Digital Bangladesh
Digital innovations can yield dividends for Bangladesh by eliminating middlemen, promoting trust and enhancing economic activity. For example, each year, Bangladesh spends more than Tk 720 billion (Tk 72,000 crore) on public procurement, but the government procurement process is fraught with inefficiency. The practices in public procurement can lead to delays, cost overruns, and subpar output, which all add up to higher costs for the government—which ultimately means higher costs to taxpayers and donors. Electronic public procurement will increase efficiency and lower costs.
Providing digital services to citizens directly in rural areas establishes direct links between the government and its people, promoting social trust. Similarly, expanding broadband access in rural areas can serve as a multiplier to economic activity, creating new job opportunities, improving agricultural knowledge and enhancing formal and informal education.
Proposed Strategies
| Strategy | Takas of benefits per taka spent |
|---|---|
| E-procurement across government | 663 |
| More services at Union Digital Centers | 8 |
| Expand Broadband | 5 |
Electronic Public Procurement in Bangladesh
Research by Wahid Abdallah, a research fellow at the BRAC Institute of Governance and Development, examines the effects of transforming the current procurement system into one that uses online systems.
An efficient public procurement system in a country is essential for effectual public investment and economic growth. However, in developing countries like Bangladesh, public procurement is plagued with various inefficient and corrupt practices."
- Dr. Wahid Abdallah
Expansion of Selected Services through Union Digital Centers
Research by Rejaul Karim Bakshi, associate economics professor at Rajshahi University, and Tariqur Rahman, a research consultant, examines offering more services at Union Digital Centers.
UDCs are enabling rural communities to access government and commercial services as a result of innovations in ICT and mobile technology in service delivery. It has established direct links between citizens and the government, creating trust,solidarity and reciprocity. - Rejaul Karim Bakshi & Tariqur Rahman
Rationale For Expanding Broadband in Bangladesh
A third study by M. Rokonuzzaman, a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the North South University in Dhaka, looks at expanding broadband access.
The biggest constraint in Bangladesh to unlocking the potential of increased broadband, is not the use of social networking applications but the cost of broadband to the consumer.
- M. Rokonuzzaman
How e-GP save taxpayers tens of billions each year
In a series of op-eds published in The Daily Star and Prothom Alo, Bjorn Lomborg outlined the key findings of the path-breaking research produced by the Bangladesh Priorities project.
Each year, Bangladesh spends more than Tk. 72,000 crore on government procurement. That includes paying for anything from Padma Bridge to pencils for government offices and everything in-between. Imagine if this process could be done just 1 percent more efficiently - that would save Tk. 720 crore."
- Bjorn Lomborg
What's the smartest solution for Bangladesh?
Electronic procurement promises massive benefits to the national government and savings for taxpayers. Would this be one of your top priorities for Bangladesh? After reviewing 1,000s of pages of peer-reviewed research an Eminent Panel ranked 72 solutions from the best to the worst in terms of delivering the most social, economic and environmental value for money. Find out what they ranked the highest here.