Course Correction For ICT

Local market and ICT education Could help ICT reaching next destination

Last week I had the opportunity to visit BASIS Soft Expo 2023 at Purbachal on the outskirts of Dhaka. The event is held every year to showcase local advancement in ICT and to highlight the areas that our ICT sector should focus on to meet the challenges and to unlock the potentials of techies. Previous year's event was cancelled due to austerity measures.This year's event was subdued but could have been postponed for the budget crunch that the govt is still facing.

I went to the event to hear public speaking given by “professional” developers and visited part of the exhibition where local ICT companies displayed their achievements. To my surprise, I discovered that one company offering banking solutions to local clients.As one news report divulged that a swiss company holds sway over the sector and local banks pay as much as Tk 4 billion every year to maintain the software¹. It is great to learn local fintech companies come forward to address local problems. After some brokerage houses,local banks are now using homegrown solutions.One local giant firm showcased their solution for pisciculture.The application will inform the farmer about the pH level of water in pond/tank and notify when to feed the fish. This particular company already made its mark at international arena by developing software for water management at apartments and it is being used by households in Japan and Saudi Arabia.

It is unfortunate that we have undermined the ICT sector by judging it in terms of earning forex.According to a news report ,Bangladesh last year exported $592.06 million worth of ICT products and services and anticipates to earn around $700 million this year². From policy makers to local software firms all cast their eyes on foreign market. But I think our goal should be to harness local market and develop local softwares that ultimately lead us to develop critical technology.

Our ICT education does not cater to the need of local learners. In English,there are well-written and well-developed ICT books and web contents. However, for kids and school-goers who are not well adept in a foreign language ,there is no substitute for good ICT books written in Bangla. More early our kids pick up coding habits the better for the nation. Coding skills help us to better use that part of the brain that deals with slow thinking,a quintessential part of critical reasoning and analytical ability. As a nation ,more of us need to acquire that ability. Apart from money and developing home-grown technology, welfare contribution of coding is huge.

Unfortunately series of scams at home and abroad left a serious blot on the image of our ICT industry in general. Fraudulent e-commerce platforms ruined thousands of ordinary lives right under the nose of law-enforcement bodies and sowed seeds of distrust among the consumers about the industry. Regional mafias lured many youths to work in the IT industry of Cambodia and forced them to do cyber scamming³. UNDP and govt funded projects on app development turned out to be useless and a money-swindling activity at the end of the day⁴. Electronic Voting Machine project by an Army-subsidiary cost the govt Tk 40 billon and presented the nation a farcical election that was criticized right and left. This year too in the name of EVM update Tk 10 billion has already been allotted to the Army subsidiary by the govt ahead of next general election.A news report says that another Army-subsidiary owes Tk 11 billion to a public bank that had lent to it to set up an edible oil plant. Govt refused to write-off the loan. Is there a trade-off? Meanwhile, many quasi-state and state organizations like NBR and Railway developed softwares that saved public money and show prospect for future export. There are also allegations of corruption and deception about one of the sponsors of BASIS Soft Expo took place in the past⁵.

As govt declared ICT sector one of the sectors where clandestine capital may find safe sanctuary , start-ups and ICT firms need to be careful about the opaque capital that may land in this sector. Often such investment only corrodes the industry and damage reputation. E-commerce industry is the burning example. Many international organized criminal groups may take advantage of such policy.

Local market,ICT education and addressing local problems should be at the heart of our ICT policy. Dependence on govt should be reduced.It is a bad idea that ICT target is solely fixated at foreign market. Our education, health,agriculture,textile and garments offer enough opportunities for the ICT sector to leap forward to another level.

Notes And References

1. "Bank Cholbe Deshi Software(Bank Will Run By Local Softwares)", Fakhrul Islam,Daily Prothom Alo,August 16,2020.For more read at https://tinyurl.com/acza9kx3
2. "Bangladesh's IT Export Surges Despite Global Slowdown",Mahmudul Hasan,Daily Star,February 23,2023. For more read at https://www.thedailystar.net/business/economy/news/bangladeshs-it-export-surges-despite-global-economic-crisis-3255011
3. "Sold In Cambodia: How Bangladeshis Are Lured Into Slavery", Masum Billah,The Business Standard,September 06,2022. For more read at https://www.tbsnews.net/features/panorama/sold-cambodia-how-bangladeshis-are-lured-slavery-490818
4. " The Govt Has So Far Made 600 Apps.How Many Actually Work?",Ariful Islam Mithu,The Business Standard,September 11,2022. For more read at https://www.tbsnews.net/features/panorama/government-has-so-far-made-more-600-apps-how-many-actually-work-493898
5. "RingId Embezzled Tk 212cr In Three Months",Daily Star,October 03,2021. For more read at https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/ringid-embezzled-tk-212cr-3-months-2189266

[Note:This piece has been updated by me at 9:00 am and 11:18 am Bangladesh Standard Time on March 06,2023.Updates include references to banking software and Bangladeshis working as slaves in Cambodian IT industry.]

Flaws In ICT Policy

Export market is the focus of ICT policy.
Job creation and investment remains unfulfilled prophecy.
Local market offers alley to prosper.
Tax social media to fill NBR coffer.

Two news stories laid bare debacle of digitization policies of the government. First one is about the state-of-the-art ICT center in Jessore, a far away district from the capital city of Dhaka. It was envisioned during the time of its conception that it would bring investment, create jobs for IT professionals. For the moment that goal has not yet been realized.Tk305 crore worth of infrastructure fetched Tk60 crore investment and generated employment of 1400 persons. It was expected to create jobs for 5000 persons. COVID-19 severely hampered operations of the IT firms. Many were forced to wind down their businesses due to lack of foreign orders. Its auditorium is being rented for holding marriage ceremonies. In a nutshell, the IT facility has failed to live up to its utility till to date.

The other story is about government's disappointment to get tax revenues from social media platforms. A recent high court ruling made it clear that these platforms have to pay taxes to the government on their earnings in the local market. However, government lacks tools to enforce them to obey tax rules. Ad revenues from social media platforms are on the rise. But government cannot monitor the ad earnings of the platforms. Even it is incapable of calculating the right taxes based on the earnings.

One of the major drawbacks of government's policy is that its reliance and too much importance attached to external market. Sheer success of readymade garments and textile industry guides the government to adopt policies to earn more dollars. But the truth is such policies miserably failed to diversify the export bucket, RMG still accounts two-third of export earnings, and to churn out adequate IT professionals.

Government instead should explore the domestic market. Addressing the challenges of domestic market should be the goal of our ICT policy. Areas are plenty: education, agriculture, health, manufacturing, transport and governance could offer alleys for the development of our ICT sector.

In one of my earlier pieces, I elaborated how applications aimed at elementary school students could facilitate learning process. Government policy should be directed towards nudging educational institutes and parents to use extensively these educational contents. Number of smartphone users is on the rise. Clearly such applications have wide base of users. All the government needs to do is to formulate policies in that end. Education alone offers enough opportunities for the growth of our ICT sector and can put it into a firm footing.

Health sector can also play a role in popping up the ICT sector. Just a year ago I wrote a piece where I underscored developing a homegrown medical scribing sector. Every day hundreds of thousands of handwritten prescriptions are generated across the country. If we were able to document them digitally, our policy makers and health professionals would have better understanding of our health sector. Real time data could plug in the holes in government spending, lay bare lack of equipments and medicines in health facility, track outbreak of seasonal diseases, health situation of a particular region. More importantly it will contribute creating a health database.

Knowledge on spreadsheet and high-school-level biology is enough to be a medical scriber. Thousands of students could work as medicato earn pocket money.

Similarly, thousands of general diary are being filed in the police station across the country. Ministry of Interior could outsource the task of creating a digital version of the diary. Law enforcement authorities will get data in short span of time when that database comes into effect. This will create opportunities for many outside data entry operator or firms.

There are many public offices that could offer ICT opportunities in stage-reducing and time-shortening processes of certain tasks. Apart from that government should encourage public offices to use homegrown word-processing and spreadsheet application, encrypted messaging services,statistical software, surveillance solution, billing system etc. This kind of policy change will lead the local firms to embark upon creating ICT solutions for local market. At the same time, government will have far greater control and understanding of ICT related changes and challenges that is encountering now over taxing the social media platforms.

It appears that government has little means to gauge ad revenues in the social media platforms. To keep a tab on the revenue generated in the social media, government can let the platforms open offices in Bangladesh and make it obligatory to make the ad payments through the country office.

Another way, a bit harsh, to get revenue from social media platforms is to impose fee on their use. Government can make it compulsory for citizens to pay a certain fee for the use of social media. Monthly or annual subscription can be offered. With valid NIDs , the fees can be paid to a government assigned number/outlet/bank. Mobile SIM or broadband subscription registered with that NID will be allowed to use social media.

Ignoring the local market, designing policies to capture foreign market will not bring the desired change.Grooming of IT professionals will not be what it was anticipated at the time decision was taken. It was one of the reasons mentioned by an outgoing investor in that news story. Searching areas in other sectors for potential growth could be the right way to develop the ICT industry and update government's IT capability.