Economic Reporter :
Bangladesh can accelerate growth, create more jobs and deliver better public services by enhancing access to digital technologies, said a new World Bank report.
According to the World Development Report 2016: Digital Dividends, launched here on Monday, digital technologies could promote inclusion, efficiency and innovation.
The report was launched in connection with the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day to be observed worldwide tomorrow (Tuesday). State Minister for Information and Communication Technology Division Zunaid Ahmed Palak launched the WDR 2016 at a programme jointly organised by the World Bank and Bangladesh Computer Council Dhaka.
Like other countries, Bangladesh also observes the Day on May 17, marking the anniversary of the signing of the first International Telegraph Convention and the creation of the International Telecommunication Union.
The purpose of the Day is to help raise awareness of the possibilities that the use of the Internet and other information and communication technologies (ICT) can bring to societies and economies, as well as of ways to bridge the digital divide.
On the eve of the Day, the WB report noted that mobile banking has broadened financial inclusion for the poor in Bangladesh, with providing them the new way of doing business and reducing the time and transaction costs and enhancing transparency and competition of public procurement.
“The government has also set up the country’s first national data centre that is Tier-3 Certified. It hosts over 200 government websites, and ensures much higher reliability and efficiency in the use of information and communications technology (ICT) by the public sector”, the report said.
The report, however, mentioned that with around 130 million mobile phone subscribers, the digital technologies are spreading rapidly in Bangladesh, but the country has the fifth largest number of people who are not connected to the Internet. Citing that Bangladesh has one of the cheapest rates to make a phone call, the report pointed out that the internet prices still remain high and over 100 million people do not have access to the internet.
It, however, noted that the digital technologies-enabled jobs such as IT and business process outsourcing services, online freelancing, mobile banking and ecommerce are several folds more than ICT jobs in Bangladesh. The WB recommended that the country should focus on closing the digital divides by making the Internet universal, affordable, open, and safe.
Bangladesh can accelerate growth, create more jobs and deliver better public services by enhancing access to digital technologies, said a new World Bank report.
According to the World Development Report 2016: Digital Dividends, launched here on Monday, digital technologies could promote inclusion, efficiency and innovation.
The report was launched in connection with the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day to be observed worldwide tomorrow (Tuesday). State Minister for Information and Communication Technology Division Zunaid Ahmed Palak launched the WDR 2016 at a programme jointly organised by the World Bank and Bangladesh Computer Council Dhaka.
Like other countries, Bangladesh also observes the Day on May 17, marking the anniversary of the signing of the first International Telegraph Convention and the creation of the International Telecommunication Union.
The purpose of the Day is to help raise awareness of the possibilities that the use of the Internet and other information and communication technologies (ICT) can bring to societies and economies, as well as of ways to bridge the digital divide.
On the eve of the Day, the WB report noted that mobile banking has broadened financial inclusion for the poor in Bangladesh, with providing them the new way of doing business and reducing the time and transaction costs and enhancing transparency and competition of public procurement.
“The government has also set up the country’s first national data centre that is Tier-3 Certified. It hosts over 200 government websites, and ensures much higher reliability and efficiency in the use of information and communications technology (ICT) by the public sector”, the report said.
The report, however, mentioned that with around 130 million mobile phone subscribers, the digital technologies are spreading rapidly in Bangladesh, but the country has the fifth largest number of people who are not connected to the Internet. Citing that Bangladesh has one of the cheapest rates to make a phone call, the report pointed out that the internet prices still remain high and over 100 million people do not have access to the internet.
It, however, noted that the digital technologies-enabled jobs such as IT and business process outsourcing services, online freelancing, mobile banking and ecommerce are several folds more than ICT jobs in Bangladesh. The WB recommended that the country should focus on closing the digital divides by making the Internet universal, affordable, open, and safe.
