The hype that ‘Digital Bangladesh’ only was

A survey by the government that has trumpeted for a long time that it has created ‘Digital Bangladesh’ reveals recently that only 8.7 per cent of households in Bangladesh own a computer, pertinently pointing out the great digital divide that is present in the country. This divide appears to be more acute, when the urban and rural scenarios are compared.
According to a report of a national daily yesterday, ownership of computers in the rural household is only 3.1 per cent and while, for the urban household, it is 25.6 per cent.
The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics that conducted this study entitled “Survey of ICT Use and Access by Individuals and Households 2022” also found that the proportion of households with a mobile phone is 97.4 per cent with the highest in Dhaka and Sylhet (98.6 per cent) and the lowest in Rangpur (94.8 per cent). As far as smartphones are considered the proportion of households is 52.2 per cent with highest in Dhaka (69.4 per cent) and the lowest in Rajshahi (32 per cent).
Moreover, the proportion of households with internet by mobile broadband network via a handset is 59.8 per cent. Still, Bangladesh ranked 119th in the world for mobile speeds and 102nd for fixed broadband speeds during November 2022. All these figures point out that the government showed more ability to create the hype of a Digital Bangladesh than actually what it delivered in this regard.
Now, owning a smartphone or a computer has become even more difficult for the lower as well as middle income people as global inflation and a devalued taka against the dollar has considerably upped the prices of these essential communication tools.
When the government actually failed to reach even closer to what can be termed as a ‘digital Bangladesh’, it has come with a new slogan of ‘Smart Bangladesh’. The government’s another much hyped Doel laptop programme whose main goal was to provide students with low-cost laptops was also a great failure. However, though the slogan ‘Digital Bangladesh’ created some enthusiasm among a section of people in Bangladesh for some time, the latter one, ‘Smart Bangladesh’, has been received with instant coldness.