Bridging Digital Divide: case study of Bangladesh

Abstract

Bangladesh emerged as an independent and sovereign country in 1971 following a nine month war of liberation. It is one of the largest deltas of the world with a total area of 147,570 sq km. With a unique communal harmony, Bangladesh has a population of about 140 million, making it one of the densely populated countries of the world. The literacy rate of Bangladeshi people is 43.1%. Over 98% of the people speak in Bengali, English however is widely spoken (National Web Portal of Bangladesh, 2009). First Mainframe computer came to Bangladesh in 1964. Internet came late in Bangladesh, with UUCP e-mail beginning in 1993 and IP connectivity in 1996. Recently Bangladesh Government has adopted a national ICT Policy-2009 which includes action items for realizing the goals of national development.Earlier national ICT Policy was published in 2002 aiming at building an ICT driven knowledge based society by the year 2010. National ICT Policy-2009 consists of 10 broad objectives,56 strategic themes and 306 action items.