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
Friday, November 09, 2007
Thursday, November 08, 2007
A freely available 3D Programming Language Called Alice
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.
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Status of Bangladesh only ICT Incubator project
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
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
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.
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
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
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
Sunday, November 21, 2004
Bangladesh in Fourth Asia Open Source Software (OSS) Symposium, Taipei-Sept 2004
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
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
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.
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.
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