Editorial
IT for empowerment
Ensure easy access of the poor to the technology
The Chief Adviser to the caretaker government could not have been more explicit when he said while inaugurating the programme of Mission 2011 that access to information technology (IT) could empower the poor and rural population considerably. While the theme of the mission - "Building a Sustainable ICT-based Information and Knowledge System for the Poor and Marginalised" is encouraging, the aim to set up 40,000 telecentres all over Bangladesh by 2011, raising the number from present 800 only, is no doubt spirit-lifting. What remains to be seen is timely implementation of the mission objective.
In the present technology-driven world, holistic progress in all sectors can hardly be attained without using information super highway. The benefits of having well-laid-out ICT network in a society abound in many developed and developing countries of the world for others to emulate. Bangladesh too stands at the threshold of entering a whole new world of progress and prosperity through making the large population more IT-savvy than before. But the key word here is accessibility, and this has to be ensured through government and private initiatives so that the technology reaches the poorer sections in community at affordable cost.
The unending source of knowledge and information available in the information super highway would immensely benefit the rural population, the disadvantaged and the unemployed by linking them up across the digital divide with others at more advantageous position. This would provide them with employment and work opportunities and help generate economic activities in a wider context. In fact record shows that e-commerce has brought about revolutionary changes in many countries of South Asia and Southeast Asia as well as in transition economies. Besides economic benefits, use of IT would also help change the rural health care scene if field level health workers and paramedics can have access to required information in time.
We appreciate the national and international key players extending their assistance in making the mission a reality. But here we would like to stress once again on keeping the issue of affordability of our poor and rural population in focus while implementing the project. We are confident that our eminent researchers, IT experts, academics and telecentre practitioners would be there to provide valuable guidelines in this regard. By any means the project should go ahead in full speed.
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