The government has taken a youth and start-up focused approach to encourage the impressive growth of the country's Information Technology (IT) industry and achieve the goal of becoming a “Smart Bangladesh” by 2041.
According to data from the United Nations conference on trade and development, the IT and Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES) industry of the country has grown by 40% annually since 2010.
One of several initiatives being implemented to expand use of IT in education is the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) “School of Future” project, an extension of the Sheikh Russel Digital lab project-2021. Under the project, digital record service ClassTune has been implemented at more than 300 schools across the country.
Furthermore, the IT industry is enjoying tax holiday facilities till 2024 to encourage investment. There is also a 10% cash incentive for foreign investors.
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Moreover, the government is providing project equity facilities for ICT start-ups, and also financial support to the mid- and top-level industries in the sector.
The government has also established an ICT national task force and ICT incubation centres alongside 39 Hi-Tech, software and IT parks.
Government has plans to implement over 1,100 software applications in various areas, as well as to train more than 650,000 registered freelancers. As much as 16% of total global freelancers are already from Bangladesh.
The government and private sector are also working together on some projects, including the Learning and Earning Development project (LEDP) and the Top-up IT training program covering 10,000 IT and science graduates, the ITES foundations skill program targeting 20,000 non-science graduates, and training activities by the BASIS institute of technology and management (BITM) with support from World Bank.
The BITM has trained 50,000 students, so far.
Bangladeshi software hits global IT markets
Local software products have been making a name both at home and abroad, particularly gaining popularity in Japan, the UK, USA, India and Europe.
According to BASIS, the country's main export destinations are the USA with three million clients, European countries with 1.5 million, the UK with 1 million, and Japan with 850,000 clients.
Around 30 Bangladeshi software companies, including Tiger IT, DataSoft, Dohatec, eGeneration, REVE Systems, and Southtech, have already set up offices in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Malaysia, Japan, the UK, the US and various African countries.
Local software firms export to around 60 countries across the globe, making Bangladesh a major source of quality software products.
According to BASIS, Japan and the UAE are currently the focus of Bangladesh's exports.
Around 300 local top software companies are trying their best to grab shares of the country's software market. Local firms hold 75% of Bangladesh's software market, and the remaining 25% is held by foreign firms.
Among the companies, Data Soft now exports IT services to countries like the Netherlands, Norway, Finland, England, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the EU, the USA, and Saudi Arabia.
Another IT firm, Reve Systems, marketed its first antivirus software in 2017. Now it has started exporting to India and plans to reach Nepal, Tanzania, Kenya, Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova in the near future.
The BASIS is also looking to expand its outreach in Austria, Slovakia, and Hungary.
Software quality
Software specialist Prof Dr Md Mostofa Akbar said: “Software quality typically depends on software domain, product type including effectiveness, satisfaction, safety and usability. But our entrepreneurs are doing good in this sector. We should support them technically and financially.”
A modern software testing centre is being set up at IDB Bhaban in Dhaka. The testing centre aims to verify and validate software systems in government offices, to create awareness and elevate the software testing industry in the country and build resources to support desired growth in the software testing arena.
Outsourcing
Freelancers have been a major player in turning Bangladesh into an IT hub through outsourcing services. According to the UK based Online Labour Index (OLI) under the Oxford Internet Institute, since the beginning of global online freelancing, countries like India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan have been popular digital outsourcing locations because of their workforces' strong English language and tech skills.
The OLI 2020 reveals that the share of workers from the Indian subcontinent has only grown over the past five years.
Bangladesh now contributes 10% to 15 % of all outsourced online workers, second most after India.
Infrastructure and other challenges
While the software sector is growing explosively, there remains a number of challenges: lack of proper planning to train human resources, insufficient infrastructure and country branding are some of the major challenges.
Industry insiders said the government should focus on making organized skill manpower and to set up a high-tech city, in addition to high-tech parks, to serve as examples of the country's IT industry.
However, a high-level source of the government told Dhaka Tribune the government has already directed to stop extending hi-tech park projects.
BASIS President Russell T Ahmed told this reporter: “We have already proposed that the government focus on training manpower from the school to university level, and to modify the syllabus of the educational institution to cater to the growing demand in this sector.
“Moreover, we need proper and effective steps for international branding to sell products to global clients."
BASIS' goals to boost ICT industry
BASIS was established in 1997 and the country now has nearly 3,000 IT and software firms catering to an estimated market size of Tk9,000 crore per annum, according to a BASIS insider.
Among the firms, 2,2092 companies who are members of the association cater to around two-thirds of the market.
As part of the government policy implementation platform, the association has set seven goals to achieve a “SMART Bangladesh” by 2041.
The goals are: training skilled human resources, developing the domestic market, increasing foreign markets, contributing more to GDP, creating a thriving ecosystem for startups, formulating policies to help grow intangible assets, and promoting overall industry.
BASIS is also working on a forum for people with disabilities so that they can play a role in and add value to the IT sector.
It is also working on energy conservation, producing software tools for renewable energy producing plants, and is also looking into e-waste management and recycling.
Every year, BASIS organizes a software expo which is one of the largest expos in South Asia, to boost the ICT industry and showcase its capacity nationally and globally.
This year, the association organized the 17th BASIS Softexpo-2023 from February 23-26, where around 300 local and international exhibitors, around 500,000 visitors, 200 national and international speakers, policymakers participated in 40 seminars, roundtable, tech session and around 100 B2B meetings.
