AKM Kamal Uddin Chowdhury 

DHAKA, Dec 11, 2021 (BSS) - Farhad Hossain Chowdhury, a Dubai expatriate, became astonished while he saw his university graduate brother Anwar Hossain Chowdhury filled up job application form within half an hour which took two or three days few years ago.

Farhad Hossain thanked Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for ensuring digitization in all sectors an informed that his younger brother has paid the job application fee through Teletalk without any hassle. "The payment system of application fee was a difficult task few years ago. That time, we had to go bank and deposit the application fee by standing in a long queue," he mentioned.

 Now, Farhad said, his younger brother is completing all processes of application within half an hour. Not only in application process, he said, all related information, including admit card, sitting arrangement and result, are now in online. 

Saiful Islam Chowdhury, a dweller of Rajballakpur village under Chauddagram upazila of Cumilla district, came to know that auditor recruitment test of the Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation (BADC) that he applied for would be held in Dhaka the next morning. Hearing the news, he was perplexed. 

At that time, it was essential to start journey for Dhaka as early as possible. So, he went to the nearest Union Digital Centre (UDC) and downloaded the admit card . Saiful took the card and started for Dhaka. He attended the examination and subsequently got the job.

   Talking to BSS, Project Director of the a2i Dr Dewan Muhammad Humayun Kabirsaid one of the best initiatives that the government has taken over the last decade is 'Digital Bangladesh', which aims to transform the country into a digitally developed nation through ICT integration in support of good governance, law enforcement, employment and growth.

 He informed that the government has already ensured e-nothi activities in around 11,000 offices of the country while over 35,000 websites of the different ministries, departments, unions, districts and divisions have come under a website, called 'National Portal'.

"Success in advancing the country' s e-government development has largely derived from strengthening the online connectivity of the public sector, online service delivery and investments in the digital literacy of public sector employees," he added. He mentioned that Bangladesh has also invested in developing e-literacy and ICT skills among public sector employees and providing continuous learning opportunities through government-created open- learning-platform training in digital and professional skills.

The level of digital literacy and ICT skills of the public-service employees has significantly improved, he added. He said now nearly all employees of the government have access to the Internet and can use ICT tools in their daily work. He said the progress made over the past years in digital government has been duly recognised by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) as it has ranked Bangladesh 119th among 193 nations in 2020.

 "The ranking is the outcome of the surveys the UN body carries out every two years. The grading has been done in the shape of E-Governance Development Index (EGDI), which reflects the modest progress Bangladesh has made over the past years in e-governance through its initiatives to increase efficiency and capacity in the area of delivering public service," he added.

 He mentioned that Bangladesh has scored 0.5189 in the index that is higher than 0.4862 secured in the 2018 edition of the EGDI. Humayun Kabir informed that the government is working to come into double digit in EGDI ranking in 2022. 

Keeping this in mind, he said, a2i is working to expand more its activities for ensuring faster movement of files through the different layers in government offices increased transparency throughout the organization and increased accountability in governance.

 The programme is also working to ensure faster and better services in all government offices through adopting advance technology, he added.