Capitalise on human resources in IT

The Bangladeshi software industry is still at a nascent stage. Despite immense potential, the country has not yet focused on how to develop the growing sector, said Mahboob Zaman, president of Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS).
On the potential of the sector, Zaman said the geographic location of Bangladesh is favorable especially for the information technology enabled services (ITES). “The time difference with America is 12 hours.”
In India, he said, some companies control Boston's security system with the help of the internet. “When they sleep at night, it is daytime in India and people can look after the street security systems that are connected to cameras on the streets.”
In some cases, Europe is not in a favourable place for the time difference with Bangladesh, which is only 6 hours, Zaman said. “There is some core development issues that cannot be done for the time difference. It becomes tough to maintain the work,” he said.
He said there are a large number of young people in Bangladesh who can embrace technology; they just need proper training. People who are migrating as low skilled labor even after completing graduation can at least perform some official work, like front desk, with training on basic computing, he added.
On why Bangladesh is unable to grow fast, the BASIS president said, “We need a national policy with a pro-active role. We have got the policy but if the job is not done accordingly, it is not possible to develop the sector.”
There is an urgent need for two types of infrastructure development -- physical and communication. An uninterrupted electricity supply, high-speed bandwidth and developed communication systems are required here, he said.
Zaman said, “It may not be possible to give an uninterrupted supply of electricity in all places, but if the government can develop at least 10 high tech parks and some hubs where the investors can work in clusters, then it is possible.”
“I am very confident about the skills of our kids,” said Zaman on human resources for the IT sector. “They are brilliant and can think out of the box.”
“Foreigners get surprised at the abilities and creativity of the Bangladeshi IT experts. I can say it from my own experience,” he said.
Zaman said, “We cannot work directly with the fresh graduates. The academic curriculums cannot fulfill the requirements of the industry. So they need training for at least 6 to 8 months. Who will provide the finishing school programmes?”
“There should be a blend between the industry and the academy. We should setup some institutions that will support the industry's requirements. In India, famous institutions including Indian Institute of Technology provide such blending programmes.”
“We cannot groom our resources.”

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