students, Self-employed, Job
seekers, Sr. Citizens (above 60), Disabled citizens, Daily labours, Very poor (under
the $1 income margin), Teachers and Government employees. A detail of the
number of each category is provided in Annex-I.
The Citizen Survey report is probably the most important part of the Horizon Scan
activity. The purpose of the Horizon Scan activity is to know the readiness of e-
Governance in Bangladesh and it would not be viable if the needs of the citizens
could not be identified. The survey was very covert with regard to the technicalities
of ICT and very conspicuous about identifying the services required. The survey
seeks to:
1.4 Methodology
The division of the categories and the regions were fist selected and was vetted by a
sub-committee. The clustering of the regions were done on the basis of the
homogeneity of the challenges they usually face. The fist five districts were chosen
as they are also the major Divisions of the country namely, Dhaka, Chittagong,
Rajshahi, Sylhet and Barisal. Khulna was avoided in this case as it was to be taken
for other reasons as well. The other districts were chosen due to their variation in
facing natural disaster and obstacles throughout the year. Kurigram was selected
because of the situation of 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 for being one of the
districts of Chittagong Hill Tracts area, Khulna/Bagerhat was chosen for being in
the coastal area and battered every year by cyclone. Narayanganj was chosen for
being one of the closes districts from the capital to observe the differences in
services for mere 14 miles.As it is a pilot study, the sample size was determined by
through guessing based on previous experience.
After the questionnaire were prepared, the surveyors were selected and trained
on 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 questionnaire
were then changed when some problems were identified. And then after another
extensive of the surveyors, the survey was conducted. Analysis of the survey was
done through statistical analysis for the closed ended answers and summarizing
the open ended answers.
The study report is divided into three main categories. (1) An overall picture of the
different districts and the status of the ICT infrastructure in these areas, (2) 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 are incorporated. (3)
An overview of the most effective mode of delivery channels for e-Governance.
Mobile Telephones:
Mobile phone is spread out in whole country and it had been already reached in
every levels people hand. The survey is run on 700 citizens from 11 districts. It had
been found that 567 (81%) people use mobile phone in various purposes and
55.55% has their own mobile set. Most of the people use mobile phone in their
personal affairs thats why survey result shows that 41% of their mobile bill incur
on personal issue. Now people think mobile phone as a weapon to maintain social
relationships with their friends and family as well as with known person.
But largest portion 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 50paica.
Horizon Scan Report 2007
Computer Usage
Computer use does not mentionable like the mobile phone. But people at least
know about the computer. The survey was continued on 700people, among them
78% dont use the computer and residual 22% computer users not use it any
appropriate reason. On 22% computer users, only 74 have personal computer and
81 use it on cyber caf, educational institution, office etc. Computer uses larger
amount in big cities like Dhaka, Chittagong but in Curigram computer using rate is
also high. 75% users use it in compose or writing purpose. Beside this they also
entertained by using computer like listening song, watching movie, TV etc.
Students use the computer to complete different paperwork which is related with
their study. 37% users play game on computer.Though the use of computer now
increasing all over the country but people is not satisfied with the price. 69%
participants think that, locally attached (clone) PC price should be in 13000/-
15000/- range.
The scenario of using internet is very disappointing. In this survey only 11% people
told that they use the internet. Some of them have own internet connectivity others
use the cyber caf, office, business firm and in house of friends and known person.
But now mobile phone opens a new door. Many internet users use internet through
mobile phone. But most of the participants say that internet is not that much
available and cheap.
Survey result shows that among the mass media TV is most popular. 86%
participants watch TV. BTV is the most popular channel normally but where people
have satellite connection there the scenario is quite different. People ranked the
news top.
Radio:
From survey we find that radio is less famous than the TV in Bangladesh. Only
29% participants listening radio and most of them hear Bangladesh Bater. In times
of listening radio listeners top choice is news. Beside this, weather and agricultural
programs are also popular. But in Dhaka and Chittagong private radio channels are
become popular because of FM radio. Young generations are now highly attracted
with FM radio programs. FM radios are now able to create this fascination among
them because of their easy accessibility in mobile phone.
The following needs were identified from the different categories of citizens from the
answers they provided during the survey. As the citizens come from different levels
of the society, their needs were also different. They have spoken about the
challenges that they face in achieving their needs and have also made some
recommendations to face them.
Horizon Scan Report 2007
a. Agro-farmers
The problems:
Solutions:
b. Poultry farmers
The problems:
Lack of medicine for the animals
Irregular visit by the Veteran
Security problem
Expensiveness and contaminations of animal food
Lack of complaint centre
Solutions:
Increasing accountability
Increase awareness
Decrease the cost of commodities to raise animals and vet services
Provide loan to the poultry farmers
Employment of infomediary personnel to provide the Government information
Horizon Scan Report 2007
c. Fishermen
The problems:
Solutions:
d. Labors
The problems:
Solutions:
Standardize minimum wage system and make the employees bound to pay
that
Provide life insurance
Assure the human rights of the labors
Increase awareness of the labor policies and laws
Horizon Scan Report 2007
e. Professionals
The problems:
Solutions:
f. Housewives
The problems:
Solutions:
g. Students
The problems:
Solutions:
h. Self employed
The problems:
Solutions:
Provide close circuit cameras in city corporations, tax offices etc. to monitor
any corruption
i. Job Seekers
The problems:
Solutions:
Adequate trainings
Unemployed allowance
j. Senior Citizens
The problems:
Solutions:
Provide the senior citizens allowance procedure on the hands of the military
Arrange to get proper medical service
k. Disable citizens
The problems:
Sometimes has to bribe the concern authority to get the disable citizens
allowance form
Disable people are deprived in the education sector
No government books (e.g. Brail books) for the disable people to study
Government infrastructure and the roads/public transports are not disable
friendly
Not all the required places that a disable person has to visit situated on the
ground floor
No software solution available for the disables
Solutions:
l. Daily Labors
The problems:
Solutions:
Use the mass media to broadcast about the hardship of the daily labors and
create awareness
The problems:
Solutions:
n. Teachers
The problems:
Solutions:
Provide close circuit camera in all important government offices to stop bribery
Computerize land records
o. Government Employees
The problems:
Solutions:
Infrastructural Status
e-Governance status
Goal Status
Saving government time General improvement
Saving expenditure of the government No improvement
Saving citizens time Highly improved
Saving citizens money Not much improvement
Saving citizens hassle Slight improvement
Increasing transparency Highly improved
Time management Highly improved
Increasing accountability General improvement
The Upazilla Nirbahi Officers have provided separate opinions regarding the goals
achieved in e-Governance, but generally they do not think there has been much
improvement in reducing citizens time for getting services. They think that e-
Governance can play very important role for their offices.
The sectors in which the citizens usually face problems are provided below in
descending order.
1. Health services
2. Education services
3. Land services
4. Legal services
5. Communication
The recommendation the UNOs provided for solving these problems are:
According to the UNOs the following channels (in descending order) are the most
effective ways to promote e-Governance
1. Telephone
2. Electronic media
3. Print media
4. Internet
The UNOs also provided their views of the following matters that are thought to be
hampering e-Governance in their organization
Horizon Scan Report 2007
The UNOs think that to change the mind setting of their employees towards e-
Governance, the following steps could be taken
Computer training
Provide allowance to motivate in increasing skill
Motivate employees through seminars or workshops
Provide training at Thana level
Provide necessary equipments for three steps
Connectivity: All of the agencies of Ministry of Defense are connected with internet
but its use is limited only for communication.
Software & Hardware issue: The ministry is equipped with 11 computers. To build
the infrastructure network as a part of introducing E-Governance initiative 1
Multimedia Projector, 10 computers with UPS, 3 DOT and 5 Laser printers will be
provided to the ministry.
Training: To introduce E-Governance system in the ministry of Defense ICT
training courses are being provided to the Govt. official.
ICT related projects: No information is provided about ICT related projects.
The important aims and objectives of Ministry of Land are management and
settlement of the Government owned lands (khas lands), sairat mahals (jalmahal,
shirmp mahal etc.), vested properties and abandoned properties. Collection of land
development tax is another important task of this ministry as well as land survey
and record keeping and updating. Acquisition and requisition of land are also
important responsibilities of this ministry. To maintain the data and statistics of
the land it is very urgent to transform it in electrical standard system to strengthen
the E-Governance system of Bangladesh. But there is no mentionable initiative to
make process it. The positive thing of The Govt. website of Ministry of land is that
people can access for downloading the Tax collection form here.
Agencies of the Ministry & its Website issue:
Land Reformation Board: No website
Land Appeal Board: No website
Directorate of Land Records and Survey: No website
Land Administration Training Centre: No website
Connectivity: Internet and LAN connection is available in the ministry of Land.
The process for internet connection is going to be processed in Land Reformation
Board.
Software & hardware issue: No information is available for software and hardware
issue of the ministry.
ICT related projects: No information is provided about ICT related projects
The role of Fisheries and Livestock sectors in the development of agro-based economy
of Bangladesh is very important and promising.
(6) Name of the Ministry: Ministry of Power, energy and Mineral Resources
Web address: website is not yet developed
Connectivity: No information is available about connectivity
Software & hardware Issue: No information is provided about software & hardware
issue.
ICT related Projects: In Ministry of Power, energy and Mineral Resources some
sorts of ICT initiatives have already been taken to strengthen its activities through
different types of automation process like payment of utility bill through electronic
system at PDB and DESCO.
Future Plan: Some future initiatives have been planned to implement as internet
banking of eastern bank Limited, pre-paid metering by PDB and DESCO.
Under E-Governance program many ICT initiatives have been taken to create
accountability, to make transparency of Govt. services to the rural poor in
Bangladesh National Parliament Secretariat.
Connectivity: No information is available about connectivity
Software & hardware Issue: Different types of softwares are used in Bangladesh
National parliament Secretariat for different purposes: parliament arguments,
budget of parliament secretariat, inventory of stored goods, bio data of staffs of
parliament secretariat, bio data of the members of parliament, gate pass and
random sampling of questions of parliament members. In addition, some IT
training courses are also conducted to build the capacity of the Govt. official.
Connectivity: Dial up system & Broadband ADSL is used for internet connection.
Software & Hardware issue: 20 PC, 4 Server & 9 modem is used in the ministry.
ICT related projects: Some capacity building trainings has also been conducted
for govt. officials in the Ministry of Social Welfare. But there is no specific ICT
related project to foster the implementation process of the programs like old age
allowances, disable allowances, grants and aids to acid burnt victims.
Future Plan: BRJI has some future plans to strengthen the activities of BJRI:
Connect all departments and branches of BJRI within a LAN
Set up a WAN to connect all offices in different places of the country
Provide broadband internet connection to the departments/branches of
BJRI
Develop an interactive web
Develop customized S/W for Accounts
information, to establish voice communication and data through using the optical
fiber, to apply the e-governance in economic accounting system. In the department
of Ansar and VDP LAN is connected for sharing the information in quickest
manner. Broadband is connected to main offices and academics. Some of the
district offices are connected with GPRS and dial up system. The web address of the
Ministry of Home Affairs is www.ansarvdp.gov.bd and email address is
info@ansarvdp.gov.bd for communication. Directorate of Fire Service and Civil
Defense uses email for communication.In the Directorate of Immigration and
Passport the development of website is under processing and Bangladesh Coast
Guard plans to connect the offices into a network.
Hardware & Software issue: The ministry and its departments are equipped with
computers. In addition they are developing the database for different uses. In the
Directorate of Jail under SICT project 11 central jails, 4 divisional offices, jail offices
are connected with network.
ICT related projects: No information is available about ICT related projects.
ICT related Projects: There are no mentionable ICT projects in the ministry.
Future plan: The ministry and its agency has following future plans:
To set up Office automation and trade portal
To develop Office automation software and develop dynamic web page
To develop trade portal and Division wise office automation
To introduce the Computer network system
To introduce online registration.
To introduce online insurance system
To Develop an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software
NBR is capturing revenue information of income tax and VAT using Unique Tax
payers Identification Number (UTIN) by software and this is primarily being used in
LTU-Tax and LTU-VAT office. Software is developed for capturing information about
consignment and other information under Reform in Revenue Administration
(RIRA) project with the funding of DFID.
ICT related projects: There is no mentionable ICT initiative in the ministry
Future Plan: NBR has the following plans:
Purchase of 10 PCs and other equipments under Modernization and
Automation Project (MAP)
Start Manifest through ASYCUDA Software at the Chittagong Custom House
under the Chittagong Port Facilitation project with the funding of ADB
Conversion of the TIN (Taxpayers Identification Number) software to Oracle
Database.
Make the website dynamic
Make a proposal for ICT activities of NBR and its departments.
ICT related projects: One of the ICT initiatives in the ministry is Comprehensive
Disaster Management programme (CDMP). Under CDMP project Disaster
Management Information Center (DMIC) sends weather forecast and agro mate
bulletin and pre signal for weather, earthquake and tsunami from Global Disaster
alert & Co-ordination System (GDCS) to the ministry and district relief and
rehabilitation officers through e-mail. In addition the ministry already trained up
officials.
Horizon Scan Report 2007
In addition, the ministry already conducted ICT related training activities for the
officers and employees.
Horizon Scan Report 2007
The main objective was to develop CD-ROM Based Imaged Land Record
System having viewing, printing and Land Records Information and Administration
Service facilities. The application software was developed using Oracle 9i under
Windows 2003 Server and the data entry of all historical data into the databases to
run the systems full functional. Database is capable of using Unicode complaints
Bengali and English. Developed applications are n-tier architecture for Web enabled
user interface. Also latest version of Internet Developer Suit (IDS) was used for
front-end development.
The following E_Government Applications was developed by the Consultant
at Deputy Commissioner's Office Gazipur:
(a) Land Records & Land Management Systems.
*** The report of ICT status of different ministries has prepared on the basis of
replies of a quetionanire which was sent by principal Secretary to the Secretaries
of all ministries. In this report the information would be updated if any
information of any ministries would be available in future.
Horizon Scan Report 2007
Project
Impleme
Develop Expendit
Serial nting Fiscal
Project Name ment Ministry ure (unit
No. Organiza Year
Partner : lakh
tion
Taka)
Establish
2,66,000 Digital
Post and Tele- 175450 2004-
1 Telephone Lines B.T.T.B ----
communication (70771) 2005
(transform
76,000 Lines )
Establish High
Capacity Optical
Post and Tele- 10254 2004-
2 Fiber with Spar B.T.T.B
communication (4176) 2005
Transmission
Link
Establish/
Expansion of
Digital Telephone Post and Tele- 163378 2004-
3 B.T.T.B China
Exchange in communication (108155) 2005
Different Districts
in Bangladesh
International
Telecommunicati
on System Post and Tele- 65702 2004-
4 B.T.T.B I.D.B
Establishment communication (53382)* 2005
through Sub-
Marianne.
Establishment of
Digital Radio link
& Digital Supplier Post and Tele- 9519 2004-
5 B.T.T.B
telephone Fund communication (5787) 2005
Exchange in
Tribal Chittagong
Introducing
Internet Service
Post and Tele- 2004-
6 in every district of B.T.T.B
communication 2171 2005
Bangladesh
urgently
Establish
Upazilla and
Post and Tele- 38173 2004-
7 Growth Center B.T.T.B
communication 2005
Digital Telephone
Exchange (15783)
Establish Digital
Telephone
Post and Tele- 38173 2004-
8 Exchange in B.T.T.B
communication 2005
Metropolitan City
and Important (36054)
Cities
Establish Digital UDCF,
Post and Tele- 2004-
9 Telephone B.T.T.B South
communication 33541 2005
Exchange in Korea
Horizon Scan Report 2007
Chittagong,
Khulna and (15000)
Sykhet.
Chittagong, ion
Khulna, Rajshahi
and Dhaka BTI.
Greater
Development of Universit
University Grants y Grants 2004-
20 Education 508
Commission and Commiss 2005
University ion
Resource Center
Establish the
infrastructure of
Banglade
Military Institute
sh Army 2004-
21 of Science and Defense 3500
Headquar 2005
Technology in
ter
Mirpur
Cantonment
MIS Health and
Health
Services and Health and Family 2004-
22 and 2256
Personnel Welfare 2005
Nutrition
Information,
Education and Family Health and Family 2004-
3040
Communication Planning Welfare 2005
(F P)
MIS Health and
Services and Family Health and Family 2004-
23 955
Personnel (F P) Planning Welfare 2005
Introducing
Film and
Modern DVD
Publicati
Technology in 2004-
24 on Information 1279
Film and 2005
Departme
Publication
nt
department
Introducing Banglade
Digital technology sh Film
in BFDC Developm 2004-
25 Information 1961
ent 2005
Corporati
on
Establishment of Ministry
technology of
Expansion Cell Science
and Science and
Informati Information & 2004-
26 446
on & Communication 2005
Commun Technology
ication
Technolo
gy
Development of National
Invented/prepare Science Science and
d Projects by and Information & 2004-
27 150
Young Scientist Technolo Communication 2005
gy Technology
Museum
Permanent Departme
Storage Project of nt of 2004-
28 -------- Cultural Affairs 68
Rare District National 2005
records of Archive &
Horizon Scan Report 2007
Banglade
Science and
sh
Strengthen the Information & 2004-
32 Compute ----- 2329
Bangladesh Communication 2005
r Council
Computer Technology
(B.C.C)
Council
Banglade
Science and
Development of sh
Information & 2004-
33 Infrastructure for Compute ---------- 1392
Communication 2005
IT Application in r Council
Technology
Bangladesh (B.C.C)
Science and
Support to ICT Ministry
Information & 8316
34 Task Force of ------ 2004-
Communication (100)
Program Planning 2005
Technology
E.U/ South Asia Departme
Intellectual nt of
Properties Rights Patent, 425 2004-
35 E.U Industries
Co-operation Design & (375) 2005
Project for Trade
Bangladesh Mark
Strengthening the
Policy Ministry
Formulation of Post &
Post & Tele- 2296 2004-
36 Capacities of Telecom I.D.A
communication (1785) 2005
Ministry of Post & municati
Telecommunicati on
on
The study on Departme
Urban nt of
2249 2004-
37 Information Banglade JICA Planning
(2100) 2005
Management for sh
Greater Dhaka Statistics
Horizon Scan Report 2007
City
Strengthening the
Regularity Post & Tele- 5825
38 B.T.R.C I.D.A 2004-
Capacity of communication (3610)
2005
BTRC.
Computerization
of Project
Account Manual,
Development of
Finance 2004-
39 Asset ------ Establishment 290
Division 2005
Management &
Reforming Project
Audit
Methodology
Strengthening the
Prime
ICT Capacity of Prime Ministers 99 2005-
40 Ministers UNDP
the Prime Office (99) 2006
Office
Ministers Office
Bangladesh Banglade
Science and
Korea Institute of sh
Information & 901
41 Information & Compute KOIKA
Communication (580) 2005-
Communication r Council
Technology 2006
Technology (B.C.C)
Assistance to
SICT for Science and
Strengthening Planning Information & 2005-
42 UNDP 1520
Planning Division Division Communication 2006
, ERD,IMED Technology
Trough ICT
Pre-Paid Metering Banglade
Pilot Skim sh Power
Power, Energy and 3383 2005-
43 developm D.R.G.A
Mineral Resources (2565) 2006
ent
Board
Computer
National Science and
Training Project
Women Information & 2005-
44 for Women on ------ 257
Organizat Communication 2006
District basis (10
ion Technology
centers)
45 Computerization
of the Office of
Register Joint
Commerc
Stock Companies 2005-
e Australia Commerce 452
& Firms 2006
Ministry
46
Strengthening the
Post and Tele- 2005-
Institutional B.T.R.C UNDP 245
communication 2006
Capacity of
BTRC.
No online facility is available in BCB. They have no relevant future planning within
1 year.
6. Name of the bank: BASIC Bank Limited (Bank of Small Industries and
Commerce)
Web address: www.basicbankbd.com
The bank has no online or IT related facilities.
Customers can buy mobile pre-paid card through using the mobile phone
Customers can open L/C using internet banking.
Customers can transfer the fund using internet banking.
The rate of foreign exchange will be provided to customers.
Horizon Scan Report 2007
20. Name of the bank: National Credit & Commerce Bank Ltd
Web address: www.nccbank-bd.com
Current activities: NCC Bank is extending ATM facility through E-Cash shared
ATM Network. The number of ATM facility through E-Cash shared Network is 18
which are located in Dhaka and Sylhet. NCC Bank is currently providing on-line
banking services.
Future Plan: The Bank will provide a state-of-the-art technology banking such as
Any Branch Banking, ATM services, home-banking, tele-banking, mobile-banking
etc.
utility bills such as telephone bill, water & sewerage bills, electricity bills free of
charge. To modernize banking operation and ensure prompt services, major
branches of the bank have already been computerized. Other important branches
are in the process of computerization.
Current Activities: The bank has provided internet banking, online banking and
SMS banking. In addition, the bank provides the auto bill payment facilities for
Grameen phone, Aktel and Citycell subscribers. Customers can pay the utility bill
such as telephone bills, electricity bills, and gas bills using the ATM cards, debit
cards. More than 30 ATMs booths have already been established.
Annex: 6 Questionanire
ACCESS
a. _______________________________________________________________
__
b. _______________________________________________________________
__
c. _______________________________________________________________
__
d. _________________________________________________________________
e. _________________________________________________________________
5. How much money do you spend to use the phone every month?
.
6. Are you happy with the pricing of the phone service? Yes No
7. If no, what should be pricing policy?
.
11. What do you use the computer for? Rank your uses.
a. _____________________________________________________________
___
b. _____________________________________________________________
____
c. _________________________________________________________________
d. _________________________________________________________________
e. _________________________________________________________________
12. How much money do you spend to use the computer every month?
.
13. Are you happy with the pricing of the computer service? Yes No
14. If no, what should be pricing policy?
.
i. _________________________________________________________________
j. _________________________________________________________________
26. What type of programs would you like to listen to more? Please Rank them.
f. _________________________________________________________________
g. _________________________________________________________________
h. _________________________________________________________________
i. _________________________________________________________________
j. _________________________________________________________________
SERVICES
1. What are the important services your take from the Government? Please
Rank them. What is the average time required to get a service?
What is the average cost spent in obtaining the service including Rank Time Cost
transportation cost?
a. ________________________________________________________________
b. ________________________________________________________________
_
c. ________________________________________________________________
_
d. _________________________________________________________________
e. _________________________________________________________________
2. What problem do you face in getting services or information from the Govt.?
a. _________________________________________________________________
b. _________________________________________________________________
c. _________________________________________________________________
d. _________________________________________________________________
e. _________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
4. How do you think ICT (computer, internet, mobile phone, TV, radio) could
help
in addressing these problems?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Signature of Citizen
Horizon Scan Report 2007
B-MfgU Rwic
bvMwiK`i Rb
Gm Uz Bbdigkb (G Uz AvB) cvMvg, wewRwW/06/005
cavb Dc`vi Kvhvjq, ZRMuvI, XvKv|
wkvMZ hvMZv:
gvwmK Avq: 3000 Gi wbP 3000-6000 6000-10000 10,000-15000 15,000-20,000
20,000-30,0000 30,000-45,0000 45,000-80,000 80 nvi Gi Ici
GKmm:
1. Avcwb wK jvdvb/gvevBj dvb eenvi Kib? nuv bv
2. gveBj dvbwU wK Avcbvi wbRi? bv nj Gi Aevb Kv_vq? KZ`~i?
.............................................................................................
3. gveBj dvb Avcwb wK KvR eenvi Kib? gvYymvi gvevBj dvbi eenvi Ges cwZgvm eenvii Mo LiP
DjL Kib|
K. .............................................................................. bs UvKv/gvm g
L. .............................................................................. K
M. .............................................................................. L
N. .............................................................................. M
O. .............................................................................. N
O
4. cwZgvm gvevBj dvb eenvi Avcbvi gvU KZ UvKv eq nq? ...
5. dvb mevi `vg wbq wK Avcwb m? nuv bv
6. hw` bv nq, g~jbxwZ wK nIqv DwPr? ...................................................
7. Avcwb wK KwDUvi eenvi Kib? nuv bv
8. KwDUviwU wK Avcbvi wbRi? bv nj Gi Aevb Kv_vq? KZ `~i?
...................................................................................................
9. cwZgvm KwDUvi eenvi Avcbvi KZ UvKv eq nq? ...
10. KwDUvii `vg wbq wK Avcwb m? nuv bv
11. hw` bv nq, Gi g~jbxwZ wK nIqv DwPr? ................................................
12. Avcwb wK BUvibU eenvi Kib?
13. BUvibU mshvMwU wK Avcbvi wbRi? bv nj Kv_vq Avcwb BUvibU eenvi Kib? KZ `~i?
...........................................................................
14. BUvibUi `vg wbq wK Avcwb m? nuv bv
15. bv nj Gi `vg wKiKg nZ cvi? .. ...........................
16. BUvibUi eenvI gvm gvU KZ mgqi Rb Avcbvi KZ UvKv LiP nq? . . . . . . . .
17. KwDUvi/BUvibU Avcwb wK KvR eenvi Kib? gvYymvi DjL Kib|
KwDUvi
KvR
Horizon Scan Report 2007
BUvibU
Mwgs
evDwRs
webv`b
B-gBj
wnmve wbKvk
PvwUs
covkvbv
eemvwqK KvR
eemvwqK KvR
..................
..................
..................
...................
..................
....................
...
....................
................ ................
................ ................
................ ................
................ ................
................ ................
................ ...............
Horizon Scan Report 2007
................ ................
................ ................
................ ...............
mevmg~n:
1. miKvix Kvb iZc~Y mevwj Avcwb bb? cQ`i gvbymvi wjLyb| cwZwU mev cZ Mo KZ mgq jvM? hvMvhvM
eqmn cwZwU mev cZ AvcbvK Mo KZ LiP KiZ nq?
g mev mgq LiP x
v
K
v
i
x
i
^
v
i
2. miKvix Z_ ev mev cZ AvcbvK wK wK mgmvi
myLxb nZ nq?
x
3. mvg_i ga mgmvwj mgvavb KiZ Avcbvi civgk
wK? v
K
4. Avcbvi gZ Z_ chyw (KwDUvi, BUvibU, v
gvevBj dvb, wUwf, iwWI) GB mgmvejx mgvavb wK i
f~wgKv cvjb KiZ cvi? x
i
5. Avcbvi gZ wbPi Kvb Z_ I hvMhvM gvagjv
AMvwaKvi wfwZ GB `ki Rb mevwaK DchvMx?
K. BUvibU ^
v
L. Uwjdvb (gvevBj, jv dvb)
M. wcU wgwWqv i
N. BjKUwbK wgwWqv (wUwf, iwWI BZvw`)
g
ZvwiL : ............... x
ge: v
K
v
i
m x
i
m
g
Horizon Scan Report 2007
(b)
e-Government Survey for DC Office
Chief Advisers Office, Tejgaon, Dhaka
This survey is designed to scan the status of e-Government in Bangladesh that would
provide a general idea about the role of your organisation regarding e-Government.
Full Name :
Designation :
7. Domain Name .
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
e-GOVERNANCE
1. Below are some of the goals of e-Government. How much progress do you think
your organisation has made towards attaining each goal?
2. Overall, would you say that e-Government will have a positive or negative effect
on the way that your organisation operates?
3. What services do you feel people have the most problems with? Please Rank
them.
f. _________________________________________________________________
g. _________________________________________________________________
h. _________________________________________________________________
i. _________________________________________________________________
j. _________________________________________________________________
6. Prioritize the following channels of information delivery as you feel best to use
for this country.
e. Internet
f. Telephone (mobile, land phone)
g. Print media
h. Electronic media (TV, radio, etc.)
7. Of the factors below, which of them are hampering your organisation's ability to
deliver services through e-governance?
a) Lack of
infrastructur
e
b) Lack of high
speed
internet
connection
c) Citizen's lack
of access to
internet
resources
d) Citizen's lack
of computer
literacy,
particularly
in target
populations
e) Lack of
adequate
training
f) Insufficient
maintenance
g) Power failure
h) Lack of
Bangla
computing
i) Fear of
change
8. Do you think change in the mind set of employees is important for effective
implementation of e-Government in your office? Yes No
9. If YES, what is your suggestion for the best enhancement of the employees
mind set toward e-Government:
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
10. If you would like to make any further comments, please do so below or attach a
separate sheet. Your comments will be greatly appreciated.
_____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Signature of Authority
Date:
Horizon Scan Report 2007
B-MfgU Rwic
Rjv ckvmK`i Rb
Gm Uz Bbdigkb cvMvg, wewRwW/06/005
cavb Dc`vi Kvhvjq, ZRMuvI, XvKv|
GB RwicwU evsjv`ki B-MfgUi eZgvb Aev g~jvqbi Rb cwiPvwjZ nQ hv Avcbvi cwZvb B-MfgUi f~wgKv mK
Z_ c`vb Kie|
2. wK wK KvR KwDUvi eenvi Kiv nq? (mve cQ`i cvk wUK wP w`b)
K. ckvmwbK KvR
L. cwkY
M. RbMYK Z_ c`vb
N. B-gBj Av`vb c`vb
P. BUvibU eenvi
Q. Abvb KvR
weeiY: ...........................................................................................
B-Mfvb
1. wbP B-MfgUi wKQy j `Iqv AvQ| GB jwj ARbi w`K Giga Avcbvi cwZvb KZ`~i GwMqQ ej Avcwb
gb Kib?
2. mevcwi, Avcbvi cwZvbi cwiPvjbvq B-MfgU wK aibi (BwZevPK ev bwZevPK) fywgKv ivLe ej Avcwb gb
Kib?
Lye fvj gvUvgywU fvj AvMi gZvB Lvivc Lye Lvivc
3. Kvb aiYi mev LvZ Rbmvaib mevcv mgmvi m~Lxb nq? gvYymvi wjLyb
K. .................................................................................................
L. .................................................................................................
M. .................................................................................................
N. .................................................................................................
O. .................................................................................................
7. wbPi Kvb welqwj Avcbvi cwZvbK B-Mfbi gvag mev c`vb euvav mw KiQ ej Avcwb gb Kib?
K. AeKvVvgvMZ NvUwZ
L. DPMwZi BUvibUi Afve
M. RbMYi BUvibU Kg mshyw
N. RbMYi wekl Ki wPwZ
RbmvaviYi KwDUvi vbi Afve
O. Dchy cwkYi Afve
P. Achv iYveY
Q. we`yr NvUwZ
R. evsjv KwDwUsqi Afve
S. cwieZb fxwZ
8. Avcwb wK gb Kib Avcbvi Awdm Kgx`i gvbwmK Aevi cwieZbi Rb B-MfgU cqvRb? nuv
bv
9. nuv nj, Kgx`i gvbwmKZv B-MfgUi cwZ AviI BwZevPK Kivi Rb Avcbvi civgk wK?
...........................................................................................................................................................................
.....................................................................
........................................................................................................................
10. hw` Avcwb AviI Kvb civgk w`Z Pvb, AbyMn Ki c_K KvMR Zv mshy Kib| Avcbvi civgk mv`i weePbv
Kiv ne|
...........................................................................................................................................................................
.....................................................................
........................................................................................................................
KZci ^vi
ZvwiL:
Horizon Scan Report 2007
This survey is designed to scan the status of e-Government in Bangladesh that would
provide a general idea about the role of your organisation regarding e-Government.
Full Name :
Designation :
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
Horizon Scan Report 2007
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
e-GOVERNANCE
1. Below are some of the goals of e-Government. How much progress do you think
your organisation will make towards attaining each goal?
o) Saves time
p) Increase
accountabilit
y
11. Overall, would you say that e-Government will have a positive or negative effect
on the way that your organisation operates?
12. What services do you feel people have the most problems with? Please Rank
them.
k. _________________________________________________________________
l. _________________________________________________________________
m. _________________________________________________________________
n. _________________________________________________________________
o. _________________________________________________________________
13. What would you suggest as possible measures to address these problems?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
14. How do you think ICT (computer, internet, mobile phone, TV, radio) could help
in addressing these problems?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
15. Prioritize the following channels of information delivery as you feel best to use
for this country.
i. Internet
j. Telephone (mobile, land phone)
k. Print media
l. Electronic media (TV, radio, etc.)
16. Of the factors below, which of them are hampering your organisation's ability to
deliver services through e-governance?
infrastructur
e
k) Lack of high
speed
internet
connection
l) Citizen's lack
of access to
internet
resources
m) Citizen's lack
of computer
literacy,
particularly
in target
populations
n) Lack of
adequate
training
o) Insufficient
maintenance
p) Power failure
q) Lack of
Bangla
computing
r) Fear of
change
17. Do you think change in the mind set of employees is important for effective
implementation of e-Government in your office? Yes No
18. If YES, what is your suggestion for the best enhancement of the employees
mind set toward e-Government:
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
19. If you would like to make any further comments, please do so below or attach a
separate sheet. Your comments will be greatly appreciated.
_________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Signature of Authority
Date:
Horizon Scan Report 2007
B-MfgU Rwic
DcRjv wbevnx KgKZv`i Rb
Gm Uz Bbdigkb cvMvg, wewRwW/06/005
cavb Dc `vi Kvhvjq, ZRMuvI, XvKv|
GB RwicwU evsjv`ki B-MfgUi eZgvb Aev g~jvqbi Rb cwiPvwjZ nQ hv Avcbvi cwZvb B-MfgUi f~wgKv mK
Z_ c`vb Kie|
20. wK wK KvR KwDUvi eenvi Kiv nq? (mve cQ`i cvk wUK wP w`b)
K. ckvmwbK KvR
L. cwkY
M. RbMYK Z_ c`vb
N. B-gBj Av`vb c`vb
P. BUvibU eenvi
Q. Abvb KvR
weeiY: ...........................................................................................
B-Mfvb
11. wbP B-MfgUi wKQy j `Iqv AvQ| GB jwj ARbi w`K Giga Avcbvi cwZvb KZ`~i GwMqQ ej Avcwb
gb Kib?
12. mevcwi, Avcbvi cwZvbi cwiPvjbvq B-MfgU wK aibi (BwZevPK ev bwZevPK) fywgKv ivLe ej Avcwb gb
Kib?
Lye fvj gvUvgywU fvj AvMi gZvB Lvivc Lye Lvivc
13. Kvb aiYi mev LvZ Rbmvaib mevcv mgmvi m~Lxb nq? gvYymvi wjLyb
K. .................................................................................................
L. .................................................................................................
M. .................................................................................................
N. .................................................................................................
O. .................................................................................................
16. Avcbvi gZ wbPi Kvb Z_ I hvMvhvM gvagjv AMvwaKvi wfwZ GB `ki Rb mevwaK hyMchvMx? (cQ`i
gvbymvi)
K. BUvibU
L. Uwjdvb (gvevBj, jv dvb)
M. wcU wgwWqv
N. BjKUwbK wgwWqv (wUwf, iwWI BZvw`)
17. wbPi Kvb welqwj Avcbvi cwZvbK B-Mfbi gvag mev c`vb euvav mw KiQ ej Avcwb gb Kib?
K. AeKvVvgvMZ NvUwZ
L. DPMwZi BUvibUi Afve
M. RbMYi BUvibU Kg mshyw
N. RbMYi wekl Ki wPwZ
RbmvaviYi KwDUvi vbi Afve
O. Dchy cwkYi Afve
P. Achv iYveY
Q. we`yr NvUwZ
R. evsjv KwDwUsqi Afve
S. cwieZb fxwZ
18. Avcwb wK gb Kib Avcbvi Awdm Kgx`i gvbwmK Aevi cwieZbi Rb B-MfgU cqvRb? nuv
bv
19. nuv nj, Kgx`i gvbwmKZv B-MfgUi cwZ AviI BwZevPK Kivi Rb Avcbvi civgk wK?
...........................................................................................................................................................................
.....................................................................
........................................................................................................................
20. hw` Avcwb AviI Kvb civgk w`Z Pvb, AbyMn Ki c_K KvMR Zv mshy Kib| Avcbvi civgk mv`i weePbv
Kiv ne|
...........................................................................................................................................................................
.....................................................................
........................................................................................................................
KZci ^vi
ZvwiL:..............
Horizon Scan Report 2007
(d)
e-Government Survey
for
UP Office
Chief Advisers Office, Tejgaon, Dhaka
This survey is designed to scan the status of e-Government in Bangladesh that would
provide a general idea about the role of your organisation regarding e-Government.
Full Name :
Designation :
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Horizon Scan Report 2007
e-GOVERNANCE
1. Below are some of the goals of e-Government. How much progress do you think
your organisation will make towards attaining each goal?
20. Overall, would you say that e-Government will have a positive or negative effect
on the way that your organisation operates?
21. What services do you feel people have the most problems with? Please Rank
them.
p. _________________________________________________________________
q. _________________________________________________________________
r. _________________________________________________________________
s. _________________________________________________________________
t. _________________________________________________________________
22. What would you suggest as possible measures to address these problems?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Horizon Scan Report 2007
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
23. How do you think ICT (computer, internet, mobile phone, TV, radio) could help
in addressing these problems?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
24. Prioritize the following channels of information delivery as you feel best to use
for this country.
m. Internet
n. Telephone (mobile, land phone)
o. Print media
p. Electronic media (TV, radio, etc.)
25. Of the factors below, which of them are hampering your organisation's ability to
deliver services through e-governance?
aa) Fear of
change
26. Do you think change in the mind set of employees is important for effective
implementation of e-Government in your office? Yes No
27. If YES, what is your suggestion for the best enhancement of the employees
mind set toward e-Government:
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
28. If you would like to make any further comments, please do so below or attach a
separate sheet. Your comments will be greatly appreciated.
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Signature of Authority
Date:
Horizon Scan Report 2007
B-MfgU Rwic
BDwbqb cwil` Awdmi Rb
Gm Uz Bbdigkb cvMvg, wewRwW/06/005
cavb Dc`vi Kvhvjq, ZRMuvI, XvKv|
GB RwicwU evsjv`ki B-MfgUi eZgvb Aev g~jvqbi Rb cwiPvwjZ nQ hv Avcbvi cwZvb B-MfgUi f~wgKv mK
Z_ c`vb Kie| Avcbvi `Iqv Z_ Ab eenvi bv Kivmn Gi m~b MvcbxqZv eRvq ivLvi wbqZv `Iqv nQ|
45. Gme KvR KwDUvi eenvi Kiv nj wK myweav ne Avi SvgjvUvB ev Kv_vq?
B-Mfvb
21. wbP B-MfgUi wKQy j `Iqv AvQ| GB jwj ARbi w`K Giga Avcbvi cwZvb KZ`~i GwMqQ ej Avcwb
gb Kib?
mevwaK mvaviY mvgvb Zgb Kvb GKeviB
DbwZ DbwZ DbwZ DbwZ bq DbwZ bq
22. mevcwi, Avcbvi cwZvbi cwiPvjbvq B-MfgU wK aibi (BwZevPK ev bwZevPK) fywgKv ivLe ej Avcwb gb
Kib?
Lye fvj gvUvgywU fvj AvMi gZvB Lvivc Lye Lvivc
23. BDwc _K Kvb aiYi mev LvZ Rbmvaib mevcv mgmvi m~Lxb nq? gvYymvi wjLyb|
K. .....................
L.....................
M.....................
N.....................
O.....................
24. GB mgmvwj mgvavb Avcbvi civgk wK
25. Avcbvi gZ Z_ chyw (KwDUvi, BUvibU, gvevBj dvb, wUwf, iwWI) GB mgmvejx mgvavb wK aiYi
mnvqZv KiQ?
26. Avcbvi gZ wbPi Kvb Z_ I hvMvhvM gvagjv AMvwaKvi wfwZ GB `ki Rb mevwaK hyMchvMx?
(cQ`i gvbymvi)
K. BUvibU
L. Uwjdvb (gvevBj, jv dvb)
M. wcU wgwWqv
N. BjKUwbK wgwWqv (wUwf, iwWI BZvw`)
27. wbPi Kvb welqwj Avcbvi cwZvbK B-Mfbi gvag mev c`vb euvav mw KiQ ej Avcwb gb Kib?
K. AeKvVvgvMZ NvUwZ
L. DPMwZi BUvibUi Afve
M. RbMYi BUvibU Kg mshyw
N. RbMYi wekl Ki wPwZ
RbmvaviYi KwDUvi vbi Afve
O. Dchy cwkYi Afve
P. Achv iYveY
Q. we`yr NvUwZ
R. evsjv KwDwUsqi Afve
S. cwieZb fxwZ
28. Avcwb wK gb Kib Avcbvi Awdm Kgx`i gvbwmK Aevi cwieZbi Rb B-MfgU cqvRb?
nuv bv
29. nuv nj, Kgx`i gvbwmKZv B-MfgUi cwZ AviI BwZevPK Kivi Rb Avcbvi civgk wK?
(hw` Avcwb AviI Kvb civgk w`Z Pvb, AbyMn Ki c_K KvMR Zv mshy Kib| Avcbvi civgk mv`i weePbv
Kiv ne|)
mgxvKvixi ^vi
ZvwiL:..............
ge:
Horizon Scan Report 2007
GENERAL INFORMATION
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
SERVICE DELIVERY
a. _______________________________________________________________
__
b. _______________________________________________________________
__
c. _______________________________________________________________
__
d. _________________________________________________________________
e. _________________________________________________________________
7. What are the important services your organisation often takes from the
Government?
Please Rank them. What is the average time required to get a Rank Time Cost
service? What is the
average cost spent in obtaining the service including
transportation cost?
f. ________________________________________________________________
g. ________________________________________________________________
_
h. ________________________________________________________________
_
i. _________________________________________________________________
j. _________________________________________________________________
8. What service or support from the Govt. do you most need for your
operational efficiency?
Please Rank them.
u. _________________________________________________________________
v. _________________________________________________________________
w. _________________________________________________________________
x. _________________________________________________________________
y. _________________________________________________________________
g. _________________________________________________________________
h. _________________________________________________________________
i. _________________________________________________________________
j. _________________________________________________________________
11. How do you think ICT (computer, internet, mobile phone, TV, radio) could
help
in addressing these problems?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
12. Prioritize the following channels of information delivery as you feel best to
use for this country.
q. Internet
r. Telephone (mobile, land phone)
s. Print media
t. Electronic media (TV, radio, etc.)
Signature of Authority
Date:
Horizon Scan Report 2007
e-Gove Cell of Chief Advisors Office would like to invite you to participate in a
quick survey on Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) which is currently
undertaking among the citizen of Bangladesh to identify and explore the
opportunity of FOSS.
3. Institution/Organization ____________________________________________
7. Age _______________.
8. Have you previously heard of free and open source software (FOSS)?
1 Yes 2 No
10. If yes, how did you come to know about FOSS? (Tick all that apply)
13. Do you use Open Source Software, e.g. Linux, Apache, MySQL
1 Currently using
2 Planning to use within the next 3-5 years
3 Not using now, thinking of using in future but not decided yet
4 Not using now and have no plans to use in future
5 Used before but not using now. Why?
_________________________________________________________
a. Linux
Yes No
b. Apache
Yes No
c. OpenOffice.org
Yes No
d. Mozilla Firefox
Yes No
e. MySQL/PostgreSQL
Yes No
15. Who provides support for FOSS products that you use? (Tick all that
apply)
1 In house staff 2 Software company/paid
supplier
3 FOSS newsgroup 4 Websites
5 Friends/relatives 6 Self
7 other, please specify ..
17. How much important the followings are for open source software:
Horizon Scan Report 2007
Criteria 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
19. What are your most important sources of information on FOSS? (Tick
all that apply)
a Newspaper b Internet c
Magazine/journals d Television e Conference/workshop
f Work colleagues
g Radio h Friends i
Academics j FOSS community k During studies
l Training m Other, please specify____________
Yes No
23. If used or using FOSS, what is your role in the open source project?
1 Maintainer
2 Both developers & user
3 Developer only
4 User only
5. Other, please specify____________
We invite your organization to participate in a new research project that we are undertaking.
Experience reported from numerous projects and international institutions suggests that free and
open source software has particular features that are inductive to not only cost reduction, but also
in supporting sustainable development of software and capacity building. It is assumed that the
benefits of FOSS can be brought to bear in Bangladesh.However; very little information is available
regarding its use, although there is evidence of its use by a few institutions.This research revolve
around a central question: "How can we benefit from FOSS?" or paraphrased What do we need to
do to derive benefit from FOSS?" In order to attempt to get information on this question, this
research seeks answers on the extent of FOSS usage, knowledge and awareness, perception,
contribution and potential of use in future.
2. Designation _______________________________________
3. Organization _______________________________________
4. Email _____________________________
7. Website address______________________________________________
10. What is the category that best fits your organization? Please specify its
main services (see additional notes for this)?
1 Government and Public Sector __________________________
2 Regional Organization _________________________________
3 Private Sector ________________________________________
4 Civil Society_________________________________________
5 Other, please specify__________________________________
a. Number of employees
1. not more than 5 persons
2. 6-20 persons
3. 21-100
4. more than 100 persons
12. Have you previously heard of free and open source software (FOSS)?
1 Yes 2 No 99 NR
14. If yes, how did you come to know about FOSS? (Tick all that apply)
16. Now we would like to ask about General Public License (GPL) and
Berkeley Systems Distribution (BSD)
License. Do you know what GPL and BSD Licenses stand for?
1 Yes 2 No 99 NR
a. The GNU Public License (GPL) allows you to make any changes to the FOSS
software as you may wish.
True False Not sure NR
b. The GPL requires that all changes to the software are publicly distributed.
True False Not sure NR
c. The BSD License allows you to make any changes to the software as you may
wish.
True False Not sure NR
d. The BSD License requires that all changes to the software are publicly
available.
True False Not sure
17. Please tick all kinds of services that your company provides. (Tick all
that apply)
18. Is your organization using Proprietary Software, e.g. Windows XP, etc.
1 Currently using
2 Used before but not using now. Why?
___________________________________________________
3 Planning to use within the next 3-5 years
4 Not using now, thinking of using in future but not decided yet
5 Not using now and have no plans to use in future
90 Dont know 99 NR
Horizon Scan Report 2007
19. Is your organization using Open Source Software, e.g. Linux, Apache,
mySQL
1 Currently using
2 Used before but not using now. Why?
___________________________________________________
3 Planning to use within the next 3-5 years
4 Not using now, thinking of using in future but not decided yet
5 Not using now and have no plans to use in future 90 Dont know 99 NR
22. In your organization, please describe the process of how it was decided
to use particular software?
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________
a. Linux
Yes
No
Using Reasons
b. Apache
Yes
No
Horizon Scan Report 2007
Using Reasons
c. OpenOffice.org
Yes
No
Using Reasons
d. Mozilla/Konqueror
Yes
No
Using Reasons
e. MS Office
Yes
No
Using Reasons
f. Windows XP
Yes
No
Using Reasons
g. Macintosh
Yes
No
Using Reasons
h. MySQL/PostgreSQL
Yes
No
Using Reasons
i. JAVA
Yes
No
Using Reasons
j. Oracle
Yes
No
Using Reasons
24. Please select where FOSS is used specifically. (Tick all that apply)
25. Now I will present to you several criteria that can influence a decision in
favour of or against FOSS. Please tell me, how important each of the following
criteria was in your decision to favour of or against Open Source.
25. Does your organization train staff and users on FOSS products?
1 Yes. How?
_________________________________________________________________________
2 No
27. Now I have some questions on the general use of FOSS in your
company. They are not related to any specific IT area. In the following, I
will present a number of statements to you. Please, tell me for each
statement how much it applies to your company. For your answer, you can
use the following range:
1. FOSS is used because people want to be more independent from the pricing
and licensing policies of the big software companies.
Horizon Scan Report 2007
28. What are your most important sources of information on FOSS? (Tick
all that apply)
a Newspaper b Internet c Magazine/journals d
Television e Conference/workshop f Work colleagues g
Radio h Friends i Academics j
FOSS community k During studies l Training m
Other, please specify____________
n NR
1. Inter-operability
2. Identification of relevant software
3. Managing in-house projects
4. Maintenance & support for troubleshoot
5. Compatibility with other users, particularly external users
6. Modification of source code
7. Skilled personnel in FOSS
30. What would best describe your level of involvement in open source
software?
32. What have been your greatest concerns for FOSS development?
_______________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
34. How much flexibility do individuals have in using FOSS within the
organization?________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________
35. Do you look to any outside bodies for guidance on what software to
purchase?
1 Yes, who is responsible for doing this research?
_______________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
2 No, please explain how the decision is made?
_____________________________________________
90 dont know 99 NR
Thanks
Horizon Scan Report 2007
1. Name :
2. Designation :
3. Organization :
4. Email :
5. Phone/ Mobile Number :
8. Do you think people are benefited after completing these courses? If yes,
please explain.
9. Which courses should be given preference for job market? How do you
cope with the job market?
10. What is the overall standard of training centers in Bangladesh? How can
we improve the standard? How can government help you in this regard?
Your opinion.
11. How do your trainees perform in the job market? In which categories of
jobs they usually get into?
For Trainee
1. Name :
2. Designation :
3. Organization :
4. Email :
5. Phone/ Mobile Number :
6. Why have you enrolled for this training? What is your expectation after
completing this training?
7. What are the courses that should be given preference to improve skills for
job/ better job?
8. Do you think that people are doing well after completing these kinds of
training?
10. What is your opinion about the current standard of training centers?
Annex -7
List of Tables
Table: 1.1 Bangladesh Data Sheet
Table: 1.2 Bangladesh at a glance
Table: 1.3 Key economic ratios and long term trends
Table: 1.4 Structure of the Economy
Table: 1.5 Rank Status
Table: 4.1 Different Data Service Provider by BTTB
Table 4.2: Monthly Cost for 2Mbps connection in different countries (Core toISP)
Table 4.3: Monthly cost for 256 kbs data link in different countries (ISP to End
user)
Table 5.1: Alternatives of Proprietary Software on FOSS)
Horizon Scan Report 2007
Annex -8
Lists of Figures
Fig: 2. 1usages of Mobile Phone (on the basis of Expenditure)
Fig: 2.2 Expected Call rate of Mobile Phone
Fig: 2.3Use of Computer in Different Purposes
Fig: 2.4Status of Different TV Programs
Fig: 4.1 Ratio of share in PSTN Market
Fig: 4.2Total Mobile Phone Subscriber
Fig: 4.3Tele density (in Mobile Phone)
Fig 4.4: SEA-ME-WE-4 Sub Marine Cable
Fig: 4.5 Status of installed capacity comparison in respect to fuel
Fig: 4.6 Total Budget in ICT sector
Fig: 4.7 proposed budget in Infrastructure build up
Fig: 4.8 Status of Bangla interface
Fig: 4.9 Number of updated information
Fig: 4.10 Number of Bangla interface
Fig: 4.11 Number of Form Download
Fig: 4.12 Status of online banking
Fig: 4.13 Usages of ATM card
Fig: 4.14 Domestic ICT market in Bangladesh
Fig: 4.15 Software & ITES Export and import
Fig: 4.16 Technical Job Distribution surveyed software companies
Fig 5.1: Importance of open source in software industry
Fig 5.2: Importance of different features to popularize open source software
Fig 5.3: Usages of different open source software
Horizon Scan Report 2007
Mr. A.A Munir Hasan, PIS, A2I Programme, Chief Advisers Office
Mr. Anir Chowdhury, Policy Adviser, A2I Programme, Chief Advisers
Office
Mr. Fokruzzaman, Consultant, A2I Programme, Chief Advisers Office
Mr. KAM Morshed, Assistant Country Director, MDGs & e-Development
Cluster, UNDP
Principal Investigator
Ms. Mirza Afreen Fatima Lusha, Jr. Consultant, A2I Programme, Chief
Advisers Office
Assistant Investigator