UNDP ICT Programme Officer/Focal Point

ICT Programme Office/Focal Point A

Full Name

Aminul Islam

Designation/Position

Sustainable Development Advisor

Station (UNDP Country Office)

UNDP Bangladesh

Email Address

aminul.islam@undp.org

Telephone Number

+880 2 8118600

Fax Number

+880 2 8113196

ICT Programme Office/Focal Point B

Full Name

Saleh Khan

Designation/Position

ICT Specialist

Station (UNDP Country Office)

UNDP Bangladesh

Email Address

saleh.khan@undp.org

Telephone Number

+880 2 8118600

Fax Number

+880 2 8117811

Government Agency(ies) with Primary Responsibility

Ministry/Agency

Ministry of Science and ICT

Contact Person A

Full Name (First, Last)

Mr. Karar Mahmudul Hasan

Designation/Title

Secretary

e-Readiness Assessment

Has the Government (or any third party or donor) conducted a multi-sectoral ICT or e-readiness assessment of the country?
NO

For a government that is trying to mainstream ICT in its development agenda an e-readiness assessment or stock taking is necessary
 

Existing e-Policies, -Strategies, Acts, Decrees, etc

Has the Government developed, or is the Government planning to develop, ICT policies?
YES

The draft ICT policy can be viewed at http://www.sdnbd.org/sdi/issues/IT-computer/itpolicy-bd-2002.htm

Excerpt from the vision of the national ICT policy: "This Policy aims at building an ICT-driven nation comprising of knowledge-based society by the year 2006. In view of this, a country-wide ICT-infrastructure will be developed to ensure access to information by every citizen to facilitate empowerment of people and enhance democratic values and norms for sustainable economic development by using the infrastructure for human resources development, governance, e-commerce, banking, public utility services and all sorts of on-line ICT-enabled services."
 

Ministry/Agency in Charge of ICT Policy Formulation

Ministry of Science and ICT: http://www.most-bd.org/

Was the process of ICT policy formulation participatory in nature, and did it involve stakeholders?
YES

Private sector software development firms, universities, research organizations, etc.
 

Does the Government have an official policy on ICT and Gender?

YES and NO

If NO, is the UNDP Country Office looking to advise the Government on Gender issues relating to ICTs?

No
 

Access

How is the Government addressing the issue of equitable access to ICT for all of its citizens, especially marginalized groups and those in rural communities?

The policy plays heavily on the infrastructure aspect of ICT development in the country. It is almost a blueprint of the ideal scenario for equal connectivity for the masses. However, the lack of specific objectives and goals to acheive this makes it unclear how much can and will be done.
 

What is the Government planning to do to increase local connectivity to the Internet?

In addition to expressing willingness to join the ME-SEA-WE-4 consortium for fiber optic connection to the Internet backbone, the government is working on improving PSTN service for better connectivity.
 

Has the Government implemented, or is it planning to implement, e-government/e-governance initiatives to better deliver government services through the application of ICT and to improve government transparency and efficiency?

YES

So far the government has a thread bare web portal for themselves [http://www.bangladeshgov.org]. One of the commendable links is to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. e-government is up and coming in Bangladesh, eventhough now much has been mainstreamed as yet.

UNDP continues to advise the government on e-government / governance issues.
 

Local Content Development and Knowledge Management

Is the Government aware of or is it active in standardization and localization of ICTs (e.g. local input/output conventions and standards for digital exchange, development of local language character sets conforming to international UNICODE and other standards) for fostering local content development and knowledge management?

YES