<i>Bangladesh and ICT </i>

Photo: STAR

ICT plays a vital role in economic and social development of a country. It not only develops the communication technology but also increases the productivity of a country. But it is a matter of regret that Bangladesh is lagging behind in the ICT sector. The World Economic Forum has issued 'The Global Information Technology Report' 2007-08 on the basis of the following things: quick internet facilities, poverty alleviation, ensuring national activities through maximum utilisation of ICT, inventions and e-skills, business network, transmission for IT generation etc. In that report Bangladesh has been given the 124th position out of 127 countries, our IT ranking and the score is 2.65 which is very shameful for us. In South Asia, computer came first in Bangladesh. Yet we are lagging behind other nations in the region. The position of other countries are Nepal 119th (2.88), Pakistan 89th (3.37), Sri Lanka 79th (3.58), India 50th (4.06). On the other hand, some poverty, hunger, war affected countries have done very well. But it is a very interesting development that the present government is issuing licence for Call Centre. It is a positive sign of improvement in the IT sector. Bangladesh needs a definite plan. It has a lot of potential in this sector and also a bright future.