It is encouraging to see the Bangladesh Computer Samity’s (BCS) confidence that the ICT sector can be developed to contribute over 2% of our overall GDP by 2018.
As heartening as it is to see Bangladesh’s fledgling ICT sector stepping up in the development of our economy, the haste that the government is showing in establishing a tier-4 data centre should be a cause for concern.
We believe the government needs to be more cautious before committing tax-payer funds to costly projects that risk becoming white elephants. Its rush to push ahead with the Bangabandhu-1 satellite project for instance, has rightly been questioned because it boosts capacity far beyond demand and relies on over-optimistic projections of rental income to be viable.
A proposal for the establishment of a tier-4 data centre in Gazipur is currently in the process of being finalised – a project that would massively increase the data-handling capacity of our ICT sector but which would cost the nation $154m (Tk1,200cr).
While the government’s ambition in this regard is admirable, the country already possesses a under-utilised tier-3 data centre that is not performing to its capacity.
The administration would be better advised to delay the tier-4 data centre project a few years for when there is more demand and computing data costs have come down.
In the meantime, the monies committed can be used more profitably to spread the benefits of ICT to the furthest corners of the country.
