Accelerate digital transformation

Bangladesh should embrace technologies to counter the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic and accelerate digital transformation to make the country a developed nation, experts said yesterday.

They stressed digital transformation to run the socioeconomic activities in the changed, new-normal era, which has evolved due to the pandemic.

The opinion came at a webinar on "Accelerating Digital Transformation during Challenging Times", jointly organised by Grameenphone and The Daily Star to mark the World Telecommunication and Information Society Day.

The world has already witnessed the need for digital technology from all aspects to survive during the pandemic. Both the government and the private sector must come forward to have a strategy for a sustainable digital transformation, they said.

"Bangladesh has achieved phenomenal growth in the ICT sector in the last decade. Now we have to upskill the youth by collaborating with the stakeholders to harness the full potentiality of the digital world," said Mustafa Jabbar, minister for posts and telecommunications.

He said Bangladesh had proved that digital transformation was one of the principal vehicles to tackle crisis like Covid-19.

"Our telecommunication service providers and all other internet-based service providers are contributing a lot to run socioeconomic activities. We together have done a tremendous job so far."

"But we have a long way to go. If we work together, we will have a sustainable way out of this challenging time."

"This is the time for cooperation. This is the time to save people through digital innovations as we belong to a new world that does not permit physical interactions."

Shyam Sunder Sikder, chairman of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), said Bangladesh realised the significance of digitalisation long ago and benefited from it.

"It has become more evident during the pandemic, and our attention to digital transformation has also increased manifolds."

 The Connect 2030 Agenda of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and Bangladesh's Vision 2041 were aligned with each other, he said.

"We are committed to maximising the benefits of digital transformation in line with the Sustainable Development Goals. That's why we are facilitating the telecom companies so that uninterrupted service can be ensured."

With more than 10 crore mobile internet users, Bangladesh was on track to transforming the country digitally and becoming an inclusive society, said Sikder.

"As a connectivity partner to Digital Bangladesh, we have a key role in democratising technological dividend for people from all walks of life," said Solaiman Alam, acting CEO and chief digital and strategy officer at Grameenphone.

Grameenphone has celebrated 50 years of independence of Bangladesh by bringing 100 per cent of its network under high speed 4G coverage, he said.

"This type of access to connectivity will empower the youth greatly, and they will, in turn, shape our future. We need to ensure we are preparing them with the right tools and mindset." 

Atsuko Okuda, regional director at the ITU for Asia and the Pacific, delivered the keynote speech.

"Digital services are on the rise, but ministries and agencies are not necessarily coordinating with one another in the development and roll-out of digital services and related infrastructure. A whole-of-government approach is needed to foster synergies," said Okuda.

Syed Mohammad Kamal, country manager of Mastercard Bangladesh, said the use of cards in digital commerce was Tk 200 crore per month before the pandemic, and it rose to Tk 663 crore in March. In digital commerce, the overall contribution of digital payment was 15 per cent. It now stands at 37 per cent.

"In each case, we have moved ahead. We have adopted new technology. We believe that internet is playing a major role in this advancement. Smartphones play a big role in the change of digital transitions."

He recommended introducing a 5 per cent incentive on digital payments, lowering the tax on plastic card and point of sales imports, and bringing Facebook commerce to mainstream digital commerce.

"Infrastructure is necessary to speed up digitalisation, so it has to be ensured," said Selim R F Hussain, managing director and CEO of Brac Bank.

After the pandemic, the necessity of Digital Bangladesh was obvious to the people, he said, citing increasing digital transactions since the pandemic hit the nation.

"To create an ecosystem, the prices of digital products and services should be reduced."

The use of smartphones needs to be enhanced as Bangladesh lagged behind many countries in this aspect, the Brac Bank MD said.

"We need to invest in the digital ecosystem to connect SMEs to the digital trading system," Hussain said, adding that the government can give incentives to attract investment.

Syed Almas Kabir, president of the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services, pointed out the lack of adequate contents.

"Internet consumption will not grow if we can't generate our own content, especially in Bangla language."

He requested mobile phone operators to invest and build infrastructure so that contents were generated locally.

Bangladesh has not been able to take the full benefit of 4G, Kabir said. "Eliminating the digital divide is a must. Through the digital divide, we are doing injustice to the marginalised people."

He blamed the high transmission cost for the digital divide.

"In the last 12 years, the bandwidth cost has come down by a few hundred times, whereas the transmission cost has not reduced. We have to address this."

Mominul Islam, chief executive of IPDC Finance, said Bangladesh needed to think about how it could include the marginalised people in the financial system.

"The only thing that has come to the forefront of digital transformation is that we can easily reach out to the small and medium entrepreneurs at the rural level in a cost-effective way."

BTRC's Sikder said the country had made considerable strides in digital transformation.

Optical fibre now covers 1.25 lakh kilometres, and more than 90 per cent area is covered by mobile phone towers or base stations.

"However, the people are not getting the fruits of this infrastructural advancement. Because the mass people still can't afford 4G-enabled devices."

Okuda said with the exponential growth in the economy, telecommunication, information technology, and e-commerce, Bangladesh was already in a race to become one of the most dynamic developing economies.

"The coming few years will bring a deciding opportunity for Bangladesh to achieve better digital connectivity. The good news is Bangladesh is heading towards the government's Vision 2041 with 5G on the horizon."

Adnan Imtiaz Halim, CEO of Sheba.xyz, took part in the webinar. Khairul Basher, head of communications of Grameenphone, moderated the webinar.