CA calls for rural people's access to info superhighway

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Chief Adviser (CA) Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed Thursday called for empowering the country's poor, disadvantaged and rural population through providing them with access to the information superhighway for building a prosperous Bangladesh, as the access opens up a window of unlimited opportunities on global arena, reports UNB.
He urged all the concerned to play the role as agents of change, which can usher in a new era in the country's forward march towards progress.
The CA made the call while formally inaugurating a 2-day launching programme on Mission 2011, organised at Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre by Bangladesh Telecentre Network (BTN).
The theme of Mission 2011 is 'Building a Sustainable ICT-based Information and Knowledge System for the Poor and Marginalised'. It aims to set up 40,000 tele-centres all over Bangladesh by 2011, raising the number from existing 800, the function was informed.
Tele-centre is a public place where people can access computers, internet and other technologies that would help them gather information and communicate with others at the same time as they develop digital skills.
Tele-centres exist in almost every country although they sometimes go by different names like village knowledge centre, info-centre, community technology centre, community multimedia centre, information kiosk. In Bangladesh tele-centres are called community multimedia centre, community information centre, rural knowledge centre and so on.
The tele-centres can help community members in different ways, like learning and developing skill, creating local content and capturing local knowledge, creating economic activities, providing access to physicians and other distant professionals, overcoming isolation, bridging the digital divide and reaching out to the youth.
Science and ICT Adviser Tapan Chowdhury, UNDP Resident Representative Renata L Desallien, BTRC Chairman Maj Gen (rtd) Manjurul Alam, Executive Committee Member of Global Knowledge Partnership and Fellow of India-based Sawminathan Research Foundation Prof Subbiah Arunachalam, and Senior Programme Officer of IDRC/telecentre.org Asia Region Dr Basheerhamad Shadrach also spoke at the function.
Bangladesh Telecentre Network Chairperson Abdul Muyeed Chowdhury presided over the inaugural session, and BRAC University Vice-Chancellor Prof Jamilur Reza Chowdhury presented the keynote. Distinguished researchers, IT experts, academics and tele-centre practitioners were also present on the occasion.
Addressing the function, the CA hoped that Mission 2011 would play a significant role in unleashing the immense power of ICT for the country's national development, and help achieve MDGs in the medium term and a poverty-free Bangladesh in the long run.
Highlighting immense prospects of the knowledge economy, he mentioned that India currently earns more than $50 billion annually from their software services alone.
Besides, e-governance programmes have brought about dramatic improvements in many countries of south Asia and south-east Asia as well as in the transition economies.
Dr Fakhruddin said, export earning from knowledge economy of Bangladesh is also growing, but it remained far behind its actual potential.
He said, the poor have an additional entry now to their list of deprivation. The better-off urban people are benefiting from the ICT-based new economy, but the poor, disadvantaged and rural populations do not have access to the information superhighway. "We need to remove the barrier, and empower these people by providing them with access to new technologies."
The CA said, a solution to this problem lies in a network of telecentres that would provide access and support to rural communities.
He expressed his confidence that the tele-cnetres will not only minimize the digital divide by improving access to technology but will also provide invaluable support through appropriate contents and advisory services in the livelihood struggles of a large number of the country's population.
He said, ICT can undoubtedly play a pivotal role in the country's development endeavours, and a well-planned and well-laid-out ICT network all over the country would speed up development on many fronts.
Quoting some contents of the National Strategy for Accelerated Poverty Reduction based on the PRSP, he said, the document admits that "policy attention to technology has not been robust and in pace with rapidly transforming social and economic demands."
It further said, "ICT represents a case of unrelated potential for Bangladesh. The relevance of ICT to the goal of accelerated poverty reduction is threefold -- first ICT as an employment frontier, secondly as a facilitator, and thirdly as a bridge for reducing the distance between the citizens, including the poor, and the state".