Digital centres serve 6 million people per months while 13 thousands of entrepreneurs are working at 6.5 thousand centres across the country.
Marking the 10 years of establishment of digital centre, local government division shared the detail of the initiative at a joint press conference held virtually on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the 4501 digital centres on November 11, 2010 as electoral pledge of Awami League-led government to bring the citizen service at people’s doorsteps.
UNDP administrator and New Zealand former Prime Minister Helen Clark connected to the inauguration from Char Kukrimukri union of Bhola district on that day.
Local Government Minister Md Tajul Islam was the chief guest while State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak was special guest at the meeting virtually. UNDP resident representative Sudipto Mukerjee also connected.
In keynote, Aspire to Innovate (A2i) programme policy advisor Anir Chowdhury projected number of beneficiaries to 7 million per month by next year while eight thousand digital centres will be ready during this time.
“By 2030, the monthly user traffic of 25 thousand digital centres will stand at 10 million. There will be provided 2800 types of services at the centres,”
Minister Tajul Islam said Bangladesh has proven the ‘magical touch’ of digital centres as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been leading the country towards knowledge economy through decentralize of services across the country.
“Many global leaders ask us about the mystery of development of Bangladesh. The government has been working relentlessly for changing fortune of people where technology contribute significantly,”
Emphasising decentralization of service, State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak said progress of Bangladesh depends on collective development of thousands of village.
““Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina brings the development to the route level while her advisor Sajeeb Wazed brought the optical fiber connectivity up to union level. As a result, 3600 union centres were connected with hi-speed internet,” Palak said adding that the digital centre will be developed as ‘hub for digital economy’.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) provided technical support for improving good governance leveraging technology in service delivery.
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