Importance Given to ICT
ICT has been given considerable importance from the Prime Minister’s Office in the last few years
A National ICT Task Force has been formed which is headed by the Honorable Prime Minister
The Executive Committee of the National ICT Task Force, headed by the Honorable Principal Secretary, administers the implementation of decisions taken by the Task Force
A program called the Support to ICT Task Force (SICT) has been initiated, with financial support from the Government, to provide implementation and monitoring support to the Task Force.
The Ministry of Science and Technology has been renamed as the Ministry of Science and ICT and has been entrusted the duty of working as the primary hub for ICT policy and implementation in the country.
The Ministry of Science and ICT has come up with a comprehensive ICT Policy in 2002.
The Ministry of Post and Telecom has also come up with a National Telecom Policy in 1998 (time for a revised policy)
e-Government Policy Stakeholders
Prime Minister’s Office (PMO)
- National ICT Task Force has been formed, headed by the Honorable Prime Minister
- ICT Task Force has representation from several important ministries, academia, NGOs, and the ICT-related private sector
Ministry of Science and ICT
- Formulation of ICT Policy
- ICT-related laws
- Facilitate computerization at govt. institutions and schools
Ministry of Post and Telecommunications
Building and maintaining of telecommunication infrastructure
Ministry of Education
- Curriculum for ICT education
- Computerization of schools
Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs
- ICT-related laws
Planning Division, Ministry of Planning
- Secretarial support to National ICT Task Force
- Hosts the Support to ICT Task Force (SICT) Program to implement objectives of the ICT Task Force, particularly in areas of e-Government
Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC)
- Regulation of telecommunications providers
- Licensing authority
Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC)
- ICT Training to govt. officials and citizens
- Incubator for software companies
- Advisory support to govt. institutions regarding ICT
- Providing connectivity to ISPs
- Standardization of ICT issues, such as keyboard
- Curriculum for ICT education
Status of ICT Policy & Implementation
Broad Areas
ICT Infrastructure
ICTE and Capacity Building
Support to ICT Industry
Applications of ICTs for Socio-Economic Development
Regulatory Issues
Financing of ICT-Related Projects
Research and Development in ICT
Structure (ICTE and capacity building)
Policy
What Has Been Achieved
What Has NOT Been Achieved
ICTE and capacity building
Policy
Facilities shall be built to promote ICT training and computer aided training at all levels of education including Primary Schools and Madrasahs.
Universities, Bangladesh Institutes of Technology and colleges, both in the public and private sectors, shall be strengthened to produce ICT graduates in four-year Computer Science and/or Engineering courses.
Establish multimedia institutes up to district level.
Diploma and Trade Certificate in ICT will be offered in both public and private institutes including Polytechnics.
Policy
Use the potential of ICT for delivery of distance education to help stretch the country’s limited teaching resources and ensure quality education to all.
Preference shall be given to ICT literate candidates for the purpose of recruitment in public offices. ICT-literacy shall also be evaluated in the Annual Confidential Report (ACR) of officials to ensure utilization of ICTs in the public services.
What Has Been Achieved
Computer science as a course has been introduced at the high school level, but has not been mandatory. A fair number of students are taking this course at the high school level.
Almost all public and private universities pay particular emphasis on training students in ICT-related fields.
Different public offices have taken up initiatives to provide ICT training to government officials and staff.
The Ministry of Science and ICT and its subsidiary Bangladesh Computer Council are playing important roles in training public officials, school teachers and also citizens at low cost.
Private ICT training institutes have sprung up in large numbers over the last few years in major urban centers.
The Ministry of Science and ICT has introduced an ICT Internship Program in cooperation with the private sector, to support the development of quality professionals for the ICT industry.
What Has NOT Been Achieved
Due to lack of adequate number of working computers in public high schools at rural level and lack of sufficiently trained teachers, most students do not get enough exposure to ICT.
Not enough jobs are getting created to absorb the ICT-trained human resources.
Much of the government IT training is isolated and project-based – a coordinated national effort to build ICT capacity in the government is yet to be implemented.
ICT-based education is not a policy priority.
Excessive emphasis on computerization without sufficient consideration to enabling factors such as teachers training, curriculum modernization etc.
In government recruitment and promotion, IT skills is still not taken into consideration
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