ICT indicators digital Bangladesh

Global e-Indices' Rankings and Bangladesh:
Indicators for Measuring Digital Bangladesh
Access to Information (a2i) Programme
In partnership with
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS)
And
Statistics and Informatics Division (SID)

In partnership with
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS)
And
Statistics and Informatics Division (SID)
April 2013

'Access to Information' (a2i) Programme is hosted by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and the Cabinet
Division, and supported by UNDP Bangladesh and the USAID, which seeks to improve the accessibility
and quality of public services for underserved communities and groups delivered mostly by Upazilas.
Published jointly by
Access to Information (a2i) Programme in Bangladesh
Prime Minister's Office (PMO)
Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh
And
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics(BBS)
Statistics & Informatics Division (SID)
Ministry of Planning
Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh
April, 2013
Copyright © a2i Programme
Research Team:
Mr. Anir Chowdhury, Policy Advisor, a2i
Mr. Hasanuzzaman, Policy Associate, a2i
Dr. Md. Abdul Mannan, Director (Enabling Environment), a2i
Mr. Md. Mahfuzul Islam Shamim, Policy Associate, a2i
Mr. Md. Mazedul Islam, Programme Associate, a2i
Ms. Farzana Sultana, Programme Associate, a2i
Mr. Tahmid Hasnat Khan, Deputy Secretary, SID
Mr. Md. Nazrul Islam, Senior System Analyst, BBS
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this paper are those of the author(s) alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of
Government of Bangladesh, UNDP Bangladesh and USAID.
The a2i hereby extends special gratitude to UNDP Bangladesh and USAID for their continuous
technical and financial support.
ISSN 0245 8398
Development partners:

Acknowledgements
This report has been prepared by the Access to Information (a2i) programme with financial support of
UNDP Bangladesh and USAID. This is the first time that an attempt has been made in mapping the data
for monitoring and evaluation of Bangladesh, which also helped to bring about the salient features from
all aspects of ICT4D in the country. The report has been prepared by Mr. Hasanuzzaman, Policy
Associate, a2i under the supervision of Mr. Anir Chowdhury, Policy Advisor, a2i. It has been finalized
through, ab initio, a brainstorming session with researchers and experts, followed by a national
Roundtable discussion, incorporating the feedbacks, comments generated by the consultation with the
stakeholders and experts’ inputs.
Mr. Md. Nojibur Rahman, Secretary, Statistics and Informatics Division (SID), Mr. Golam Mostafa
Kamal, Director General, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) and Mr. K. A. M. Morshed, Assistant
Country Director, UNDP Bangladesh, attended and delivered their guiding thoughts on the national
Roundtable discussion on the draft report. The Roundtable itself was a milestone for this study as the
participants from different strata e.g. statistical officers from various government departments,
officers, academicians, members of civil society, and specialists were very keen to provide their
thoughtful and constructive ideas for further improvement of the report. The role of Dr. Sajjad Zohir,
Director, Economic Research Group (ERG), should be highlighted here for his overall support to
accomplish the study.
We would also like to thank all interviewees for providing us with useful information and opinions, in
particular the people we have interviewed face-to-face and those who gave useful input in the
Roundtable discussion. Their insights and advice have been invaluable. We here also extend our humble
gratitude to UNDP Bangladesh and USAID for their valued and continuous support toward the a2i
Programme.

Acronyms
a2i Access to Information
AVCB Activating Village Courts in Bangladesh
BBS Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics
BCC Bangladesh Computer Council
BTCL Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited
BTRC Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission
ECA Economic Commission for Africa
ECLAC Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean
EFT Electronic fund transfer
EGDI e-Government Development Index
ERG Economic Research Group
ESCAP Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
ESCWA Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia
HIES Household income and expenditure survey
ICT Information and Communication Technology
ICT4D ICT for development
IDI ICT for Development Index
IDPD Improving Democracy through Parliamentary Development
IGC International Growth Centre
IGS Institute of Governance Studies
IPB ICT Price Basket
IT Information technology
ITU International Telecommunication Union
LFS Labour force survey
MoI Ministry of Information
MoICT Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology
MoPT Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications
NRI Networked Readiness Index
NSDS National Strategy for the Development of Statistics
NSO National Statistics Office
NSS National Statistical System
OECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
PPP Purchasing power parity
PRP Police Reforms Programme
RTI Right to Information
SFYP Sixth Five Year Plan
SID Statistics and Informatics Division
SPDB Strategic Priorities of Digital Bangladesh
TBD To be decided
UIS UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Institute for Statistics
UISCs Union Information Services Centre
UN United Nations
UNCTAD United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
UNDP United Nations Development Programme
UNEP United Nations Environment Programme
USD United States dollar
WSIS World Summit on Information Society
WEF World Economic Forum

Table of Content
Acknowledgements iii
Acronyms iv
1. Introduction...................................................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Objectives and methodology.......................................................................................................................... 2
1.2 Limitations ...................................................................................................................................................... 4
1.3 Layout of the report.........................................................................................................................................4
1.4 Audience............................................................................................................................................................ 5
2. Global E-Indices: Latest Rankings and Asia.............................................................................................. 6
2.1 World Economic Forum............................................................................................................................... 6
2.2 International Telecommunication Union (ITU)........................................................................................ 7
2.3 UN e-Government Survey............................................................................................................................ 9
3. ICT4D Indicators: A Strategy for Bangladesh.......................................................................................... 12
3.1 Global indicators............................................................................................................................................ 12
3.2 ICT4D indicators for Bangladesh: A proposal......................................................................................... 13
3.3 Institutionalizing ICT4D tracking............................................................................................................... 16
4. Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................... 18
References................................................................................................................................................................ 19
List of tables
Table 1: Rankings in the Networked Readiness Index (NRI) ........................................................................ 6
Table 2: Rankings in the ICT Development Index (IDI) and ICT Price Basket (IPB)............................... 8
Table 3: Rankings in the E-Government Development Index (EGDI)....................................................... 10
Annexures
Annex I.................................................................................................................................................................. 21
Annex II................................................................................................................................................................ 23

1. Introduction
Internet, and information and communication technologies (ICTs), came into
prominence in the late 1990s almost coinciding with the onset of the “good
governance” agenda which sought to reform the role of the state in promoting
economic growth and social development. After seven years of the Tunis
Commitment, it is, nevertheless, difficult to offer a simple and short definition which
would sufficiently capture the dynamic relationship between ICTs and its ability in
accelerating economic growth and reducing poverty.1 A report by the OECD, titled,
Innovation and Inclusive Development, captures this complex phenomenon in the following
eloquent way:
“ICTs constitute the most transformative innovation of the recent past. ICTs
are interesting in the context of the inclusive development debate because of
their ability to strengthen connectivity not only of higher-income groups but
also of those at the lower income level. Indeed, a variety of ICT-based
applications are geared at bringing fundamental changes to disadvantaged
groups” (OECD 2012: 43).
The use of ICTs is conceived as an “enabling” factor for facilitating and streamlining
institutional processes toward improving public service delivery to the excluded. In
short, this process is coined as ICT for development (ICT4D) where ICT is perceived
to have the potential to boost economic, social and political development, contributing
toward the progress of humankind as a whole (Rue 2011). ICTs can expand the capacity
of the poor by empowering them to enjoy their right to freedom of expression in the
decision-making process, alongside ensuring their participation in the opportunities
brought about by economic growth. In its election manifesto “Vision 2021 Bangladesh:
A New Horizon,” the incumbent Awami League government introduced the concept of
“Digital Bangladesh,” a mirror reflection of the Information Society vision. The two key
pillars of the Digital Bangladesh – connecting citizens and facilitating pro-poor services
at citizen’s doorsteps – exemplifies innovative and pluralist demand-drive service
delivery models, catering to the needs of the poor.
Subsequently, the newly elected government put in place a number of laws, policies
and strategies to put in action the Digital Bangladesh vision. The ICT Policy 2009,
ICT Act 2009 and the Right to Information (RTI) Act 2009 have laid the foundations
1In 2005, governments reaffirmed their dedication to the foundations of the Information Society in the
Tunis Commitment and outlined the basis for implementation and follow-up in the Tunis Agenda for
the Information Society. The Tunis Commitment was a consensus statement of the World Summit on
the Information Society, adopted on November 18, 2005 in Tunis, Tunisia. In particular, the Tunis
Agenda addresses the issues of financing of ICTs for development and Internet governance that could
not be resolved in the first phase. The Tunis Commitment is available online at
http://www.itu.int/wsis/docs2/tunis/off/7.pdf (Accessed on 29/12/2012).

2
for identifying the Digital Bangladesh priorities for the government (IGS 2010). In
2010, the government approved the Digital Bangladesh Strategy and the amended
Telecommunication Act 2010.
All such steps have been in the right direction. However, heed has to be now paid
towards tracking progress through designing indicators for assessing the ICT4D impact.
In the quest to quantify and evaluate a country’s preparedness for the Information
Society, envisaged under the Tunis Commitment, different institutions have come up
with a wide variety of methods in designing and constructing indices of “e-governance”
or “e-development.” These composite indices are made up of different sub-indicators
that are based on various statistics. It is to be pointed out here that statistical science
does not require high technical sophistication; much of the richness of the modern
subject comes from those whose primary expertise is in substantive fields, and who
bring subject-matter enhancements to the application of statistics (Skinner, 2012).
There is, nevertheless, consensus that statistics is a tool for problem-solving and
decision-making which can be used in many areas of life in order to make well-
informed choices, take sound decisions and understand the society and the world
we live in. However, one must be cautioned of the fact that numbers in the public
arena are also at risk of misuse in support of different interests. As is known, the
weight of each component of the index, as well as the chosen statistics, differ
among indices and as a result, there are many facets of the statistics discipline
whereby its relevance varies according to its users.
In the latest budget speech (FY2012-13), the Hon’ble Finance Minister of Bangladesh,
Mr. Abul Maal A Muhith, confirmed that a number of ministries had introduced
‘Digital File Tracking System’ and more importantly, all the Deputy Commissioners’
offices have started providing e-service to the clients. In addition, the Office of the
Controller and Certifying Authority has been established for issuance of e-certificates;
electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) was introduced in three ministries and it was
indicated that the system would be expanded at district level. These are all good steps
and milestones affirming the gradual digital transformation process in Bangladesh.
However, without a framework for assessing such a phenomenon, it becomes difficult
to capture and follow the socio-economic implications of ICT4D in Bangladesh.
1.1 Objectives and methodology
Because this is a work in progress, it is expected that further research works and
actions will need to be carried out with the objective of informing Bangladesh’s
position in the global rankings, and, at the same time, initiating a process for tracking
the digital transformation of Bangladesh with the aid of a set of indicators, designed
to capture the national scenario. For instance, Bangladesh is not reported in the ITU’s

3
latest ICT for development index (IDI) and it is the overarching aspiration that this
report will not only kick-off a process for tracking the socio-economic ICT4D
transformation of Bangladesh, as envisioned under the national Perspective Plan, but
at the same time, help to fill key data and information gaps.
In so doing, the two, inter alia, objectives of the paper are to (i) report on the latest
rankings of three most commonly referred e-indices and their sub-indices; and, (ii) set
the ground for exploring a revised set of indicators for better reflection of country-
specific ICT4D transformation. It is believed that home-grown indicators will allow
rankings to highlight the extent of technological transformation in the national
context. Such an exercise will also help to identify, facilitate and consolidate the data
collection and reporting processes in a transparent way. This would help identify the
type of data that needs to be supplied to the international organisations.
The report blends in a mix of primary and secondary sources of information. Relevant
literature was studied to learn about the strengths and weaknesses of global e-indices,
bearing in mind the objective of bringing such assessment closer to the prevailing
reality in country-specific contexts. We identify the discrepancy in three widely used
global e-indices’ rankings, by considering the top 3 and bottom 5 countries, alongside
15 countries in Asia. The latest rankings are taken as the point of departure for the
present analysis. This helps to comprehend the ability of the three e-indices as a
predictive modelling exercise in capturing the extent of ICT transformation.
In addition, national plans and strategies of Bangladesh were studied to examine the
indentified indicators and provide recommendations for reviewing these by taking
into cognisance the ICT4D aspects. This has been done with the primary objective of
increasing the present report’s relevance for both the state and non-state concerned
stakeholders, and international partners involved in the ICT4D monitoring and
evaluation process.
A brainstorming session was organised by the Access to Information (a2i) programme
with researchers and experts at the beginning of the study. We presented the
preliminary findings to a group of informed researchers and practitioners, and the
revised final findings in a national Roundtable discussion attended by secretaries of
concerned government departments, academicians, civil society and media
representatives, and officials of international agencies.2 This present report is
2 The Roundtable discussion was organized on 28 January 2013. Mr. Md. Nojibur Rahman, Secretary-in-
charge, Statistics and Informatics Division (SID), was the Chief Guest whilst Dr. Jnanrendranath Biswas,
Executive Director, Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC) and Mr. Khalilur Rahman, Additional
Secretary, Ministry of Information, attended the discussion as Special Guests. The discussion was chaired
by Mr. Golam Mostafa Kamal, Director General, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS). A draft of this
report was presented by the author of the present report.

4
informed by the discussions of these meetings (see section 3). In particular, the draft
report prepared under a joint initiative supported by the Bangladesh Growth Research
Programme of IGC and ERG helped to set the ground for mapping the data
structure and processes, alongside a set of indicators.3
1.2 Limitations
This paper does not attempt to make an assessment of all the “e-indices” tools that
are currently available. The paper’s second limitation is that it does not investigate the
nitty-gritty issues relating to the methodologies, since such a topic merits a separate
and lengthy discussion. This paper offers a short and succinct report of the latest
rankings of some of the most commonly referred e-indices. The report falls short of
drawing lessons from other countries’ experience, because the objective here is to
investigate a ‘development bandwidth’ from the perspective of advancing the ICT
agenda for inclusive development in Bangladesh. Although a limitation, the purpose is
to track Bangladesh’s digital transformation by articulating new partnerships involving
public, private and international actors, and, at the same time, it offers a map of
indicators prepared on the basis of consultation and interviews with experts.
Finally, we recognise the methodological constraint that the objectivity and
impartiality of secondary sources may be questionable, and that media reports and
even academic work may have limited coverage and bias. Overall, however, with the
triangulation of methods – perusal of secondary material, statistics and survey
material, and in-depth interviews – we are reasonably confident that our findings are
valid, despite constraints of time and resources.
1.3 Layout of the report
In the following section we look at the trends with regard to the latest rankings of
three global e-indices. An analysis of the different countries’ rankings in the
composite index and their sub-indices is presented in section 2 to depict the relative
performances of selected Asian countries. An attempt has been made to put forward a
set of recommendations, drawing on the Roundtable discussion, the Sixth Five Year
Plan (SFYP) FY2011-FY2015 and the ten-year “Perspective Plan of Bangladesh:
Making Vision 2021 A Reality,” and the draft prepared by the a2i titled “Strategic
Priorities of Digital Bangladesh” (SPDB), in Section 3.4 This section draws on the
ideas and suggestions generated during the Roundtable discussions, and also from the
discussions and in-depth interviews with ICT4D experts. The final section 4
3 A special thanks to Dr. Sajjad Zohir, Director, Economic Research Group (ERG), for sharing the draft
with the a2i.
4 Draft available online at http://www.a2i.pmo.gov.bd/tempdoc/Strategic_Priorities_of_ Digital_Bangla
desh_Jan_2011.pdf (Accessed on 27/02/2013)

5
concludes by proposing further areas of research works that may be undertaken for
drawing lessons in adopting policies and implementing projects, aimed at
consolidating the monitoring and evaluation of the Digital Bangladesh process.
1.4 Audience
Since the overall objective of this research is to facilitate better recording of the
Digital Bangladesh transformation, we hope the knowledge generated will benefit
various stakeholders. Thus, multiple audiences can use this report. First, the report is
addressed to public officials in Bangladesh (and developing countries) who are tasked
to collect and analyse, and at the same time, provide data to international
organisations, in assessing ICT4D. It is hoped that discussion and debate will be
generated amongst the government departments about the issues and suggestions
raised by the study. Second, it is addressed to an academic audience. We present latest
data and offer new indicators for understanding the role of the ICT4D in the context
of a developing country like Bangladesh, which contributes toward new knowledge.
Finally, the study is addressed to concerned citizens who are keen on monitoring the
performance of Bangladesh and in advocating measures for tracking the country’s
digital transformation.

6
2. Global E-Indices: Latest Rankings and Asia
The raison d’être of global surveys is to assess whether countries are deploying e-
governance measures for promoting inclusive development. Implicit in this concept is
that a low-income country with a very large population like Bangladesh must exert far
more effort to achieve a given level of e-government development in providing many
more online access points to its citizens, than a country with high-income and low
population. Notwithstanding their limitations, indices are useful in ranking countries
according to a defined set of categorised indicators.5 In the ensuing discussion, we
report on the latest rankings of three commonly referred e-indices. The objective here
is to broaden our understanding about the different messages emanating from the
global “e” rankings.
2.1 World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Networked Readiness Index (NRI) measures the
propensity for countries to exploit the opportunities offered by ICTs (table 1). The
NRI assesses the impact of ICT on the competitiveness of nations. The Index is a
composite of three components: the environment for ICT offered by a given country
or community (market, political and regulatory, infrastructure environment), the
readiness of the community’s key stakeholders (individuals, businesses, and
governments) to use ICT, and finally the usage of ICT amongst these stakeholders.
Table 1: Rankings in the Networked Readiness Index (NRI)
Countries NRI Sub-indices
Environment Readiness Usage
2012 2011 2012 2011 2012 2011 2012 2011
Top 3
Sweden 1 1 3 1 3 3 1 3
Singapore 2 2 1 4 8 1 5 4
Finland 3 3 2 3 2 2 4 6
Asia
Bangladesh 113 115 123 115 103 104 108 122
Cambodia 108 111 89 109 106 111 111 110
China 51 36 64 57 66 16 51 36
India 69 48 78 58 64 33 78 67
Malaysia 29 28 23 36 55 10 29 25
Nepal 128 131 125 134 111 118 135 133
Pakistan 102 88 112 96 97 60 107 96
(Table 1 contd.)
5 See Minges (2005) for an interesting discussion on the strengths and weaknesses of e-indices.

7
(Table 1 contd.)
Countries NRI Sub-indices
Environment Readiness Usage
2012 2011 2012 2011 2012 2011 2012 2011
Philippines 86 86 111 94 77 99 86 71
Sri Lanka 71 66 71 75 67 42 71 82
Thailand 77 59 59 64 75 53 83 61
Vietnam 83 55 96 78 86 35 69 73
Bottom 5
Chad 138 138 139 138 130 137 140 137
Mauritania 139 130 135 124 137 133 138 128
Angola 140 133 141 135 139 127 130 130
Yemen 141 n/a 134 n/a 136 n/a 141 n/a
Haiti 142 n/a 142 n/a 142 n/a 139 n/a
Source: Dutta et al. (2010) and (2012)
Sweden, Singapore and Finland are the top three countries in the latest NRI rankings
(Dutta et al 2012). They have succeeded in maintaining this position since the last
survey in 2010. Chad, Mauritania, Angola, Yemen and Haiti constitute the bottom 5
group. In case of Asia, barring Bangladesh, Cambodia and Nepal, all other countries
saw a fall in their ranking in 2011-12 when compared to the preceding year. It is of
interest to point out that Bangladesh’s decline in the environment sub-index ranking
(from 115 to 123) has been compensated by improvements in the readiness (104 to
103), and usage (122 to 108) sub-indices of the NRI. Similar explanation can be
applied to other countries whose rank in the NRI reflects a balanced reflection of its
components. For instance, the position of Chad has remained the same at 138 which
is explained by its low rankings in the sub-indices.
Malaysia’s improvement by 13 places in the environment sub-index is noteworthy
(from 36 to 23); Nepal also moved up by 9 places (from 134 to 125). In the readiness
sub-index, Philippines registered the most significant progress by moving up 22 places
(from 99 to 77). Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Vietnam are the outliers in the usage sub-
index whilst all other Asian countries’ rankings declined in the latest scores.
Bangladesh moved up by 14 places (from 122 to 108), Sri Lanka by 11 places (from
82 to 71) and Vietnam by four places (from 73 to 69). What is of interest here is that
despite the global norm of quick ICT adoption by the non-state sectors, the public
sector in Bangladesh scores higher in the usage sub-index than the private sector.
2.2 International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
The ICT Development Index (IDI) is constructed by the UN’s International
Telecommunication Union (ITU), based on a globally agreed set of ICT indicators.
This makes it a valuable tool for benchmarking the most important indicators for
measuring the Information Society. The Index is assembled using 11 ICT indicators,

8
grouped in three categories: access, use and skills. The access sub-index captures ICT
readiness, and includes five indicators (fixed-telephony, mobile telephony,
international Internet bandwidth, households with computers, and households with
Internet). The use sub-index assesses ICT intensity, and includes three ICT intensity
and usage indicators (Internet users, fixed (wired)-broadband, and mobile broadband).
The skills sub-index relates to ICT capability or skills as indispensable input indicators
which is given less weight in the computation of the IDI, compared with the other
two sub-indices. It includes three proxy indicators (adult literacy, gross secondary
enrolment and gross tertiary enrolment).
Table 2: Rankings in the ICT Development Index (IDI) and ICT Price Basket (IPB)
Countries IDI IDI Sub-index IPB*
Access Usage Skills
2011 2010 2011 2010 2011 2010 2011 2010 2011
Top 3
South Korea 1 1 11 11 1 1 1 1 32
Sweden 2 2 6 6 2 2 16 16 9
Denmark 3 3 9 8 3 4 12 12 7
Asia
Bangladesh n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 110
Bhutan 118 117 121 120 108 111 125 125 84
Cambodia 121 119 113 111 135 143 120 120 130
China 78 79 82 83 66 69 89 89 67
India 119 116 116 115 120 124 115 115 85
Malaysia 58 57 54 51 56 48 90 90 51
Maldives 72 72 63 62 73 81 102 102 44
Myanmar 131 129 149 148 155 155 111 111 n/a
Nepal 137 134 138 136 129 127 130 129 132
Pakistan 127 125 119 113 127 128 142 142 112
Philippines 94 94 105 105 98 94 77 78 113
Sri Lanka 105 105 103 102 112 112 98 98 50
Thailand 92 89 91 89 100 95 62 64 78
Vietnam 81 86 85 84 76 79 101 101 106
Bottom 5
Burkina Faso 151 151 141 138 144 142 154 154 156
Eritrea 152 151 155 155 134 132 139 139 155
Central
African Rep.
153 153 154 152 147 147 152 151 n/a
Chad 154 155 153 152 147 147 152 151 n/a
Niger 155 154 150 150 152 153 155 155 160
*Out of 160 countries
Source: ITU (2012)
According to the latest IDI rankings, South Korea, Sweden and Denmark are the top
three countries (ITU 2012). Similar to the other two e-indices the IDI’s bottom five
belongs to countries in Africa - Burkina Faso, Eritrea, Central African Republic, Chad

9
and Niger. In case of Asia, China (79 to 78) and Vietnam (from 86 to 81) improved in
their overall IDI rankings. Bangladesh was not reported due to paucity of statistical
data, although it got ranked under the ICT’s price basket (IPB) index. Only China was
able to make some progress, by moving up 1 position (from 83 to 82) in the access
sub-index whereas rankings declined for all other countries, barring Philippines,
which remained at 105th position. In the usage sub-index, all Asian countries, except
Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines and Thailand, registered some progress. Myanmar and Sri
Lanka remained at 155th and 112th positions respectively.
One of the novel aspects of the latest ITU’s Information Society rankings is that it
provides a demand-side overview of the ICT development in countries, through its
IPB index. One interesting aspect of this analysis is that it serves to identify those
countries that perform contrarily, i.e., better (or worse) than their income levels would
predict. The purchasing power parity (PPP) adjusted prices of mobile-cellular and
fixed-broadband Internet services, which take into account the national buying power
of a local currency, show that a number of developing countries with relatively low
GNI per capita levels – including Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, India and Pakistan –
are offering mobile-cellular services at a relatively low price. In Sri Lanka and
Bangladesh, it is reported that the mobile-cellular sub-basket costs less than US $4,
compared with ten times this amount in Japan and New Zealand (ITU 2012).
2.3 UN e-Government Survey
One of the most comprehensive indicators evaluating the impact of ICT on the political
economy arrangements is the UN’s E-Government Survey. The latest report, titled, E-
Government for the People, introduced significant changes to the survey instrument in the
round, focusing more on how governments are using ICTs to deliver public services
and expanding opportunities for citizens to participate in decision-making process. As a
result of the latest changes in the methodological approach, the world average of the e-
Government Development Index (EGDI) in 2012 registered a mixed trend. Likewise, the
Report cautioned that the rankings should not be interpreted as the deterioration of e-
government initiatives on a global scale since the latest EGDI measures e-government
development of countries relative to one another within a given year. Conversely, a drop
in a country’s ranking should serve as a reminder of the need to devote greater
resources toward improving online services and expanding access to telecommunication
infrastructure, not penalising it because of its decline.
The EGDI consists of three components: online service, technological infrastructure and
human capital. According to the latest Report (UN 2012), South Korea, Netherlands and
the UK are the top performers (table 3). Similar to the other two earlier discussed indices,
the bottom 5 group is represented by countries from Africa: Sierra Leone, Haiti, Niger,
Chad and Somalia. Notwithstanding its benefits for policymakers and researchers, the

10
EGDI ranking suffers from serious conceptual inconsistency which we briefly discuss
below. This is noteworthy because such a barrier undermines the prospect of designing a
harmonised method for evaluating the transformation to Information Society.
Table 3: Rankings in the E-Government Development Index (EGDI)
Countries E-government
development
index
Sub-indices
Online service
index
Technological
Infrastructure
Human Capital
Index
2012 2010 2005* 2012 2010 2005* 2012 2010 2005* 2012 2010 2005*
Top 3
Republic of
Korea
1 1 5 1 1 4 7 13 10 6 7 23
Netherlands 2 5 12 5 12 20 8 2 9 10 9 15
UK 3 4 4 4 4 3 10 4 14 34 32 6
Asia
Afghanistan 184 168 168 148 106 124 168 163 189 184 179 174
Bangladesh 150 134 162 88 60 158 164 161 179 173 167 159
Bhutan 152 152 130 110 114 72 139 139 153 170 164 156
Cambodia 155 140 128 161 135 110 154 166 173 144 135 138
China 78 72 57 62 55 42 87 89 77 106 98 99
India 125 119 87 58 55 38 145 147 141 158 147 150
Malaysia 40 32 43 20 16 40 57 52 42 109 96 93
Maldives 95 92 77 120 127 82 74 60 102 84 90 55
Myanmar 160 141 129 181 154 139 190 190 182 127 127 124
Nepal 164 153 126 141 125 69 167 171 172 163 152 153
Pakistan 156 146 136 106 100 65 135 131 146 175 168 171
Philippines 88 78 41 71 49 19 110 118 97 67 78 59
Sri Lanka 115 111 94 101 97 80 116 120 134 120 107 103
Thailand 92 76 46 67 67 26 103 94 76 104 66 78
Vietnam 83 90 105 95 79 115 69 79 120 116 114 100
Bottom 5
Sierra Leone 186 177 167 170 189 152 177 179 178 183 169 174
Haiti 187 169 n/a 185 181 181 160 135 155 181 161 157
Niger 188 183 174 160 172 189 180 184 170 189 183 181
Chad 189 182 169 182 181 186 181 177 187 186 180 170
Somalia 190 184 n/a 167 n/a 190 189 183 168 190 n/a 190
*e-readiness index (179 countries)
Source: Compiled from UN (2012), UN (2010) and UN (2005)
It is of interest to point out that the Netherlands and the UK did not figure in the top
category in 2010. Moreover, neither the top three countries nor the bottom 5 today
belonged to their respective groups seven years back in 2005.6 Niger, ranked 174 out
of 179 in 2005, is one of the exceptional cases in the sense that it has continued to
6 At that time, the US, Denmark and Sweden topped the index. The bottom five (current ranking) were
Palau (113), Micronesia (Federation States of) (127), Marshall Islands (146), Tuvalu (134) and Nauru
(141).

11
remain “e-trapped,” a trend captured by the deterioration in its sub-indices.
However, there is another side to the same coin which shows the problems in terms
of interpreting statistics for policy decision-making purposes.
In 2012, Bangladesh ranked 150th in the EGDI with the following scores in its sub-
indices: total index value, i.e., EGDI: 0.2991, of which, online service component:
0.4444; telecommunications index: 0.0641; and, human capital index: 0.3889.
Interestingly, when Bangladesh ranked 134th in 2010, the score was as follows: EGDI:
0.3028; online service component: 0.1209; telecommunications index 0.0109; human
capital index 0.1710. Thus, it is evident that despite witnessing improvements in the
sub-indices, Bangladesh’s rank did not move up the ladder due to the changed
methodological approach. In other words, although Bangladesh’s score improved, it
was not sufficient vis-à-vis other UN member states’ performance.
Between 2005 and 2010, only 4 countries in Asia witnessed an overall positive change
in their EGDI rankings. These were South Korea (from 5 to 1), Malaysia (43 to 32),
Vietnam (105 to 109), and Bangladesh (162 to 134). The latter registered the most
significant progress in this period supported by the remarkable improvements in all its
sub-indices, barring the human capital sub-index. What is noteworthy is Bangladesh’s
robust progress in the online service sub-index where it improved by 98 places to
reach 60 in 2010, from 158 in 2005. Vietnam, Malaysia and Afghanistan also saw
some positive developments in this regard. In the technological infrastructure sub-
index, Maldives and Vietnam achieved the highest development in this period,
moving by 42 and 41 places (102 to 60 and 120 to 79), respectively. Cambodia, China,
India, Nepal, Pakistan and Thailand were able to post some marginal progress in the
human capital sub-index.
For the two-year period between 2010 and 2012, Vietnam stands out in the Asian
group of countries, registering a move forward by 7 places (from 90 to 83) in the
latest EGDI rankings. Bhutan’s position remained the same at 152 from 2010 to
2012. Bangladesh witnessed a serious decline in its overall ranking (from 134 to 150),
alongside deterioration in all sub-indices’ rankings, in particular, the online service
sub-index. Only Maldives and Bhutan posted positive changes in this sub-index. In
the technological infrastructure sub-index, Cambodia, China, India, Nepal,
Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam registered progress. Maldives and Philippines
made some progress in the human capital index, with all other Asian countries
registering a negative trend of development.

12
3. ICT4D Indicators: A Strategy for Bangladesh
It is evident from the preceding discussion that there is heterogeneity in indicators
and that they have limitations with regards to their design and conception. It portrays
a pessimistic outlook for the countries in Asia at a time when it is being argued by
global economists that the economic centre of gravity is shifting to this region. In
2012, Bangladesh ranked low at 150th in the EGDI; however, the country was
identified in the category of countries with populations larger than 100 million that
have made a special effort to improve service delivery to large swathes of their
populations (UN 2012: 42). Bangladesh was positioned alongside the US, China,
India, Brazil, Japan and other giant economies (ibid). The low overall ranking is also
not a reflection of the Bangladesh’s performance in the online service index.
In this section, we discuss a set of ICT4D indicators, presented in Annex II, from the
Bangladesh perspective. We also outline some new roles and partnerships by drawing
on the views and opinions shared by public and private experts at the Roundtable
discussion. Thus, we identify new strategies which we hope will be useful in guiding
the data collection and reporting process informing global e-indices, and at the same
time, pave the way for working towards a set of home-grown ICT4D indicators to
capture Bangladesh’s transformation to the envisaged Digital Bangladesh vision.
3.1 Global indicators
The “Partnership on Measuring ICT4D” was launched in 2004 to improve the
availability of internationally comparable ICT statistics (hereafter Partnership).7 The
annex to the latest report details the 53 indicators that are included in the revised and
extended version of the Partnership’s core list of ICT indicators.8 The indicators are
grouped into six categories, i.e., general information on subscriptions and prices, the
performance of business sector, adoption and usage of ICT at the household,
government and education levels, and ICT industry. The list is presented in box 1 in
7 As of November 2011, members of the Partnership were International Telecommunication Union
(ITU); Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), United Nations Conference
on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization Institute for Statistics (UIS), Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean
(ECLAC), Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Department
of Economic and Social Affairs, Eurostat and World Bank. In November 2011, the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP) secretariat of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary
Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal submitted an application for membership in the
Partnership. Pending the decision of the members, it is expected that the secretariat will become a full
member of the Partnership in 2012.
8 The report is available online at http://unstats.un.org/unsd/statcom/doc12/2012-12-ICT-E.pdf
(Accessed on 13/01/2013).

13
Annex I. The main purpose of the core list is to help countries that collect (or are
planning to collect) ICT statistics to produce high quality and internationally
comparable data. The overarching objective is to enable index construction and
rationalisation of the different categories. This is imperative from the perspective that
monitoring and cross-country comparisons are required to be able to go beyond the
outcome variable and capture changes that cause those impacts, including policy and
ICT infrastructure environment.
The Core ICT Indicators was first launched by the Partnership on 15 November 2005,
at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Tunis. It is to be borne
in mind here that any data used in constructing an index should be able to
withstand independent testing and verification. In the following analysis, we build
the discussion on a set of 138 indicators under seven broad categories. The list of
indicators aspires to be as inclusive as possible by incorporating as many “users” as
feasible to make it relevant for the broadest group of nations possible. By the same
token, it incorporates a framework that is amiable to developing country contexts
by acknowledging the role that public access can play in accelerating the pace of
socio-economic development. In particular, the LIRNEasia’s indicators, focusing on
the impact of mobile phones enabled public services at the bottom of the pyramid
in five countries of South Asia, is suggested for designing a set of indicators
depicting ICT4D transformation in developing countries like Bangladesh (see table
7 in Annex II).
One may speculate here whether there is a need to devote resources and time in
designing a set of home-grown indicators. Zambrano and Seward (2013), in an
UNDP report, cite the a2i’s programme as possessing the strongest sustainable pro-
poor linkages among the reported projects. “The a2i programme in Bangladesh
bridges the three core e-governance components of e-administration, e-service
delivery and e-participation. It has developed a strong policy environment for the
spread of ICTs and supported the launching of 4,501 service centres across the
country...to foster better service delivery to many previously underserved areas,
undergirding a strong pro-poor focus,” (ibid: 45). However, such positive reporting is
neither being reflected by the existing national nor global indicators (as discussed in
section 2) for measuring ICT4D impacts in Bangladesh.
3.2 ICT4D indicators for Bangladesh: A proposal
It is to be highlighted here that the 10-year national Perspective Plan builds upon the
Constitution of Bangladesh, particularly in relation to the articles concerning people’s
rights and provision. The Plan affirmed that “in the 21st Century, comparative
advantage will become much less a function of natural resource endowment (such as
coal or iron) and capital-labour ratios; it will be much more a function of technology

14
and skills. Natural physical endowment and history will play a much smaller role;
human ingenuity, ideas and skill will play a much larger role.” (GED 2010: 84). The
National ICT Policy 2009 has produced a detailed and time-bound action plan of 306
activities. These are to be implemented in the short-term, medium-term (5 years) and
long-term (10 years).
The following strategic goals have been articulated by the Perspective Plan, based on,
among others, the National ICT policy.
• Facilitate quality education for disadvantaged sections of the population, by
innovative application of ICT technologies.
• Create stimulating environments for educational excellence.
• Improve the quality of gender-responsive health care for the rural poor by
developing computer-based medical consultation systems and installing them in
upazila hospitals.
• Generate employment by making ICT literacy available particularly to young men
and women in disadvantaged parts of the country.
• Ensure the effective utilisation of resources such as computers, Internet
connectivity, and industrial complexes by close monitoring using ICT tools and
processes.
• Improve tele-density to bring most of the population under the ICT umbrella.
Activities will include the introduction of e-community centres.
• Building the infrastructure for high-speed Internet and related support services
such as telemedicine should be a major goal.
• Give appropriate importance to indigenous technology and inspire local
technology through appropriate import and export policies.
• Establish Bangladesh as a business process outsourcing destination.
• Ensure universal connectivity.
• Promote new technologies, value added services, content generation and
promote/facilitate content service providers.
• Rationalise the taxation policy for a range of ICT equipment, alongside the
pricing and licensing systems for Internet services.
The Perspective Plan envisages that by implementing plans set out in this strategic
document, Bangladesh will move towards a poverty free, middle-income, prosperous
country status. The SFYP, on the other hand, lists 35 indicators for monitoring and
evaluating its implementation. It has estimated that the vision of knowledge based
economy would consume about 1 per cent of the total expenditure under the Plan.
These are placed under the “Development Results Framework” (DRF) category.
There are nine DRFs of which, two are directly pertinent for the present report, i.e.,

15
ICT and governance.9 It is to be pointed out here that because the Plan has provided
broad level indicators, sector-focused ICT indicators under broad categories need to
be established to monitor and track the ICT4D transformation.
The outcome forecasted under the ICT DRF needs to be further expanded to
incorporate the objectives of the Perspective Plan. For instance, there could be usage
indicators to better highlight the impact of ICTs on the social setting. Similarly,
although service delivery is mentioned as one of the outcomes under the governance
DRF, it falls short of prescribing a specific indicator to take into cognisance the role
of ICTs. Such an absence may undermine evaluation of ICTs influence because it
does not take into consideration the IT enabled public services which are already in
operation (e-Purjee, land records, examination results, etc).
Tables 1-7 in Annex II present a total of 138 indicators. It has identified some
possible sources of information and the data collection method. The tables at the end
of this report include all the 53 indicators identified by the Partnership and propose
an additional 85 indicators for tracking Bangladesh’s performance in the ICT context.
The proposed indicators track the adoption and usage ICT tools and assess their
socio-economic implications. They also take into consideration the gender dimension,
as argued by Jensen and Amy (2009). However, the major challenge to having sex-
differentiated statistics and indicators on ICT is that few sources collect such data.
Not many government organisations collect national ICT statistics in a consistent and
regular manner; of those that do, very few provide a breakdown by gender. It is vital
that countries have these data in an increasingly globalised world and in order to
ensure that the Information Society that develops is equitable and non-discriminatory.
The indicators are grouped under seven categories, and have incorporated the gender
aspect of ICT4D: infrastructure and affordability; ICT at the household, business,
government (civil service, judiciary and law enforcement, and parliament), social
sectors (education, health, agriculture and land management, social safety nets, climate
change), and mobile usage (a LIRNEasia model). In principle, modalities should be
adopted so that categories can be compared across indices. This would also allow
indices to be built up from agreed upon categories without having to reinvent the
wheel each time. The majority of the indicators belong to the social sector category,
which is in line with the objective of the present report. They include indicators for
measuring the objective of ICT4D in relation to education and health sectors.
The indicators also present new and innovative sectoral measures. For instance, one
of the key recommendations put forward by the Commission on Information and
9 Income and poverty, human resource development, water and sanitation, energy and infrastructure,
gender equality, environmental sustainability, ICT, urban, and governance.

16
Accountability (CoIA) for Women's and Children's Health was that by 2015, all
countries should have integrated the use of ICTs in their national health information
systems and health infrastructure. The Directorate General Health Service (DGHS),
under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, shared the draft “Revised
Operational Plan” with the a2i, which helped to design a set of new indicators for this
particular sector.
We have also presented a set of indicators, drawing on Samarajiva (2012), for tracking
the usage of mobile phones at the bottom of the pyramid, because nearly 70 per cent
of the population today in Bangladesh own a mobile phone. In general, a2i’s SPDB
was the key in identifying new sector-specific indicators measuring ICT’s impact. It is
to be noted here that Bangladesh was identified as one of the top 30 outsourcing
countries in the world and developing a set of home-ground indicators is impeding
because it would serve to provide prompt policy response in the face of rapid
technological or organisational changes.
Further works, nevertheless, will need to be carried out by concerned stakeholders to
give effect to the suggested ICT4D indicators. In particular, the newly formed
Statistics and Informatics Division (SID) will need to play a proactive role in
completing and finalising the suggested list of indicators. Below, we outline some
suggestions put forward by participants at the Roundtable discussion.
3.3 Institutionalising ICT4D tracking
There is consensus that there should be a research contact group (RCG), consisting of
representatives from the government, private sector, civil society organisations
(CSOs) and academia which would work towards incorporating national plans and
strategies’ targets in suggesting a set of home-grown indicators for Bangladesh.
Tracking ICT expenditure in national surveys (household and labour force) and
aligning home-grown indicators with the SFYP will allow greater public sector
ownership. The national statistical office (NSO), i.e., the BBS, could also consider
adopting the “Real Access Framework” by using the existing indices. The RCG could
begin its operation by reviewing the proposed list of indicators attached at the end of
this report, which would also help to identify key partners for tracking Bangladesh’s
digital transformation. It is very important that the BBS and SID maintain regular
communication with other public agencies and private sector actors in terms of data
collection so that there is a constant data feeding and modification process.
As a result of the ICTs descendant on the institutional and market processes, there is
general agreement that it has also become important to reconsider traditional survey
techniques. There is an online system for submission of industrial information/data
although industries have yet to fully respond to this initiative. Implementation of the

17
National Strategy for the Development of the Statistics (NSDS), a holistic approach
covering the entire National Statistical System (NSS), will require the support of the
IT world in Bangladesh so that it is able to overcome the limitations with regard to
providing information. It is proposed that the sources of information be identified
through local mapping and subsequently, indicators be tailored to reflect local
environment in order to better inform policymaking decisions. Home-grown
indicators should draw upon and blend in existing indicators which would require
solid methodology to be able to cope with developments in both social and
technological avenues.
In strengthening the SID, which is at its infancy stage, five key partners have been
identified. the Ministry of Planning, the Ministry of Information and Communication
Technology (MoICT), the Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC), the Ministry of
Information (MoI), and the a2i. The purpose of the present report is to establish a
mechanism to develop and regularly update the method and regularly collect and
process relevant data; interpret and disseminate the findings – with policy briefs for
the government as well as how and where to integrate supports. Such an exercise will
draw upon both private and public sectors’ stakeholders.

18
4. Conclusion
This report has traced the performance of Bangladesh in the three most widely used
global e-indices. The discussion has revealed that there are both demand-side and
supply-side problems associated with the data feeding process. In conclusion, we
suggest five areas of research work which could be undertaken for assisting the
government in designing its individual e-indices for each category.
• A study on detailed indicators and their categories to identify which international
index/indices most closely corresponds with the Bangladesh national vision for e-
development. These will need to be tracked on a regular basis.
• The aforesaid study will identify which data to feed to which organisation and
how. Bangladesh fares worse relative to competing nations in some
indices simply because data cannot be provided with regard to the progress
information to the appropriate monitoring organisations.
• A study may be undertaken to devise strategies for moving Bangladesh up in
rankings in global e-indices methodically over the years, setting some short-term
targets to be undertaken under the SFYP. This would call for two further actions:
(i) a study on Bangladesh’s development bandwidth (nations above and below);
and, (ii) taking aggressive measures in addressing the current weaknesses of
ICT4D indicators.
• A report on aligning the National ICT Policy and e-Service projects in different
ministries with the above-mentioned strategy, without compromising the national
vision for e-development
• A study on designing a methodology, by drawing on the three discussed e-indices,
for tracking national transformation towards Information Society.
One of the WEF reports, titled, The Future of Government: Lessons Around the World, argued
that “to be efficient in today’s complex, interlinked and fast-changing environment,
governments need to redesign their structures and processes to capitalise on a new set
of actors and tool” (WEF 2011: 5). This underlines the importance of introducing
changes in the established institutional processes guiding social interactions through
technological change. Today, governments around the world are investing large budgets
and significant time in estimating their level of e-readiness. It is suggested that more
studies in developing countries to be undertaken that would include both the macro and
micro levels, in order to formulate a more refined version with regard to the state of “e”
affairs in a society. The use of ICT could emerge as one of the political agendas in the
political parties’ manifestos in the immediate term, if one is able to showcase its
necessity for development in the context of Bangladesh. The political implications of
tracking socio-economic transformation under the Digital Bangladesh vision, by
engaging the global development community, merit a separate discussion which is
beyond the scope of this present report.

19
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21
Annex I: Partnership’s List of ICT4D Indicators
Box 1: Measuring Information Society
• A1 Fixed telephone lines per 100 inhabitants
• A2 Mobile cellular telephone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants
• A3 Fixed Internet subscribers per 100 inhabitants
• A4 Fixed broadband Internet subscribers per 100 inhabitants
• A5 Mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants
• A6 International Internet bandwidth per inhabitant (bits/second/inhabitant)
• A7 Percentage of the population covered by a mobile cellular telephone network
• A8 Fixed broadband Internet access tariffs per month in USD and as a percentage of monthly per capita
income
• A9 Mobile cellular telephone prepaid tariffs per month in USD and as a percentage of monthly per capita
income
• A10 Percentage of localities with public Internet access centres (PIACs)
• HH1 Proportion of households with a radio
• HH2 Proportion of households with a television
• HH3 Proportion of households with telephone
• HH4 Proportion of households with a computer
• HH5 Proportion of individuals who used a computer in the past 12 months
• HH6 Proportion of households with Internet access
• HH7 Proportion of individuals who used the Internet in the past 12 months
• HH8 Location of individual use of the Internet in the past 12 months
• HH9 Internet activities undertaken by individuals in the past 12 months
• HH10 Proportion of individuals who used a mobile cellular telephone in the past 12 months
• HH11 Proportion of households with access to the Internet by type of access
• HH12 Frequency of individual use of the Internet in the past 12 months
• B1 Proportion of businesses using computers
• B2 Proportion of persons employed routinely using computers
• B3 Proportion of businesses using the Internet
• B4 Proportion of persons employed routinely using the Internet
• B5 Proportion of businesses with a Web presence
• B6 Proportion of businesses with an Intranet
• B7 Proportion of businesses receiving orders over the Internet
• B8 Proportion of businesses placing orders over the Internet
• B9 Proportion of businesses using the Internet by type of access
• B10 Proportion of businesses with a local area network (LAN)
• B11 Proportion of businesses with an Extranet
• B12 Proportion of businesses using the Internet by type of activity
• ICT1 Proportion of total business sector workforce involved in the ICT sector
• ICT2 ICT sector share of gross value added
• ICT3 ICT goods imports as a percentage of total imports
• ICT4 ICT goods exports as a percentage of total exports
• ED1 Proportion of schools with a radio used for educational purposes
• ED2 Proportion of schools with a television used for educational purposes
• ED3 Proportion of schools with a telephone communication facility
• ED4 Learners-to-computer ratio in schools with computer-assisted instruction
• ED5 Proportion of schools with Internet access by type of access
• ED6 Proportion of learners who have access to the Internet at school
• ED7 Proportion of learners enrolled at the post-secondary level in ICT-related fields

22
• ED8 Proportion of ICT-qualified teachers in schools
• EG1 Proportion of persons employed in central Government organisations routinely using computers
• EG2 Proportion of persons employed in central Government organisations routinely using the Internet
• EG3 Proportion of central Government organisations with a local area network (LAN)
• EG4 Proportion of central Government organisations with an Intranet
• EG5 Proportion of central Government organisations with Internet access, by type of access
• EG6 Proportion of central Government organisations with a Web presence
• EG7 Selected Internet-based online services available to citizens, by level of sophistication of service
Source: Rue (2011).

23
Annex II: A Proposal for Mapping Data Collection for ICT Indicators
(Partnership’s 53 indicators)
Table 1: Core indicators on ICT infrastructure and access
Code Indicator Possible
Source
Collection method
A 1. Fixed telephone lines per 100 inhabitants BTCL Administrative records
A 2. Mobile cellular subscribers per 100 inhabitants BTCL Administrative records
A 3. Fixed Internet subscribers per 100 inhabitants BTCL Administrative records
A 4. Fixed broadband Internet subscribers per 100 inhabitants BTCL Administrative records
A 5. Mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants BTCL Administrative records
A 6. International Internet bandwidth per inhabitant
(bits/second/inhabitant)
BTCL Administrative records
A 7. Percentage of population covered by mobile cellular
telephony/ telephone network
A 8. Internet access tariffs per month in US$, and as a
percentage of per capita income
A 9. Mobile cellular tariffs (100 minutes of use per month), in
US$, and as a percentage of per capita income
MoPT/BTRC Administrative records
A 10. Percentage of localities with public Internet access centres
(PIACs):
a. Number of inhabitants
b. Location (rural/urban/etc)
MoICT/a2i-
UISCs
Administrative
records (partial)
A 11. Proportion of households with electricity LFS & HIES
2010,
Population
Census 2011
Survey, Census
A 12. Computers per 100 inhabitants HIES 2010 Survey
A 13. Internet subscribers per 100 inhabitants MoPT Administrative records
A 14. Broadband Internet subscribers per 100 inhabitants BTCL Administrative records
A 15. Number of Internet service providers (ISPs), and access
lines in proportion to total population
MoPT/ BTCL Administrative records
Table 2: Core indicators on access, and use of, ICT by households and individuals
Code Indicator Possible source Collection
method
HH 1. Proportion of households with a radio HIES 2010/SC Survey
HH 2. Proportion of households with a TV HIES 2010/SC Survey
HH 3. Proportion of households with
a. Any telephone
b. Fixed line telephone
c. Mobile cellular telephone only
d. Both fixed and mobile cellular telephones
HIES 2010/SC Survey
HH 4. Proportion of households with a computer HIES 2010/SC Survey
HH 5. Proportion of individuals who used a computer (from
any location) in the last 12 months
NA
HH 6. Proportion of households with Internet access at home HIES 2010 Survey

24
HH 7. Proportion of individuals who used the Internet in the
last 12 months
HIES 2010/SC, LFS
2010
Survey
HH 8. Location of individual use of the Internet in the last 12
months:
a. Home, work, school, etc
b. Another person’s home
c. Community Internet access facility (UISCs, etc)
d. Commercial Internet access
e. Any place via a mobile cellular telephone
f. Any place via other mobile access devices
TBD Survey
HH 9. Internet activities undertaken by individuals in the last 12
months
a. Getting information about goods or services
b. Getting information related to agriculture, education,
and other social services
c. Getting information from general government
organisations
d. Interacting with general government organisations
e. Sending or receiving e-mail
f. Telephoning over the Internet/VoIP
g. Posting information or instant messaging
h. Purchasing or ordering goods and services
i. Internet banking
j. Education or learning activities
k. Playing or downloading video games or computer
games
l. Downloading movies, images, music, watching TV or
video, or listening to radio or music
m. Downloading software
n. Reading or downloading online newspapers or
magazines, electronic books
TBD TBD
HH 10. Proportion of individuals who used a mobile cellular
telephone in the last 12 months
TBD TBD
HH 11. Proportion of households with access to the Internet by
type of access:
a. Narrowband
b. Fixed broadband
c. Mobile broadband
TBD Survey
HH 12. Frequency of individual access to the Internet in the last
12 months
a. At least once a day
b. At least once a week but not every day
c. Less than once a week
TBD Survey, SC
HH 13. Share of marginalised population having access to
information and services through PIACs
TBD TBD

25
Table 3: Core indicators on use of ICT in business (e-commerce)
source
Collection
method
B 1. Proportion of businesses using computers TBD TBD
B 2. Proportion of person employed routinely using computers TBD TBD
B 3. Proportion of businesses using Internet TBD TBD
B 4. Proportion of person employed routinely using the Internet TBD TBD
B 5. Proportion of businesses with a web presence TBD TBD
B 6. Proportion of businesses with an intranet TBD TBD
B 7. Proportion of businesses receiving orders via the Internet TBD TBD
B 8. Proportion of businesses placing orders via the Internet TBD TBD
B 9. Proportion of businesses using the Internet by type of access:
a. Narrowband
b. Fixed broadband
c. Mobile broadband
TBD TBD
B 10. Proportion of businesses with a Local Area Network (LAN) TBD TBD
B 11. Proportion of businesses with an extranet TBD TBD
B 12. Proportion of businesses using the Internet by type of activity
a. Sending and receiving email
b. Telephoning over the Internet/VoIP
c. Posting information or instant messaging
d. Getting information about goods or services
e. Getting information from general government organisations
f. Interacting with general government organisations
g. Internet banking
h. Accessing other financial services
i. Providing customer services
j. Delivering products online
k. Staff training
TBD TBD
B 13. Proportion of business income attributable to receiving orders via the
Internet or web
TBD TBD
B 14. Type of activities undertaken to receiving orders via the Internet or web
(both back-end and front-end)
TBD TBD
Table 4: Core ICT indicators for social sectors: education, health, agriculture and land
management, social safety net programmes, and climate change
source
Collection
method
Education
ED 1. Proportion of schools with a radio used for educational purposes TBD Institutional
Survey
ED 2. Proportion of schools with a television used for educational purposes TBD Institutional
Survey
ED 3. Proportion of schools with a telephone communication facility TBD Institutional
Survey
ED 4. Learners-to-computer ratio in schools with computer-assisted
instruction
TBD Institutional
Survey
ED 5. Proportion of schools with Internet access by type of access: TBD Institutional

26
a. Any Internet access
b. Access by fixed narrowband only
c. Access by fixed broadband only
d. Both fixed narrowband and broadband access
Survey
ED 6. Proportion of learners who have access to the Internet at school TBD Institutional
Survey
ED 7. Proportion of learners enrolled at the post-secondary level in ICT-
related fields
TBD Institutional
Survey
ED 8. Proportion of ICT of qualified teachers in secondary and tertiary level TBD Institutional
Survey
ED 9. Proportion of schools with electricity TBD Institutional
survey
ED 10. Percentage of primary and secondary schools having internet access
for students
TBD Institutional
Survey
ED 11. Percentage of students enrolled in tertiary education having Internet
access for students for study purposes
TBD Institutional
Survey
ED 12. Percentage of enrolled students to PC (in primary, secondary and
tertiary education)
TBD Institutional
Survey
ED 13. Percentage of students enrolled in tertiary in an ICT field or an ICT
dominate field (of total number of students, by gender)
TBD Institutional
Survey
ED 14. Percentage of tertiary education institutions with e-learning courses
(of the total number of tertiary education
TBD Institutional
Survey
ED 15. For what purpose do students/teachers use computers/Internet
(percentage for e- mail, research, employment opportunities,
application software, etc.
TBD Institutional
Survey
ED 16. Access to international research materials at the secondary and tertiary
level
TBD TBD
ED 17. Number of multimedia classrooms in proportion to total
classrooms/students/teachers
TBD TBD
Health
H 1. Geographic distribution of health institutions with computer,
telephone and Internet connectivity
TBD Survey
H 2. Per cent of health professionals who use ICTs for medical purpose TBD Survey
H 3. For what purpose do health professionals use the Internet
a. Tele-medicine
b. e-Mail
c. Research
d. Health information
e. Continuing medical education or distance learning
f. Health promotion (including health information systems), database,
software applications, etc.)
TBD Survey
H 4. Proportion of government health facilities submitting timely and
adequate report as specified by the HIS
TBD Survey
H 5. Number of health facilities having specially design telemedicine
centres
TBD Survey
H 6. Number of health facilities using video/audio conferencing TBD Survey
H 7. Number of health facilities using mobile phone health service in the
upazila hospitals
TBD Survey
H 8. Number of upazila health complexes providing tele-consultation
services
TBD TBD
H 9. Number of non-government heath organisations providing tele- TBD TBD

27
consultation services
H 10. Number of community clinics providing tele-consultation services TBD TBD
H 11. Number of government health organisations using ICT TBD TBD
Agriculture and land management
ALM 1. Number of on-line consultation and diagnosis for crop, veterinary and
aquaculture problems, gender disaggregated
TBD TBD
ALM 2. Number of days required to disseminate new technology/skills to
field
TBD TBD
ALM 3. Number of women directly involved in agriculture TBD TBD
ALM 4. Number of public organisations that uses a computerised land
management system
TBD TBD
ALM 5. Number of municipalities/city-corporations leveraging computerised
revenue management system
TBD TBD
ALM 6. Percentage of citizen who make on-line payment of land tax TBD TBD
ALM 7. Number of days required for completion of land registration and
mutation process
TBD TBD
ALM 8. Number of citizen who accessed land records/information on line TBD TBD
Social safety nets
SSN 1. NPR created and actual number of vulnerable and marginalised
population is identified by category
TBD TBD
SSN 2. Level of match between vulnerable population database and actual
beneficiaries of SSN programmes
TBD TBD
SSN 3. Share of graduation of beneficiaries from vulnerable groups to
mainstreamed population
TBD TBD
SSN 4. Share of G2C payments that are happening electronically and mobile
technology
TBD TBD
SSN 5. Share of population having access to some form access to banking TBD TBD
Climate change
CC 1. Number of successful evacuation after an area is indentified as hot-
spot for next erosion
TBD TBD
CC 2. Number of people who have received early warning through cell
broadcasting and community radio
TBD TBD
CC 3. Number of women who have directly received early warning TBD TBD
CC 4. CO2 emission per capita TBD TBD
CC 5. Number of citizens involved in environmental monitoring and
reporting using ICT tools
TBD TBD
Table 5: Core indicators on ICT in government (e-government)
Code Indicators Possible
Source
Collection
method
Civil service
eG 1. Proportion of persons employed in government organisations routinely
using computers
a2i Survey
eG 2. Proportion of persons employed in government organisations routinely
using the Internet
a2i Survey
eG 3. Proportion of government organisations with a Local Area Network
(LAN)
a2i Survey
eG 4. Proportion of government organisations with an intranet a2i Survey
eG 5. Proportion of government organisations with Internet access (type) a2i Survey

28
eG 6. Proportion of government organisations with a web presence a2i Survey
eG 7. Selected Internet-based services available to citizens, by level of
sophistication of service
a. Number of citizens benefiting from e-services
b. Number of active e-services
c. Customer satisfaction rating on public service delivery
a2i Survey
eG 8. Percentage of government organisations using searchable databases for
administrative decision making
a2i Survey
eG 9. Percentage of civil servants who championed ICT-enabled service
delivery in the last 12 months
a2i Survey
eG 10. Percentage of civil servants using ICT-based communication within the
government
a2i Survey
eG 11. Percentage of civil servants using ICT-based knowledge management
within the government
a2i Survey
eG 12. Number and share of local government institutions connected into high
speed inter-agency network
a2i Survey
eG 13. Number and share of local government institutions with information
management system at the back-end
a2i Survey
eG 14. Number and share of local government institutions with front-end one-
stop service delivery points
a2i Survey
Judiciary and law enforcement
JLE 1. Number of cases disposed of where the case process management is
digitised
TBD TBD
JLE 2. Number of e-Services that were introduced ensuring citizens access to
case related information
TBD TBD
JLE 3. Number of village courts using ICTs AVCB TBD
JLE 4. Number of citizens who received all/ some of the above e-Services TBD TBD
JLE 5. Number of cases of which all documents were recorded and preserved
digitally.
PRP TBD
JLE 6. Number of police stations where the process management is digitised PRP TBD
JLE 7. Number of e-Services that were introduced ensuring citizens access to
case related information
PRP TBD
JLE 8. Number of citizens who received all/ some of the above e-Services PRP TBD
Parliament
P 1. Access to, and use of ICT tools, by MPs for internal parliamentary
activities
IDPD TBD
P 2. Number of MPs using ICT tools to communicate with constituents IDPD TBD
P 3. Number of parliamentary debates or records accessible in their entirety
to the citizens
IDPD TBD
P 4. Number of incidences of citizens contacting their MPs or the
Parliamentary Secretariat through ICT tools
IDPD TBD

29
Table 6: Core indicators on ICT industry
source
Collection
method
ICT 1. ICT industry total income TBD Compilation
ICT 2. Production of domestic ICT goods and services: share in gross
value added
TBD Compilation
ICT 3. Trade in ICT goods and services
a. As a percentage of total exports
b. As a percentage of total imports
c. As a percentage of GDP
Foreign Trade
Statistics, BBS
Complied
statistics
ICT 4. Research and experimental development (R&D) expenditure TBD TBD
ICT 5. Type of R&D performed by the ICT industry TBD TBD
ICT 6. ICT industry employment LFS Survey
ICT 7. Access to, and use of ICT by youth TBD TBD
ICT 8. Number of young people having recognised computer use
certifications (e.g. ICDL)
TBD TBD
ICT 9. Number of young people being employed in service delivery
through ICT
TBD TBD
ICT 10. Number of ICT related (software/hardware/IT Enabled Services)
start-ups
TBD TBD
Table 7: Core indicators on Mobile usage
Code Indicators Possible
source
Collection
method
MU 1. Make phone calls LIRNEasia TBD
MU 2. Receive phone calls LIRNEasia TBD
MU 3. Send/receive missed calls LIRNEasia TBD
MU 4. Send/receive SMS
a. Private
b. Public information
c. Tracking applications and others
LIRNEasia TBD
MU 5. Send/receive MMS LIRNEasia TBD
MU 6. Send/receive e-mail LIRNEasia TBD
MU 7. Browse the Internet LIRNEasia TBD
MU 8. Entertainment (take photos/video, radio, music, etc) LIRNEasia TBD
MU 9. Share that you have content created LIRNEasia TBD
MU 10. Send/receive or download/upload other content LIRNEasia TBD
MU 11. Use as an organiser LIRNEasia TBD
MU 12. Check my bill/credit LIRNEasia TBD
MU 13. Send/receive talk time me/load LIRNEasia TBD
MU 14. Access social networking or blog applications LIRNEasia TBD

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