ICT Division's rejoinder, our reply
In response to a recently published TBS feature story on 600 government apps, the Information and Communication Technology Division issued the following statement
According to Statista, 96% of mobile phone users in 2022 run Android, which was only 19% in 2013. At that time, very few native apps were available on Google Play Store, which was not enough and the number of smartphone users was also very low considering the current situation. At the time, the general public did not have a proper idea about app development or usage as a whole.
In such a situation, with the aim of creating app usage, creating a market, and creating app developers in the country as well as turning mobile apps into a tool to bring economic prosperity and ease of life for the first time in the country, 600 mobile apps were developed based on government information, services, and creative ideas. These apps were developed by the Information and Communication Technology Department through local developers eight years ago under the programme called "Increasing Skills and Awareness in Mobile Application Development at National Level" and "Mobile Apps Training and Creative Apps Development at National Level."
The goal was to create a skilled generation in mobile app development, creating skilled trainers and providing them with employment and self-employment strategies. The people of the country have been informed about various services through mobile apps in Bangla.
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Under these programmes, 2,900 people were trained on app creation in various educational institutions, seven boot camps at the departmental level, and a two-day long National Hackathon was organised across the country in the presence of 1,000 participants.
Out of the developed apps, 44 are currently available on the https://play.google.com store and 500 are available on the 3rd party app store called http://www.national500apps.com/. The apps were handed over to the Ministries/Departments for which the apps were developed, with admin access and code for their usage and updates. The applications are handed over through a workshop consisting of two representatives each from the concerned Ministries/Departments and Departments/Organisations. But later, their information was not updated much by the concerned ministry/department.
As Android technology has changed a lot during this period, mobile applications have also outlived their life span. As a result, they have become ineffective in many devices nowadays. Any application software always needs to be versioned according to the device.
It should be noted that the training and app development provided through local institutions for the first time later created the local app development market. As a result, the country has increased its skills in this field. All these app development acted as an investment for the government at that time, and as a result of which, the interest and demand of the people of the country to use and develop apps increased and a lot of government and non-government apps are being developed in Bangla.
The app development needs of the country are being fulfilled through domestic developers. Also, the developers of the country are earning foreign currency by developing the apps through outsourcing.
Our reply
None of the information provided by the ICT Division contradicts the facts presented in the story published in the story titled "The government has so far made more than 600 apps. How many actually work?"
