The New Nation - Internet Edition

BSS, Dhaka

The landscape of the country's ICT industry is systematically changing with Bangladesh gradually appearing as software services destination for global corporations.

"With more than 100 software and IT service companies exporting their services to 30 countries, software export has achieved the highest growth in recent years," a Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) spokesman said.

He said the size of the local IT market was over US$ 300 million, of which software and Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES) industry had 29 percent share and remaining 61 percent belonged to hardware/network services.

According to BASIS statistics, in 2007, the value of exported software and ITES from Bangladesh reached US$ 27 million.

But experts said the public sector appeared to be lagging behind in introducing the e-governance which they blamed on lack of awareness and typical mindset among the people in the authority in government offices or many state-run organizations.

"There are resistance (due to the mindset) but if we can once introduce the technology motivating them, there will be 'zero' resistance," chief adviser's special assistant Dr M Tamim last week said launching a book on 'e- Governance in Bangladesh.

Australian High Commissioner in Dhaka Douglas Fosket, who also joined the function, said his country was aiding the promotion of the ICT in Bangladesh for "re- engineering" of the government system in this country so "it does not lag behind the country's own private sector".

According to the UN Global e-Governance Readiness Report 2008, in 2004 and 2005, Bangladesh "significantly" fell behind even compared to the neighbouring South Asian countries with regard to ICT uses.

The report said, Bangladesh, however, secured the 142nd place from 162nd as the study was carried out in 192 member states on web measurement in the enhanced and interactive stages.