News Title : Bangladesh one notch up on ICT Development Index

News Date : 2015-12-02

-Staff Correspondent
Bangladesh advanced one notch to 144 in this year's global ranking of the ICT Development Index from last year, reflecting its development in the digital space. Overall, the country moved up four positions since 2010, according to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) that launched the ranking on Monday. Such improvement highlights the present government's continuous efforts to digitize all the sectors by 2021 as it promised seven years ago. The country that has scored 2.22 this year out of 10, up from 1.61 five years back, however, lags behind regional peers -- Myanmar, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka in South Asia. It is only ahead of Afghanistan. This year's edition of the information society report was launched on the first day of the World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Symposium 2015 in Hiroshima, Japan. The report features key ICT data and benchmarking tools used to place the rankings in the ICT Development Index. ADVERTISEMENT The cost and affordability of ICT services were determining factors for information and communication technology uptake, the ITU said. Despite a consistent drop in prices of the services in recent times, a relatively high price of ICT services, particularly for broadband services, remains a major barrier to ICT use, as per the report. There have been substantial improvements in the affordability of broadband services since 2012, but services still are too expensive for many people in developing countries, it added. One of the key findings is that the least developed countries (LDCs) are making progress with their connectivity initiatives, said ITU Director Brahima Sanou in the report. However, only 6.7 percent of households in LDCs are having internet access this year while the figure is 46 percent worldwide and more than 80 percent in developed nations. Developing countries still lag behind developed countries in terms of access to ICTs. LDCs are particularly disadvantaged. Digital divides are found within as well as between countries, particularly between urban and rural areas. A significant digital divide persists between men and women in many countries, the report said, adding 46 percent of men and 41 percent of women globally use internet. ICTs are critically important for the development of people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented information society and for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. South Korea tops the rankings as it did in 2010.

Source