An Overview of ICT and OSS in Bangladesh

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An Overview of ICT and OSS in Bangladesh

• Presentation
• by
• Sayeed Rahman
• Founder of BANGLA IT
• at
• 3rd Asia Open Source Software
• Symposium, Hanoi Vietnam
• March, 2004
• http//www.banglait.org

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Outline of Presentation

• The need for ICT in Bangladesh
• Background development of ICT in Bangladesh
• Overview of Bangladesh Economy
• The need for OSS in Bangladesh
• Present Position of OSS in Bangladesh
• Present position of ICT in Bangladesh
• Future Plan for OSS in Bangladesh

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The need for ICT in Bangladesh

• ICT plays an indispensable role in promoting
  openness, accessibility,accountability,
  connectivity, democracy and decentralization- all
  the soft qualities so essential for effective
  social, economic, and political development.
• Bangladesh needs the capacity to network with
  people, ideas and initiatives. This is as
  critical and fundamental to nation building as
  water, agriculture, health and housing, and
  without it, Bangladeshs democracy could founder.

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Background development of ICT in Bangladesh

• Computer use started back in 1964 by Atomic
  Energy Center, Dhaka and Universities, first main
  frame computer came to Bangladesh in 1964
• The Internet came late in Bangladesh, with UUCP
  e-mail beginning in 1993 and IP connectivity in
  1996 . By July 1997 there were an estimated 5,500
  IP and UUCP accounts. Source http//www.c2o.org/r
  eports/Report_PAN_Asia_Networking.pdf
• In June, 1996 the government decided to allow
  private companies to act as Internet Services
  Providers (ISPs) using VSATs.
• In June 1997, the Government of Bangladesh
  appointed a Committee to look into the problems
  and prospects of export of software from
  Bangladesh. The Committee submitted its report in
  September, 1997.
• http//www.sdnbd.org/sdi/issues/IT-computer
  /expartsoft-report.htm
• The government has taken a decision on June, 1998
  to withdraw all import duties and VAT from all
  computer hardware and software. This has brought
  the prices of computers down to a level
  affordable by middle income households

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Overview of Bangladesh Economy

• Population 146.7 million (UN, 2003)
• Area Total 144,000 sq km
• Purchasing Power Parity 1,800 (2002 est.)
• Average annual income US 360 (World Bank, 2001)
• GDP - real growth rate 5.6 (2001 est.)
• Population below poverty line 36
• Unemployment rate 35 (2001 est.)
• Literacy Rate Total 41 (2001)
• Exports 6.6 billion (2001)
• Imports 8.7 billion (2001)
• Internet domain .bd
• International dialling code 880

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The need for OSS in Bangladesh

• Open source is especially appealing to developing
  countries such as Bangladesh, which see it as a
  way to help close the technological divide that
  separates rich and poor nations
• Microsoft Windows and Office cost at least 140
  in Bangladesh -- way out of reach for most
  people, where the per capita annual income is
  roughly 380.
• The economic logic of using software that's free
  is hard to resist, and more and more countries
  seem willing to take a chance on it. China, Japan
  and South Korea recently announced that they will
  work together to develop an open-source
  alternative to Microsoft
• The OSS is Bangladeshs solution to software
  piracy, a rampant problem that threatens to
  derail the country's economic aspirations.

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Present Position of OSS in Bangladesh

• Mostly all 50 Software Developing Houses in
  Bangladesh uses OSS like MySQL database server,
  PHP, Perl, Apache web server
• More than 25 of Total 21 Public and 51 Private
  Universities which producing 6000 ICT related
  graduate every year in Bangladesh uses OSS.
  Bangladesh University of Engineering and
  Technologys Institute of Information and
  Communication Technology (IICT) taking leading
  role to Promote OSS among Academia and Industry
  with BANGLA IT joint initiative
• Different Universities taking initiative for
  Extensive use of OSS
• More than 50 Government Ministry offices uses
  OSS like Linux Operating System and MySQL
  databases

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Present Position of OSS in Bangladesh

• Total ISP in Bangladesh now operating 62.
  Initially few ISPs started to move to Linux.
  Currently 90 ISPs in Bangladesh are dependent
  on OSS like Linux, Apache, PHP, MySQL, SendMail
  etc.
• Bangladeshi ISPs are the pioneer in adopting
  OSS
• Linux, PHP, MySQL are the most used OSS in
  Bangladesh

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Present position of ICT in Bangladesh

• BANGLADESH ICT INDICATOR   Source BANGLA IT
  Research as of JAN-2004
• Telecom Infrastructure in Bangladesh
• 850,000 fixed lines Operated by BTTB- (Government
  monopoly).Next five yrs demand for fixed lines
  will be 3.5 million and experts think BTTB will
  be unable to deliver.
• 1.8 million Mobile Phones- Operated by Four
  Company Bangladesh is a market now for 13
  million Mobile Phones.Grameen- Current
  subscriber base of GP is 1 million while it has
  coverage in 52 districts including all six
  divisional headquarters.GrameenPhone connections
  would stand at 2 million by 2004.
• 32,000 Village phones are in operation in 52
  districts, 50,000 Bangladeshi women making living
  as Grameen phone ladies.

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Present position of ICT in Bangladesh

• Internet in Bangladesh
• Total ISP 62Internet User 2 millionDial-Up
  subscriber accounts 250,000 Broadband
  subscribers accounts 150,000While over half of
  UK households are online, only 0.2 of homes in
  Bangladesh are online
• Internet Access Charge went down to .20 paisa/min
  (28am)
• Tk 3000 about 50 for Unlimited Access
• Broadband-64kbs Tk 10,000/month, 128kbs Tk
  22,000/month
• 512 Kbps Tk 96,000/month Source Grameen
  Cybernet

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Global Information Superhighway

• Submarine Cable connection to Global Information
  Superhighway(SEA-ME-WE-4) will be ready for
  service in 2005. It will be built using DWDM
  (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplex) technology
  with 1.28 terabits per second speed

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Present position of ICT in Bangladesh

• ICT Education and Training in Bangladesh
• Total number of ICT related graduate every year
  Bangladesh producing now about 6000 from 21
  Public and 51 Private Universities.
• More than 100 IT Training Center providing
  Diploma and Training in IT.
• A large number of Bangladeshi students are
  studying overseas in Computer related subjects,
  mainly in India.

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BANGLA IT Future Plans for OSS in Bangladesh

• BANGLA IT is trying to make awareness and
  advocacy for OSS in Government and Corporate
  level in Bangladesh
• BANGLA IT pushing for OSS in Educational
  Institutions
• Open Source Project Competition in Bangladesh
• BANGLA IT has a Plan to arrange a International
  Open Source Conference in December 2005 and
  National Open Source Convention in December 2004

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BANGLADESH FLAG