BANGLA IT

Bangladesh will start issuing licences for Call Center in April

2008-03-19T20:48:00.000-07:00

Bangladesh will start issuing licences for Call Center in April
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Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission will start issuing licences for call centres in April, the commission's chairman said on March 19. The proposals came at the ''Public Hearing on Call Centre Licensing'' organised by the Commission at Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre Wednesday morning.

As a follow-up to Public Consultation on the Proposed Licensing Guidelines for Call Centre, BTRC invited the general public and call-center enthusiasts to attend the public hearing where the proposed Licensing Guidelines, and terms and conditions were discussed openly.

"We will publish the guidelines for call centres next week and start receiving applications from the first week of April," said BTRC chairman Major General (Retd) Manjurul Alam. "There is no category for getting the call-centre license. Any good citizen having trade license can apply for the license," BTRC chairman Alam told journalists at the break of the daylong public hearing.

BTRC would provide the license as long as there would be the market demand, he said, adding that there is no condition for getting the license at this moment. Anyone could get the license at a cost of Tk 5,000 for five years, which was proposed Tk 50,000 earlier, and no renewal fee for the license.
"The advertisement for applying for the license will be circulated on the BTRC website from the first week of April and also go on television and radio. Meanwhile, we''ll revise the proposed licensing guidelines for call centre based on the suggestions of the public hearing," Alam said.

According to the guidelines, call centres in Dhaka and Chittagong will get revenue-sharing holiday for a period of three years and, for other parts of the country, the holiday period will be for five years. On completion of the holiday period, the licence holders will have to share 0.5 per cent revenues with the BTRC every year.

BTRC said the licence fees for five years will be taka five thousand and there will be no renewal charge. Maximum 40 per cent foreign investment (FI) will be allowed for hosted call centre service providers, BTRC officials said at the public hearing.

They further said in the first year of its operation, a centre will be free to employ as many as foreign employees it needed, but thereafter the number of foreign employees in a call centre or hosted call centre service provider must not constitute more than 10 per cent of its total manpower.

There will be two types of call centre licences—licence for domestic call centre services and licence for international call centre services.

The licences will be in three categories for both national and international services, such as hosted call centre services provider, hosted call centre licence and call centre licence.

Up to 40 percent foreign investment will be allowed to set up a hosted call centre services provider but 25 percent for others.

As the BTRC is proposing for the entrepreneurs to use IPLC (International Private Leased Circuit) for operating the call centres initially, the participants of the public hearing found it much expensive and asked the BTRC to look into the matter.
Responding to the remarks, chairman Alam said the BTTB has discounted 25 percent bandwidth charge for IPLC to facilitate the promising call centre industry.

"If needed, the BTRC will request the BTTB to reduce it more," he said, adding that the BTTB would also be requested to reduce the license fee of VSAT, as the call-centre entrepreneurs would also need it.
To facilitate the industry, the BTRC is to take step for establishing a second submarine cable at the end of this month, Alam said, expecting that the submarine cable would start in next one year at the maximum.
Speaking to the journalists, he said the BTRC is planning to arrange a call-centre fair in the country after formally inaugurating the industry on a large scale.
"Organisations concerned and clients will be invited to visit the industry here in the fair, like it was done recently in the Philippines," he said.

A call centre or call center From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_centre

Free Webinars:Earn FREE Professional Development Unit -17 PDU- for PMP Exam

2008-03-14T22:56:00.000-07:00

Free Webinar on May 15th: Register Now Earn One PDU for Attending!

Managing the Gray Areas Webinar by Jerry Manas—Only 1,000 Seats Available

Are you a leader of people, projects or organizations? Do you believe that true leadership is about understanding and managing complexities, and NOT about taking black-and-white approaches to problems? If so, you need to register for this special one-hour live Webinar by best-selling Project Management and Leadership author Jerry Manas.

During his presentation, Jerry will touch on topics such as principles, values, ethics, decision-making, incentives, staffing, critical thinking, and communication—pulling ideas from a wide variety of knowledge areas. His presentation will explore typical challenges that many leaders of people, projects and organizations struggle with—and offer a set of guidelines, principles, and tools that can help navigate these murky waters.

Registration for this special event is free, and will be limited to the first 1,000 registrants. Additionally, this event will be registered with the Project Management Institute (PMI®), and attendees who currently hold a project management certification will receive one (1) Professional Development Unit (PDU) for their attendance. Click Here to Register for this Special Event Today!

URL:http://www.rmcproject.com/webinar/webinar-grayareas.aspx

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Free Professional Development Unit -PDU - for your PMP Exam

In Bangladesh all new PMI Members need this for PMP Exam, so don't miss it!

Regards
Sayeed Rahman
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Source: http://www.iil.com/webinars

Free Webinars
Are you interested in IIL's virtual classroom eLearning courses but want to know more before you register for a class? Need an extra PDU or two to maintain your PMP certification? Sign-up now for a free 1-hour webinar!
Free Virtual Classes: (1-hour webinars)
Our free 1-hour virtual classes are designed to familiarize you with the learning topics as well as give you an introduction to our virtual classroom environment. In addition, most of these free webinars earn 1 PDU each!

Overview: Microsoft Office Project and Project Server 2007 Certifications (1 PDU) New!
Leading Cross Cultural Virtual Teams (1 PDU) New!
Project Estimating and Scheduling for Utility Companies (1 PDU) New!
PMP® Prep Overview (No Credit)
Managing Multiple Projects Overview (1 PDU)
Project Management Methodology (1 PDU)
Benefits of Becoming a Six Sigma Green Belt (1 PDU)
The Zen of Project Management (1 PDU)
Microsoft® Excel Tips and Tricks (1 PDU)
Organizational Project Management Maturity Model (OPM3®):
An Overview of Purpose and Benefits (1 PDU)
Improving Results with Six Sigma (1 PDU)
Successfully Integrating Project Management and Six Sigma (1 PDU)
Microsoft® Office Project 2007: New Features and Benefits (1 PDU)
The Power of Acknowledgment (1 PDU)
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Utilizing Business Analysis for PM Success (1 PDU)
Project Server and Project Web Access 2007:
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Click here to sign up now for a free webinar!**

**Due to the popularity of our free webinars, seats fill up quickly to capacity and must be closed to further registration. When a webinar has been closed it will not appear as an option in the drop down menu from the sign-up page.

New webinar dates are scheduled daily so please check back often if the webinar you wish to attend is not currently available.

Bangladesh adds 2.05 mln mobile phone users in one month

2008-03-08T19:21:00.000-08:00

Bangladesh adds 2.05 mln mobile phone users in one month
Bangladesh's six mobile phone carriers added 2.05 million new subscribers in January, 2008, taking the total number of mobile user to 36.42 million in the one of the world's fastest growing mobile market, according to Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission data.

The total number of Mobile Phone Subscribers has reached 36.42 million at the end of January 2008.

You can access full report at the following url:

http://www.groundreport.com/US/Bangladesh-Adds-2-Million-Cell-Phone-Users

Bangladesh IT Sector Companies in Dhaka Stock Exchange & Performance Evaluation

2008-03-08T19:19:00.000-08:00

Only the following companies are listed in Dhaka Stock Exchange

Now it's time to evaluate their performance, in reality out of these seven listed companies only four are active in business by name. Our Bangladeshi ICT Journalists friends should investigate further how these companies are performing since inception, and what type of impact they are creating in Bangladesh IT Sector.

AGNISYSL( Agni Sytems Ltd. )
BDCOM( BDCOM Online Ltd. )
BDONLINE( Bangladesh Online )
DAFODILCOM( Daffodil Computers Ltd. )
INTECH( In Tech Online Ltd. )
ISNLTD( Information Services Network )
RASPITDATA( Raspit Data Management )

Cellphone Jammers for Bangladesh Jails

2008-02-29T18:14:00.000-08:00

Cellphone Jammers for Bangladesh Jails to stop widespread use by high profile inmates.

Following detection of quite widespread use of mobile phones by prisoners in violation of the jail code, the Bangladesh government decided to install cellphone jammers at all 67 prisons across the country. Recently Jail authority seized a few mobile phones from prisoners, which they had been using while in jail.

One low range cellphone jammer has already been installed at Dhaka Central Jail experimentally about 15 days ago. In the first phase, the jammers will be installed at all 12 central jails, and the rest of the jails will get them gradually.

Recently, newspapers published reports with corroborations from jail authorities that many high profile prisoners, detained in the ongoing anti-graft drive, have been using mobile phones coordinating their political, professional, and other activities outside from jails.The jail authorities already took punitive actions against at least 10 high profile prisoners for using cellphones in prisons violating the jail code.

Imprisoned former ministers Air Vice-marshal (retd) Altaf Hossain Chowdhury and Barrister Nazmul Huda, and former state minister Aman Ullah Aman were shifted to Narayanganj Jail punitively for using mobile phones in Dhaka Central Jail.

Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury, political adviser to former prime minister Khaleda Zia, was sent to Sylhet Jail punitively from Kashimpur Jail, and former housing minister Mirza Abbas was sent back to Dhaka Central Jail from Apollo Hospital for same reasons.

The jail authorities also seized mobile phones from possessions of imprisoned former state minister Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, Sigma Huda, wife of Nazmul Huda, Sabera Aman, wife of Aman Ullah Aman, and Khusnud Lobi, wife of former lawmaker Ali Asgar Lobi.
The cellphone jammers will be purchased from abroad through tenders.

Bangladesh Total Land Phone Subscribers 1.2 mln as of Dec-07

2008-01-27T17:27:00.000-08:00

Bangladesh Total Land Phone Subscribers 1.2 mln as of Dec-07
BANGLA IT News:

RanksTel, the largest private PSTN operator in the country with over one lakh subscribers.The officials of the private land phone operators said growth is increasing now. The subscription base of the private land phones reached around near 2 lakh in 2007.

In recent days, the private land phone companies have started growing to challenge the state-run Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB) that has over 10 lakh land phone customers across the country.

In the face of the growing competitions, the BTTB reduced phone connection fees twice in the last 18 months.

At present, 5 private companies offer land phone services across the country.

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Bangladesh Total Mobilephone Subscribers 34.37 mln as of Dec-07
BANGLA IT News:

According to the BTRC http://www.btrc.gov.bd, the number of mobile phone subscriber increased by 58 percent to 34.37 million in December 2007 from 21.77 million a year earlier

Total number of mobile phone subscribers of Bangladesh's six network operators has reached 34.37 million at the end of December 2007.

That compares to 33.10 million at the end of November, according to the latest update from the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission.

Bangladesh Total Mobile phone Subscribers as of Dec-07
Grameenphone subscribers 16.48 million
Banglalink subscribers 7.08 million
AKTEL subscribers 6.40 million
Warid Telecom subscribers 2.15 million
CityCell subscribers 1.41 million
Teletalk subscribers 0.85 million

Bangladesh Total Mobilephone Subscribers 34.37 mln as of Dec-07

2008-01-22T20:24:00.000-08:00

Bangladesh Total Mobilephone Subscribers 34.37 mln as of Dec-07

BANGLA IT News:

According to the BTRC http://www.btrc.gov.bd, the number of mobile phone subscriber increased by 58 percent to 34.37 million in December 2007 from 21.77 million a year earlier

Total number of mobile phone subscribers of Bangladesh's six network operators has reached 34.37 million at the end of December 2007.

That compares to 33.10 million at the end of November, according to the latest update from the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission.

Bangladesh Total Mobile phone Subscribers as of Dec-07
Grameenphone subscribers 16.48 million
Banglalink subscribers 7.08 million
AKTEL subscribers 6.40 million
Warid Telecom subscribers 2.15 million
CityCell subscribers 1.41 million
Teletalk subscribers 0.85 million

Tiger IT Awarded a follow-on contract for Bangladesh ID & Transparency

2007-12-01T12:41:00.000-08:00

Reference:
Transparency for National ID Card Project in Bangladesh & IT Vendor Selection

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bangla_ict/message/5058

BIO-key, Tiger IT Awarded a follow-on contract for Bangladesh ID

This solution is being used to prepare voter rolls and issue national ID cards in preparation for Bangladesh's general elections to be held in 2008.

The initial implementation of the solution has successfully registered and issued national ID cards for nearly 5 million people and demonstrated the creation of local voter rolls for the election.

The registration process, which is designed to be convenient for citizens, incorporates a timesaving pre-registration step as well as scheduled appointment times to enroll each citizen's biometric information including photograph, four fingerprints and signature. The biometric enrollment process takes about 5 to 6 minutes per person.

"Tiger IT's implementation of WEB-key(R) performed above expectations. Operating at more than 1 million matches per second on a single processor, it accurately identified duplicate registrations," said Ziaur Rahman, Managing Director of Tiger
IT.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bangla_ict/message/5247

Truth about Bangladeshi NGOs - visibly absent in relief operation

2007-11-26T20:44:00.000-08:00

Truth about Bangladeshi NGOs -visibly absent in relief operation

Journalists on the ground reported that the cyclone survivors were shocked at the absence of the NGO's (local development agencies) in rescue and relief operations although they brought foreign donations and grants in the name of the poor, the most affected by the severe storm, which shattered 12 districts and struck 34 of the country's 64 districts.

Bangladesh has the highest number of NGO's in the world, according to an estimate 47,182 of them all, operating with the pledge to bring about changes to the lot of the poor men and women. Of them 45,026 are registered with the Ministry of Social Welfare while, 2,156 with the NGO Bureau. Those registered with NGO Bureau are apparently big organisations and receive foreign funds as grants on a regular basis.

An updated government document shows-foreign grant receiving NGOs received a total of US 211,44,36,800.43 dollars or Tk 14,589,61,39,229.67 till October 31 of the current financial year from 2000-2001 fiscal through the NGO Bureau. The money received by these organisations through unofficial channel during the same period should be double the fund released through the NGO Bureau channel.

According to another report published by a widely read vernacular daily, these NGOs received through unofficial channel US 7,500 crore dollars and US 3,476 crore dollars from 1993 to 2002, which together stands at Tk 1,80,000 crore.
Although there is no exact figure of the total workforce engaged in the NGO sector, it is presumed that about 4,50,000 people are involved with 47,182 or more NGOs operating in every nook and corner of the Republic.

Only a handful of NGOs have so far engaged themselves in relief work till the severe cyclone hit the country from November 15 evening to November 16 morning with a wind speed from 185 kmph to 240 kmph and whipping up 15 to 20 feet tidal surge in some areas of the four worst hit districts.

Most of those participating in relief activities are doing a face saving job and trying to have more press coverage than concentrating on the relief they were engaged in, journalists in the affected areas report.

An economist said the NGOs have to respond to the call of the distressed humanity with utmost sincerity since they receive funds from donors in the name of these people.

Had the NGOs engaged 10 per cent of their workforce in relief work, the number of volunteers from the sector alone would be something around 45,000, he said, adding that the NGO participation in relief activities was near to nil during the two successive floods, which inundated 40 per cent of the country this year.

List of 96 Dhaka University Teachers-who owe Tk 1.69 crore

2007-11-23T21:25:00.000-08:00

According to the university rules, an eligible teacher can go abroad for higher education with up to four years' study leave. During the study leave, he or she is entitled to receive salary and other allowances from the university.

Sources said the defaulters each had signed a bond before taking the loan that they would pay the money back if they decided to stay abroad.

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Reference Check

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bangla_ict/message/5183

http://banglait.blogspot.com/2007/11/list-of-shameless-dhaka-university.html
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From http://www.univdhaka.edu/newsDetail.php?newsid=144

LSU helps Bangladesh save lives by supercomputing capabilities

2007-11-23T21:13:00.000-08:00

Supercomputing online reports about how LSU's Shell Coastal Environmental Modelling Laboratory (CEML) gave access to CEML's supercomputing capabilities when Cyclone Sidr hit so that they could create storm surge models. These were given to Bangladesh emergency officials before Sidr made land, the storm surge maps were so detailed that they helped save countless lives.

Early on the morning of Nov. 16, Cyclone Sidr hit Bangladesh and showed no mercy. The death toll continues to rise even today. Hundreds of thousands of people were left homeless. But, nearly 24 hours in advance of the storm, Hassan Mashriqui, assistant extension professor of coastal engineering with LSU, the LSU AgCenter and the Louisiana Sea Grant College Program, gave Bangladesh emergency officials storm surge maps so detailed that area agencies were able to take action, saving countless lives. The following day, Mashriqui went to Tampa, Fla., to give a lecture at a hurricane conference. It was from his hotel room that he was able to access the LSU supercomputing network and run the first model. What he saw sent him scrambling to contact Bangladesh officials.

"These models are incredibly accurate and highly detailed," Mashriqui said. "You can pinpoint events down to small counties and towns. We were looking at a 10 – 12 foot storm surge that would devastate anything in its path."

Source: http://insidehpc.com/2007/11/23/lsu-helps-bangladesh-save-lives/

Truth about Bangladesh Coal Mine Royalty rates & Asia Energy Pleasure Trip for Journalists

2007-11-18T10:24:00.000-08:00

A BANGLA IT Report:

Extraction of Phulbari coal adopting open-pit mining method is the main focus, but we are not talking about how much Bangladesh will miss in royalty.

My request to all Bangladeshi Citizens and Journalist by giving example of It's the economy, stupid was a phrase in American politics widely used during Bill Clinton's successful 1992 presidential campaign against George H.W. Bush. So think about "The Economy"

In the existing rule there is a provision for fixing 5-6 per cent royalty for Bangladesh government while the last draft coal policy cited about 16-17 per cent royalty.

Our next door West Bengal, which levies a cess of around 25 per cent on coal produced in that State.

Reference:
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2002/07/31/stories/2002073101821100.htm

Adopt a provision for leasing out coal fields through competitive bidding process and selecting the bidder who will give the highest and best proposal in terms of royalty and technicality.

Don't forget protests erupted prviously across Bangladesh over Asia Energy plan to develop a coal mine, a day after six people were killed in police firing during a demonstration.

Subject:Asia Energy's pleasure trip for journalists from New Nation 08/02/07

As a last effort to obtain green signal from the government over the Phulbari Coalfield issue the Asia Energy Corporation (Bangladesh) Pty Ltd has organised a pleasure trip for some journalists who report on energy issues to entice them to write in favour of the company.

Some 7 to 8 reporters will leave Dhaka for Frankfurt on August 4 for a four-day trip led by Asia Energy's Media and Communication specialist Mahmud Hafiz, a former energy reporter of a vernacular daily.

During the trip Bangladeshi journalists will visit the coal plants of the Rheinisch-westfalisches Elektrizitatswerk AG (RWE AG), a German based coal extracting and electricity producing company. Asia Energy will sponsor the expenses of the trip.

One of the members of the trip yesterday said, " It seems that Asia Energy is geting the green signal from the government immediately. Energy Secretary and other high officials of the government are in favour of the company."

The government cancelled the coal exploration deal with the Asia Energy following a mass demonstration in Phulbari, Dinajpur where scores of people died as the law enforcing agencies opened fire.

Most of the citizens in the country opposed the deal with the Asia Energy, as country's interest was not saved in the agreement

The government expert commitee on Phulbari Coalmine project finally suggested the government not to sign further deal with the Asia Energy saying the agreement of mine exploration was signed illegally in terms of royalty.

Redundancy-Bangladesh Submarine cable link sabotaged again

2007-11-13T19:28:00.000-08:00

November 13, 2007

Bangladesh on Tuesday launched an investigation after the country's Internet link was sabotaged, disrupting communications nationwide for 15 hours. This disruption deprives the BTTB of revenue of 70,000 US dollars per hour. Internet and overseas telephone call services had been disrupted for 15 hours from early Tuesday as the telephone board's Dhaka-Chittagong–Cox's Bazar fibre-optic link with the submarine cable was snapped at two points near Cox's Bazar and Feni.
Since installation of Submarine cable in 2006, this is the 22nd case of disruption and second in same week. The cable was snapped at Sitakunda, 42km off Chittagong at 1:36am and at Joaria, 19km off Cox's Bazar, at 5:30am, said Ziaur Rashid Safdar, security and surveillance general manager of the Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board.
According to a BTTB document, the cable has been cut for 22 times since its inauguration on May 21, 2006.
The document said seven of such incidents were acts of sabotage. In eight cases, the cut resulted from works by other agencies. Only two incidents of cable cut resulted from theft.
There is practically no resale value of this optical fibre cable. There is no copper or iron in it. Then why would anyone dig up the earth deep in the night to steal 140 metres of cable?" asks a BTTB official. The optical fibre line connects Dhaka to the Cox's Bazar's submarine cable's landing station and connect Bangladesh to the Information Superhighway. It serves as the backbone of international communication, while satellite services act as backup with limited bandwidth.

Contrast this with Sri Lanka and Pakistan, which have had problems only once each in the past five years. Redundancy is a key question for Bangladesh and BTTB.

List of Shameless Dhaka University Teachers- as 102 vanished abroad with Tk 1.8crore

2007-11-13T16:54:00.000-08:00

Reference Check http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bangla_ict/message/5183

As many as 102 DU teachers who went abroad on study leave owe Tk 1.80 crore to the university as they have never returned or repaid the loan taken before leaving the country for higher studies.

According to the university rules, an eligible teacher can go abroad for higher education with up to four years' study leave. During the study leave, he or she is entitled to receive salary and other allowances from the university.

Sources said the defaulters each had signed a bond before taking the loan that they would pay the money back if they decided to stay abroad.

Sources said 71 of these teachers are from the science faculties, five from the Arts faculty, 14 from Social Science faculty, two from the Law faculty, nine from Business Studies faculty and four from the Institute of Business Studies.

Among the defaulters, three are professors, 66 lecturers and the rest are assistant professors, university sources said.

Of the teachers of sciences faculties, 10 are from biochemistry and molecular biology department, nine each from applied physics and electronics, and chemistry departments, one from mathematics, five from physics, three from applied chemistry, four from applied chemistry and chemical technology, one from computer science and engineering, five from geography and environment, three from geology, five from statistics, two from applied statistics, six from microbiology, five from psychology and one from soil, water and environment department.

Defaulters List:

Management department teacher Mishkat Uddin who had gone to the US for higher studies and made no contact for a few years but recently joined North South University , the VC said the authorities have already sent a letter to his address.Management department teacher Mishkat Uddin was fired. He owes over Tk 1 lakh.
Nahida Banu, lecturer in biochemistry and molecular biology, was due to return to her job on April 1, 1994. The authorities have terminated her job as she did not respond to letters sent to her asking her to return. She owes Tk 3.5 lakh to the university.
Chemistry teacher Abul Khair Khan took Tk 1.6 lakh and was due to return to the university on July 1, 2001.
Md Salauddin of Bangla took Tk 3.12 lakh
Faiza Sultana of English Tk 4 lakh
Sudhir Shyamol Chowdhury of English Tk 1.44 lakh
Abul Fazal Md Fazle Rabbi of information science Tk 2.35 lakh
Monjushri Bonik of library management Tk 2.14 lakh
Saida Zakia Hossain of sociology Tk 1.84 lakh
Kawsar Kibria of sociology Tk 2.54 lakh
Mohammad Selim of economics owe Tk 1.95 lakh
Jahanara Begum of economics owe Tk 1.41 lakh
Dr Monsurul Alam Khan of economics owe Tk 2.78 lakh
Soumi Mostafa of economics owe Tk 1.82 lakh
AKM Mahbub Morshed of economics owe Tk 2.69 lakh
Saira Khan of International Relations owe Tk 2.15 lakh
Muna Hossain of international relations owe Tk 1.11 lakh
M Nurul Hossain of mass communications and journalism took Tk 1.11 lakh
Md Shamsher Ali of Institute of Social Welfare and Research is Tk 1.03 lakh

Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=11593

Reality Check for Achievements of CSE Dept at BUET

2007-11-09T22:31:00.000-08:00

Reality Check for Achievements of CSE Dept at BUET

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Quote of the day: "A good reputation is more valuable than money." -- Publius Syrus
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On 6th November 2007 at 6:00 pm in the seminar room of Civil Building (1st floor). A seminar on 'Prospects, achievements and traditions of the CSE Department of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET)' was held.

It's time now to do a better analysis for achievements of the CSE Department of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET).

Please do a reality check, are we teaching our BUET CSE Students to stay current? We are not teaching our students with current job trends. Just to let you know, two categories shrank: programmers declined 5%, while support specialists fell 4%. So if we just focus programming is that going to work?

Our Bangladeshi IT Companies can't find a single experienced IT Project Manager or Business Analyst, so where we are?

Please read below all BANGLA IT Postings to learn more about market demand as IT job market keeps changing, making it tough for tech pros trying to stay current.

Two recent research reports show the IT job market keeps changing, making it tough for tech pros trying to stay current.
The good news for IT pros is this change is happening amid expansion of U.S. tech employment, with the number of jobs rising 6% from a year ago to 3.68 million, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Tech unemployment was 2% as of the third quarter, an improvement from 2.2% in 2006 and its eight-year high of 5.6% in the third quarter of 2003.
The biggest job growth categories continue to be software engineers, computer scientists and systems analysts, and IS managers. Two categories shrank: programmers declined 5%, while support specialists fell 4%. The jobs statistics continue trends that have marked IT employment's slow recovery from a fierce downturn between 2002 and 2004, when the number of jobs fell below 3.3 million.

In Growing Job Market, IT Pros Get More For The Soft Skills

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bangla_ict/message/5165

Problems of Software Developers in Bangladesh
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bangla_ict/message/5127

Enterprise Strategies: Salaries Keep Growing for IT Staff

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bangla_ict/message/5067

How-To IT Career Guide: 7 Critical Strategies, From Getting Started

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bangla_ict/message/4778

2006 Salary Survey: Compensation by Region
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bangla_ict/message/4342

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Source: http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2007/11/08/news0413.htm

Seminar on 'Achievements of CSE Dept' held at BUET
BSS, DhakaA seminar on 'Prospects, achievements and traditions of the CSE Department of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET)' was held on Tuesday. Vice-Chancellor of the BUET Prof Dr AMM Safiullah addressed the seminar organised by the Department of the CSE as the chief guest. Dean of the EEE Faculty Prof Dr Shahnewaz Ahmed was the special guest. Head of the Department of the CSE Prof Dr Md Saidur Rahman presided over the seminar. Prof Dr Md Shamsul Alam, Prof Dr M Masroor Ali, Dr Masud Hasan and Dr ASM Latiful Hoque of the BUET, and ICT entrepreneur Forkan Bin Quasem of the Spectrum Ltd, among others, addressed the seminar.A number of important papers were presented at the seminar.

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What's good for Bangladesh is good for BANGLA IT. Serving your need to know.
"Innovation distinguishes a leader from a follower" - Steve Jobs
Sayeed Rahman
Founder BANGLA IT http://www.banglait.org
http://banglait.blogspot.com/
http://www.linkedin.com/in/sayeedrahman

A freely available 3D Programming Language Called Alice

2007-11-08T19:10:00.000-08:00

Alice is an innovative 3D programming environment that makes it easy to create an animation for telling a story, playing an interactive game, or a video to share on the web. Alice is a teaching tool for introductory computing. It uses 3D graphics and a drag-and-drop interface to facilitate a more engaging, less frustrating first programming experience.

Alice is a teaching tool designed as a revolutionary approach to teaching and learning introductory programming concepts. The Alice team has developed instructional materials to support students and teachers in using this new approach. Resources include textbooks, lessons, sample syllabuses, test banks, and more. Other authors have generously joined our efforts, creating additional textbooks.

The http://www.alice.org/ 3D programming language may be a good place to start.

Alice is a freely available tool designed to be a first exposure to object-oriented programming. It lets you learn fundamental programming concepts in the context of creating animated movies and video games. In Alice, 3D objects--people, animals, vehicles, and the like--populate a virtual world and you create programs to animate the objects.

In Alice's interactive interface, students drag and drop graphic tiles to create a program, where the instructions correspond to standard statements in a production oriented programming language, such as Java, C++, and C#. Alice allows students to immediately see how their animation programs run, enabling them to easily understand the relationship between the programming statements and the behavior of objects in their animation. By manipulating the objects in their virtual world, students gain experience with all the programming constructs typically taught in an introductory programming course.

Learn about the Alice interface and how to start creating your own worlds.

http://www.alice.org/index.php?page=what_is_alice/what_is_alice

Status of Bangladesh only ICT Incubator project

2007-11-07T21:27:00.000-08:00

The ‘ICT Incubator’ project ends on October 31 this year, the Ministry of Science and ICT (MOSICT) is yet to decide on an extension of the project and continuation of the subsidies which were provided to the companies within the Incubator.
Around 45 information and communication technology (ICT) companies, employing over 1,700 people, at the ICT incubator in the BSRS Bhaban are facing an uncertain future. Some small and medium sized companies that initiated operations during the last three years will suffer a devastating loss.
The project, under the supervision of the Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC) which is under the MOSICT, was allocated a fund of Tk 3.60 crore for a five-year period since its initiation in 2002 at the BSRS Bhaban in Karwan Bazar. A space of 68,583 square feet was allocated on seven floors with a view to promote and generate awareness of ICT and also encourage such companies.
Projecting ICT export earnings $ 2 billion by 2006
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bangla_ict/message/424

Redundancy of Bangladesh only Undersea Cable

2007-11-07T21:26:00.000-08:00

Redundancy of Bangladesh only Undersea Cable
Redundancy of Bangladesh only Undersea Cable
Bangladesh connected to the world through an undersea cable, which opened in May last year, it has been seen very difficult by corrupt BTTB to keep connected. The dry portion of the cable snapped twice in August 2007.
Contrast this with Sri Lanka and Pakistan, which have had problems only once each in the past five years. Redundancy is a key question for Bangladesh and BTTB.
Telecommunication with 22 countries and internet service were hampered for seven hours from 10:00pm last Wednesday as criminals cut submarine cable here.A police patrol team caught three people red handed while they were stealing optical fibre wire from two feet below the ground at Uttar Harbang in Chakoria upazila. The submarine optical fibre line, opened in May last year, was brought up to Chittagong under the seabed from Cox's Bazar for better telecommunications and internet services.

Why Bangladesh Ranked 155 in E-governance

2007-11-07T21:23:00.000-08:00

Brown University's seventh annual analysis (which was published on July 24, 2007) of international e-government finds that many nations are improving services and providing information for users. The United States ranks fourth, behind South Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan.
Global e-Government: 198 Countries Ranked
Seventh Global e-Government Study-Bangladesh now ranked 155 from 86 (last year rank)
It shows where we Bangladesh, out of 198 Countries Ranked Bangladesh now 155 The researchers evaluated government Web sites based on two dozen criteria, including disability access, the existence of publications and databases, the presence of privacy policies, security policies, contact information, and the number of online services. Studies of global e-government have been released annually since 2001. This year's study reviews 1,687 government Web sites in 198 countries during June and July 2007. A variety of different sites were analyzed, including executive, legislative and judicial offices as well as departments and ministries of the government such as health, education, foreign affairs, interior, finance, natural resources, foreign investment, transportation, military, tourism and telecommunication. Bangladeshi web developers and IT companies who developed Bangladeshi e-Government web sites should pay attention to these criteria "disability access, the existence of publications and databases, the presence of privacy policies, security policies, contact information, and the number of online services, PDA access, user fees, and foreign language translation" to improve Bangladeshi e-government web sites. India now ranked 47 from 77, Nepal ranked 106 from 60, Pakistan ranked 135 from 72 , even Bhutan ranked 30 from 39. We all need to learn from Bhutan. Just a reminder to our Bangladeshi ICT Policy makers think of 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.
E-Government Rankings by Country, 2004 - Bangladesh 74th rank http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bangla_ict/message/2673 The full report is available athttp://www.insidepolitics.org/. http://www.insidepolitics.org/egovt04int.htmlCheck the press release below:http://www.insidepolitics.org/PressRelease04int.html

Business Analyst and Project Manager Salary Survey

2007-11-07T21:18:00.000-08:00

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bangla_ict/message/5200

Bangladesh in Fourth Asia Open Source Software (OSS) Symposium, Taipei-Sept 2004

2004-11-21T13:30:00.000-08:00

Bangladesh (Mr. Muhammad Rahman): Mr. Rahman presented an overview of OSS in Bangladesh. Mr. Rahman then introduced the status of OSS in six dimensions, including government, business institutions, academia, ISPs, and software companies in Bangladesh. Mr. Rahman's presentation also covered an overview of Bangladesh's economy and its need for OSS. In addition, Mr. Rahman mentioned the constraints and the bottlenecks in the use of open source technologies in Bangladesh and the steps taken to remove those bottlenecks.

Mr. Rahman's presentation material is available at
http://forge.iis.sinica.edu.tw/presentation/economy/4OSSinBangladesh.ppt

Bangladesh eGov project for Development - Transparency and the Poor

2004-11-21T13:05:00.000-08:00

Transparency and the Poor

Only a small fraction of the Bangladeshi population can read English; only a tiny fraction have access to the Web. This project certainly has nothing of direct relevance to offer Bangladesh's poor. However, the material provided – especially that on the RHD Web site – can be accessed by key intermediary organisations within the media and within civil society, who can then utilise that information on behalf of the poor. At present, though, that remains a potential utility of the project, rather than one based on any case evidence. Evaluation: Failure or Success?

BANGLA IT memebrs can evaluate the project cost, which have been created as part of a much larger US$7 million, four-year reform project of the Ministry of Communication, 80% of which is donor-funded. As it says: The benefits to citizens are unknown, but one should not underestimate the gains delivered by publication of even basic information in a medium of
growing accessibility; information that was often hard to access before. Impact: Costs and Benefits The Web sites have been created as part of a much larger US$7 million, four-year reform project of the Ministry of Communication, 80% of which is donor-funded. Capital costs for the Web infrastructure were bundled into the larger project; maintenance costs for the Web site (ten staff plus Internet connection costs, excluding depreciation costs for IT) are around
US$60,000 per annum. The larger project began in 1999; Web-related developments began in earnest in 2002, leading to launch in mid-2003. The project has only just started, so the discernible impacts are limited. However, one can say that it has taken the first steps on a journey towards more transparent government. It has demonstrated to Ministry staff that basic information can and will be published for public consumption. It has demonstrated within the Roads and Highways Department that project and personnel information previously seen as internal – even secret – can and will be published. Though there is no hard evidence, this is likely to have caused some shift in working culture. The benefits to citizens are unknown, but one should not underestimate the gains delivered by publication of even basic information in a medium of growing accessibility; information that was often hard to access before.
Sayeed Rahman
http://www.banglait.org/
email: banglait@gmail.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bangla_ict/
=======================================================================
Bangladesh eGov for Development
Bangladesh's Ministry of Communication (MoC) set up a series of Web sites in 2003 to improve the flow of data from government to citizens. As a part of introducing e-governance, the Ministry of Communication in Bangladesh launched four Web sites of its major departments to enable citizen access to government information. In general terms, the Web sites provided
information in English about the organisation, personnel and activities of the four agencies. http://www.egov4dev.org/banglaweb.htm

More specifically, what has been published is:
· Ministry of Communication (MoC): provides basic information about the ministry, personnel working in the ministry and their details, current projects and programmes.
· Roads and Highways Department (RHD): contains a wide variety of information on technical and managerial issues. This includes road and bridge data, personnel data, financial project information, survey manuals, standard test procedures, geometric design standards as well as management plans for each area plus audit and financial reports.
· Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA): provides information on the services offered by BRTA, driving licence forms and procedures, the main vehicle regulations, as well as personnel and activities of the department.
· Bangladesh Railway (BR): provides local train schedules, ticket fares, goods and parcel tariff tables.

The RHD Web site is the most advanced in terms of transparency, and has started to move beyond the simple publication of basic information found on the other sites. It provides details of employment vacancies within the department ~V information not easily available in one place for other government departments. It provides details of planned road projects for the year ahead; sufficient to enable vendors and contractors to identify major opportunities. It also goes beyond just the basics of publication by opening up some of the internal departmental processes to public scrutiny. Details of staff promotions are posted on the Web site. Project information is also updated on a monthly basis to detail physical and financial progress on all of RHD's 182 infrastructural projects. Role of ICT ICT has been used in this project as an enabler, based around the Web as a publishing tool.
Application Drivers/Purpose
In rational terms, this project was driven by government policy, which contains a commitment that all government agencies "shall set up Web sites where all policy documents, forms, circulars, orders, notifications, etc. and information relevant to the public shall be posted and regularly updated." The Ministry of Communication was the first mover to try to implement this policy. The reason for this lies in the confluence of two other drivers. First, the Minister of
Communication who has been a promoter of new technology in Bangladesh.
Second, funding provided by the UK Department for International Development which has been seeking to improve the capacity and transparency of the Ministry, and which saw this project as a valuable tool.
Stakeholders
The Minister and donor officials were key initiating stakeholders in this project. MoC staff were key stakeholders in its implementation. Businesses, and organisations of the media and civil society are key stakeholders in relation to intended project impact. The Centre for Policy Dialogue ~V a civil society organisation that seeks to improve the functioning of government ~V has been interested in this initiative. As noted next, citizens should principally be seen as indirect stakeholders.

Transparency and the Poor
Only a small fraction of the Bangladeshi population can read English; only a tiny fraction have access to the Web. This project certainly has nothing of direct relevance to offer Bangladesh's poor. However, the material provided ~V especially that on the RHD Web site ~V can be accessed by key intermediary organisations within the media and within civil society, who can then utilise that information on behalf of the poor. At present, though, that remains a potential utility of the project, rather than one based on any case evidence. Impact: Costs and Benefits
The Web sites have been created as part of a much larger US$7 million, four-year reform project of the Ministry of Communication, 80% of which is donor-funded. Capital costs for the Web infrastructure were bundled into the larger project; maintenance costs for the Web site (ten staff plus Internet connection costs, excluding depreciation costs for IT) are around US$60,000 per annum. The larger project began in 1999; Web-related developments began in earnest in 2002, leading to launch in mid-2003. The project has only just started, so the discernible impacts are limited. However, one can say that it has taken the first steps on a journey towards more transparent government. It has demonstrated to Ministry staff that
basic information can and will be published for public consumption. It has demonstrated within the Roads and Highways Department that project and personnel information previously seen
as internal ~V even secret ~V can and will be published. Though there is no hard evidence, this is likely to have caused some shift in working culture. The benefits to citizens are unknown, but one should not underestimate the gains delivered by publication of even basic information in a medium of growing accessibility; information that was often hard to access before.

Evaluation: Failure or Success?
It is too early to evaluate the project. Enablers/Critical Success Factors
1. Institutional strengthening first, e-transparency second. You cannot build e-transparency on a base of corrupt or chaotic activity. Therefore donor-supported reform activities worked first to strengthen Ministry of Communication procedures and competencies before thinking of moving further. Partly as a result of this foundation work, the Roads and Highways Department was one of very few in the Bangladesh government that spent all its allocated money, and in which there was a fair relationship between the infrastructure it was supposed to build and what it actually did build. Being more transparent about project activities therefore held few fears or threats for RHD staff ~V there were relatively few 'skeletons in the cupboard' that Web-enabled transparency risked revealing.
2. Internal Web development. Some Web-enabled e-transparency projects argue ~V typically for reasons of speed or expertise ~V that the Web development work should be outsourced to local or foreign staff. The MoC did not take this approach. Instead, Web expertise was identified and developed in-house. The result was reduced direct costs, development of in-house expertise, better understanding of project needs, and greater ownership and control over this project.
3. Agency-owned ICT infrastructure. The hardware, software and network infrastructure for this project was not outsourced, but was all purchased for use by the Ministry. It is unclear to what extent this increased costs, but it certainly again helped to improve project ownership and control. Constraints/Challenges
1. Sustainability. It is relatively easy to set up sites like those described. The main question is whether they are still being updated in a few years' time. There are certainly examples of Web sites in certain Bangladesh ministries that were set up in a blaze of enthusiasm, but which
then become 'cobWeb' sites that are never updated. The determinant will be not the technology, but the extent to which changed attitudes and procedures have truly been institutionalised
within the Ministry of Communication. Only time will tell, particularly time after the current Minister moves on.
2. Motivational issues. In general, MoC staff were not interested in the Web. Yet a basic familiarity with the Web among most staff was seen as essential if Web-enabled dissemination of information was to really take hold in the Ministry. The Web developers addressed this challenge in two ways. They created a Web-based chat system through which Ministry staff
could chat online to friends and colleagues who were also connected. They also developed a Web-based discussion forum with various topics selected as interesting. In this way, Web-related attitudes and skills were altered. Recommendations
1. Find a champion. eTransparency projects require a top-level champion: found here in the Minister of Communication.
2. Develop individual ownership. As noted above, internal development and infrastructure helped foster a general sense of e-transparency project ownership, particularly at senior level. However, this was reinforced with moves to develop more individual ownership by creating individual staff Web pages, complete with photographs and personal details. Staff were also enabled to amend/update these pages. By creating ownership at this individual level, a large
tranche of staff feel committed to the Web project.
3. Try to balance local innovation with central cooperation. There are good reasons why government agencies seek to go it alone with e-transparency projects; mainly because the costs of collaboration (i.e. the political and other transaction costs) are seen as too great, and likely to make the project fail. Local innovation ~V as seen above ~V helps generate the ownership and control that enable success. However, some limits may need to be set on this. Between Dhaka (Bangladesh's capital) and Chittagong (its second city), there are now five separate fibre-optic backbones set up by five different government agencies. Yet just one would be more than
sufficient to transmit the required data volumes. Likewise, there is a growing tendency to reinvent wheels when developing e-transparency projects, when ideas, expertise, and designs could be shared.

Further Information
http://www.mocbangladesh.org
http://www.rhdbangladesh.org
http://www.brtabangladesh.org

Case Details
Case Editor: Richard Heeks.
Author Data Sources/Role: Web Site, Documents and Observation; No
Direct Role
Centrality of Transparency: Secondary. Type: Publication.
Audience: External. Content: Mixed. Sector: Economic Services.
Outcome: Too Early to Evaluate.
Region: South Asia. Start Date: 2003. Submission Date: December 2003.