Integrated planning, effective implementation stressed for ICT boost

Everything from policy formulation to implementation should prioritise industry needs to develop the country's ICT sector, entrepreneurs and experts said at a seminar today.

"From prioritising the massive $2.5 billion state spending since 2009 to formulating key national policies on artificial intelligence (AI), the internet of things (IoT), the ICT master plan, data privacy, and data protection, the industry was rarely consulted," said technology entrepreneur Mir Shahrukh Islam in his keynote.

At the event organised by the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), he added that this created a gap between expectations and the realisation of potential.

"Even you have to drive for 15 minutes to find food there," said Shahrukh, managing director of the country's first IoT assembly firm Bondstein Technologies, while representing the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) as its director.

He described the daily life inconveniences the few investors face at the poorly responded Hi-Tech Park at Kaliakair, Gazipur, which the previous government built at a massive state cost and later planned over a dozen more across the country.

The availability of a skilled workforce made the technology park at Karwan Bazar, Dhaka, fully occupied, and there should be another large one at Mohakhali to provide technology companies with facilities, said former BASIS president Syed Almas Kabir.

He stressed the need to eliminate inflated data-based campaigns on exports and a skilled workforce before planning the next phase of reforms to unlock the potential of the country's ICT sector.

Shahrukh Islam, echoing the views of many technology entrepreneurs, suggested measures to remove hindrances to ICT growth, including access to finance, opening subsidiaries abroad, ensuring a fair share for capable local companies in state procurement, creating a level playing field, and adopting a coordinated and transparent approach for need-based, prioritised, and executable planning.

The benefits of over Tk3,000 crore government spending for IT skill training for youths have not been measurable, he added.

The estimated $2.34 billion annual ICT industry in Bangladesh, which includes hardware, software, and IT-enabled services, has all the potential to grow much bigger if the reforms address investment barriers, onboard industry heroes, and train the workforce to migrate to higher-value work involving frontier technologies, entrepreneurs said.

Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) President Ashraf Ahmed and Senior Vice President Malik Talha Ismail Bari stressed the need to develop an IT-friendly academic curriculum and infrastructure, ensure proper public-private partnerships, protect intellectual property rights, and provide incentives for R&D and exports.

At the event, Chief Adviser's Special Envoy on International Affairs Lutfey Siddiqi said policy discussions should not take more than 20% of the total time, as execution has emerged as the major challenge.

DCCI former vice president Shekil Chowdhury urged against the repetition of state spending based on political mileage or corrupt intentions.

AI is going to cut jobs in a wide range of ICT tasks, including software and game development, and maximum preparation through up-skilling is important, said entrepreneurs.

A trainable workforce is a key selling point for the Bangladesh ICT sector, and it has the potential to be the next RMG sector, said Bangladesh Investment Development Authority Executive Chairman Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud Bin Harun.

Stressing the full digitalisation of government services to curb corruption, he emphasised the need for state-of-the-art rural access to connectivity and services.

"Hi-tech parks, instead of being townships, saw huge state investments in infrastructure and have now proved to be mini white elephants," he said.