Digital Bangladesh Problems and Prospects free essay sample

Introduction: Digital Bangladesh is currently the most commonly used words in politics, media, among the intellectuals and the civil societies. The world is becoming a Digital Planet. Almost every state is running to become a knowledge-based society by 2015. Bangladesh cannot remain out of it. We must build a Digital Bangladesh and establish a knowledge based society within 50 years of our independence in 2021. Let’s work for this achievement. Let us build Digital Bangladesh. Back-ground of the voice of â€Å"Digital Bangladesh†:Since our Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in her partys election manifesto pledged to develop a digital Bangladesh by 2021, it has given a great hope to the citizens of Bangladesh. It turned out to be an opportunity for our prime minister to be in the United States during the time of election, and experiencing the Obama election campaign. Her learning has helped Awami League wining the election in Bangladesh in 2008 with Obama-like campaign strategy-the call for change, which has been responded widely by the Bangladeshi citizens. However, the focus here is Digital Bangladesh, widely accepted by Bangladeshi people from all walks of life. Not too many people understood the concept of digital Bangladesh but they believed it, as something related to information technology. It has been widely accepted by a good number of young voters, believing that the concept of Digital Bangladesh will solve most of our national crisis involving corruption, unemployment, illiteracy, poverty and price-hike.Even though without knowing Bangladesh has already gone through a bit of experience on digitization through few national level of ICT projects, such as, Chittagong Customs Automation System, selection process of teletalk mobile user through internet, project initiated by the previous government on machinereadable digital passport system and finally the successful computerization of national voter ID. However, we have full trust and faith in our newly elected government, that hopefully one day, it will give us the gift of Digital Bangladesh, as promised, by year 2021.But our fundamental question here is how digital Bangladesh will be built and how will it impact on our daily life, the economy and society at large. Is digital Bangladesh a reality or a virtual dream made by our leaders to get our attention and precious votes? Digital Bangladesh is a continuous process of development. For those who thinks that it can be developed in a specific time and budget is absolutely wrong. The whole process requires lots of tasks, for which we have to be prepared. After all, digitization is the only pathway to economic success, quality education, public health and generating transparency in governance with full public participation. There should be no doubt that in twentieth century the path to the information society is the only path for the development of human civilization. So our goal is how we build this digital Bangladesh. Simply what is Digital Bangladesh?The concept of Digital Bangladesh should be centered around the creation of what is popularly termed as a knowledge-based society, in which creation and exchange of knowledge becomes an increasingly key factor of production, and in the process reducing the relative importance of traditional factors of production such as land, labor and capital. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are a critical component for building this knowledge-society. So, Digital Bangladesh, in that sense, is the crucial pla tform, the enabler for such a vision. What is Digital Bangladesh actually?Digital Bangladesh’ means digitalizing Bangladesh by ensuring an ICT based society where information will be available on the line and where all possible activities of the government and other non-government or semi-government organizations will be performed using digital technology. The motto of Digital Bangladesh is to establish technology based digital governance, e-commerce, e-agriculture, e-production, e-education, etc. emphasizing the overall development of the country and the nation. The benefits of Digital Bangladesh is many. If we can establish a Digital Bangladesh, corruption will drastically reduced.Besides, it will save people’s time and money and will make people more enterprising and thus will reduce unemployment problem. It will connect people with the whole world economically, politically, socially, academically and even culturally. It will open doors for the people to improve their conditions. It will also improve banking and financial activities. Money transfer and transaction of business could be made within seconds by clicking the mouse of a computer. Agriculture, health, education, commerce – all these sectors will be highly benefited by making Bangladesh a Digital one. Why Digital Bangladesh?Before getting into specific issues concerning Digital Bangladesh, it is important to review the basic premises. We have difficult challenges in every sphere of our economic and social lives, and use of technologies will not necessarily make them go away. Technology is not a silver bullet; it is useful in some areas, mandatory in some and overkill in some others. The purpose of Digital Bangladesh policy-making should be to make clear distinctions between those three areas, and sometimes make hard choices if needed. The questions surrounding Digital Bangladesh are real and often politically sensitive.Should the government implement a midday meal program to attract students or pay for a computer in a school (a Tk. 20,000 computer can feed 15 students for a year! )? Should the government build a new bridge or computerize the Roads and Highways Department? When resources are severely limited, these are valid and difficult questions. But these should be answered in the context of a rapidly changing world. Over the course of the last few centuries, the world has shifted from agricultural to industrial based societies, where efficiency in manufacturing has determined global economic influence.Over the last few decades, the world has been shifting from industrial to knowledge-based societies, where proficiency in creating and disseminating knowledge has been an increasingly predominant factor for national growth. The phenomenon is well reflected through the shift in national goals of Malaysia, a country widely perceived to be on the forefront of transition countries. In 1991, the then leader Mahathir Mohamed declared that Malaysia would become a fully industrialized country by 2020.