ICT

  

ICT

Stands for “Information and Communication Technologies”.ICT refers to technologies have provide access to information through telecommunication.Its is similar to information Technology (IT) ,but focues primarily on communication technologies.This includes the internet,wireless networks,cell phones,and other communication mediums.

In the past few decades,information and communication technologies have provided society with a vast array of new communication capabilities.For example,people can communicate in real-time with others in different countries using technologies such as instant messaging,voice over IP (VoIP), and video-conferencing.Social networking websites like Facebook allow users from all over the world to remain in contract and communicate on a regular basis.

Modern information and communication technologies have created a “global village,”in which people can communicate with others across the world as if they were living next door.For this reason,ICT is often studies in the context of how modern communication technologies affect society.

Components of an ICT system

An ICT system consists of the following components:

• Data
• Hardware
• Software
• Information
• Procedures
• People
• Data

The Bangladesh ICT sector:

Potential of the Bangladeshi ICT industry and its impact on the economy. In collaboration with industry associations (BCS, BCC, BASIS and BACCO) and international trade support institutions the government has taken both short and long term measures (Vision 2012, Digital Bangladesh) to support and enhance development of the domestic sector and increase the export of ICT products and services.

According to the BASIS 2012( Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services )survey the ICT industry has consistently Despite having 50 years of history the government has only from 1997 officially recognized the grown in recent years at 20 to 30 percent per annum. Over 800 registered ICT companies generated total revenues of approximately $250 million. More than 75 percent of companies are involved in customized application development and maintenance, 50 percent are dedicated to IT enabled services, and 45 percent offer E-commerce/Web services. The survey also shows that 60 percent of companies solely focus on the domestic market. The International Trade Centre estimates that approximately 200 companies export their products and services to international markets (USA 68 percent, UK 32 percent, and the Netherlands 9 percent). In addition to the registered workforce, thousands of independent freelancers offer their services at online market places and 5.500 students annually graduate from ICT courses at more than 80 public and private universities.

Insights provided by semi structured interviews with 20 industry experts and practitioners indicated that the Bangladesh ICT industry has a great potential:

• ·         Considered strengths are the young, well educated workforce, flexibility to scale upproduction    capacity and cost advantages in general.

• ·         Considered weaknesses are a lack of soft skills, know-how and investment in the sector, as well  as poor infrastructure, telecommunications connectivity and power shortages. In      addition the sector suffers from poor international visibility.

• ·    The interviewees widely agree on foreign SMEs being the main target group for exporting companies. There are few Bangladeshi ICT companies with sufficient scale to service large international clients.