Focus on single area to garner global IT boom, experts say

Md Jamal Uddin Bangladesh is set to raise its standing as the world's next IT frontier in view of its youth talent pool and cost advantage, local and foreign experts say. The government's initiative to host eAsia conference will help the country realise its potential in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector, they say. Ed Franklin, senior adviser at 'Virtustream,' a USA-based ICT firm, told the FE that given the present situation, the country should take appropriate step to reach its goal by boosting ICT use and learning from others. "You've the strength and capability to make software which can take the (IT) industry to its next level," Mr Franklin said. "What you need is just careful planning. You will be the leader in the ICT," he said Mr Franklin, who is involved with cloud computing business, said Bangladesh's ICT sector will move at a slower pace if it waits for the infrastructure development. He, however, put stress on using new technology for the development of ICT. "Cloud computing can act as alternative to the infrastructure development," he said. Franklin, who is now in Dhaka to attend the three-day conference, identified communication barrier and lack of channel creation are main the obstacles to the development of ICT sector. Mohammad Zaman, director of 'Virtustream,' said 'cloud computing' provides resources to be available any time for any duration and only pay for consume resources. Normally, software developer takes 6-9 months to develop software where such resources get in minutes by cloud computing. Mr Zaman suggested the government should create a channel using expertise, NRBs and build business through investment in sales and project programme management. At present, the country got international recognition and confidence as top 30 destinations for IT outsourcing and seventh in online freelance outsourcing jobs. Samsung set up a high-end R&D centre in Dhaka. The country could reach its goal through joint venture initiative, financial and technical investment, technology transfer, knowledge sharing and involvement of non-resident Bangladeshis. According to the data of Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS), the annual exports of Bangladesh software and ICT products amounted to US$ 250 million, with almost 200 enterprises are engaged in direct export or outsourcing. Business areas of the country are customised application, IT-enabled services, e-commerce, product development, mobile appcontent provider, system integration, R&D services, IT infrastructure and reseller. "But we need to concentrate on one areas instead of multiple fields to harness the benefits from the global IT boom," said Mr Zaman. Web development and design, mobile applications (games, VoIP platform), customised application Dev and maintenance and graphic design are IT enabled services and export destinations are 68.30 per cent in USA, 32.50 in UK, 20 in Canada, 18.30 in Australia, 15 in Denmark, 9.20 in Netherlands, 9.20 in Germany, 8.30 in India, 7.50 in Japan, 7.50 in UAE.