News South Asia

Bangladesh’s Digital Age

As part of a wider overhaul of its development plans, Bangladesh is seeking to transform itself into a technologically advanced country and a bigger player in the digital world; in the process, opening up a wealth of job opportunities for those entering the jobs market.

In just five years’ time, the year 2021 will herald a pivotal time for Bangladesh. Not only will it mark the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh’s independence, but it will also be the culmination of the government’s ‘Vision 2021’ initiative, launched seven years ago.

The main aim of Vision 21 was to improve Bangladesh’s society and place in the world by eliminating poverty and inequality; ensuring sound governance and institutions; and promoting innovation within a society that values knowledge and learning.

So far, the Bangladeshi government has successfully reduced poverty and corruption in many areas, achieved through Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s pioneering approach. While this has been widely reported, rather less has been said about increase digitisation in both the private and public sectors.

Digitisation is key for any modern society to flourish and prosper in the global arena, and Hasina’s government recognised the need for Bangladesh to keep up. It drew up a set of goals entitled ‘Digital Bangladesh’, which over the last seven years has accelerated the development rate of information and communications technologies in the private and public sectors.

These programmes are boosting the transparency of all aspects of society, helping to boost the national economy. Just seven years ago, only 0.3% of Bangladeshi citizens could access government services digitally; this number has now increased to 35%, and continues to grow.

The Digital Bangladesh vision was to reach every Bangladeshi, regardless of their location or socio-economic status. The Prime Minister wanted to utilise technology to bring the world to all members of her public; in order to achieve this, one digital centre was built within walking distance of every single village – totalling 5,000 centres, all of which provide 200 services, including computer training, mobile banking and searching for online job listings.

Soon, even the most remote corners of the country will have access to these services, with plans to transform 8,000 post offices into digital centres too.

In addition to this, last year the Government revealed a 60,000-square-foot software technology park, designed to connect start-up tech companies with one another – 16 businesses have moved in to date, with more on the way.

The park is also home to Bangladesh’s first ‘IT Incubation Centre,’ which hopes to encourage young entrepreneurs to enter the IT sector; the good news for graduates is that the centre’s products are expected to create more than 100,000 jobs throughout the country over the next few years.

Not only will Digital Bangladesh create more jobs, it has also helped to diversify the country’s economy. Whereas in the past the economy was largely dependent on textiles, since the start of the initiative in 2009, total exports from ICT have risen ten-fold from $26 million to $300 million per year.

As part of its digital renaissance, Bangladesh plans to train a further 75,000 IT professionals, as well as bringing new technology into the education system. With the country well on track to achieving its 2021 goals, it will become an even better place to live and work.

To find out more about digital opportunities for graduates, take a look at Gradlink’s Job pages now.