Editorial
Mobile tech for development
Requires coordinated effort of public and private sectors
That mobile technology can and should be used for more than personal communication came out loud and clear at a roundtable entitled, “Turning the Future: Mobile Services and its impact on Health and Development Sectors in Bangladesh†held in the capital on Saturday. The focus was however, on the health sector, drawing lessons from the tremendous contribution it has made in the life of the farmers in Bangladesh
Interestingly, more than 65 percent of the people in this country use mobile sets, and in this regard Bangladesh is eleventh in the world in terms of mobile telephone density, i.e. percentage of population using mobile communication. Given that, mobile technology can come in good use in the field of health service, in particular, it can help take health service to people's doorstep, by way of informing them as to where and how to get the required medical advice and attention.
However, this would require addressing a few problematic areas.
Firstly, given the level of literacy it would help if messages were delivered through voice call rather than sms. And we understand that the facility would soon be ready and running. But there is need also to develop technology where one could send text message in Bangla.
It needs little emphasis that whatever technology we employ not only should it be affordable it must also be appropriate and user friendly for the rural populace, for whom the programme is primarily meant, keeping the average literacy rate in view.
The programme would require interface of public and private sector investment and a robust infrastructure equitably spread over the country. But above all, there is need for a comprehensive awareness programme to make people aware that there are indeed such facilities on offer, and in this regard the media have an important role to fulfil.
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