Everyone is enjoying the benefits of digital Bangladesh in terms of coping with coronavirus. Technology is being used to diagnose, control and identify the risk of Kovid-19 disease. Besides, chatbots, apps, websites, etc. have been created. To protect against the epidemic, two local companies are making ventilators and other medical equipment.
The National Data Analytics Task Force has been formed for information on germs. Internet bandwidth usage has increased, as has sales of certain technology products.
Aminul Hakim, president of ISPAB, an association of Internet service providers in the country, noted that bandwidth usage has increased in the country during the Corona period. He told the Bengali Tribune that the current usage is more than 1,650 Gbps. They have two submarine cable connections so there is no shortage of bandwidth. There is still plenty of bandwidth unused. Broadband Internet subscribers have grown by more than 2.3 million in the last three months. Now they think the total number of customers is more than one crore.
Concerned people say that coronavirus has advanced Bangladesh for at least a few years in terms of technological capability! They mentioned that the growth of the e-commerce sector is unimaginable. According to them, the e-commerce sector has grown more than one and a half times in the last five months in the last 10-11 years.
Buying and selling digital products online has increased. Lots of mobile phones have been sold. Many buyers are still buying their products online without going to the market with caution. Multiple online shops have been launched. Many e-commerce companies have launched physical stores. These are being considered as their pickup points to the customers. IT traders have launched shops and services in Dhaka city to deliver goods to the buyers quickly.
Junaid Ahmed Palak, State Minister for Information and Communication Technology (ICT), said the e-commerce sector has played a big role in the lockdown time and area-based lockdown. People at almost all levels now understand what e-commerce is. '
The state minister claimed that e-commerce shopping has increased by 50 percent in the last five months. He said the government has taken initiatives like Food for Nation, Ekshop to spread e-commerce across the country. During the Corona period, many people have been reached through these channels. An online digital haat is officially organized ahead of Eid-ul-Adha. Home service is being provided by processing the meat after the sacrifice is completed as per the demand of the buyer. All are the benefits of digital Bangladesh. '
The Minister of State for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) said that if such growth could be sustained, the size of the e-commerce market would be more than Tk 10,000 crore in 2025. He is hopeful that another 5 lakh jobs will be created in this sector by 2025.
Junaid Ahmed Palak thinks that the people of the country are enjoying the benefits of digital Bangladesh in the Corona situation. If there are symptoms of the corona, information is going to be given for the test by phone. There are arrangements to take online test serials to avoid the hassle. OTT (over the top) services are included, Messenger, Viber, WhatsApp are being contacted for information. By organizing various competitions (hackathons), ways have been found to provide more services to the people during Corona. The areas where the affected people are located, the areas that are at risk have been identified through those hackathons. If someone passes through that area or stays there, messages are being sent on mobile phones informing them of the risky area. '
It is learned that the government's ICT department has created various websites and chatbots following the instructions of the health department. The number of Facebook users in Bangladesh is more than three and a half crore. Messenger bots are made for a large number of users. Besides, chatbots have been created for 3.5 crores WhatsApp users and 1.5 crores Viber users in the country. Using these, necessary information is being obtained. These have been kept in Bengali for the convenience of the users.
Wahiduzzaman, an associate professor at Jahangirnagar University's Institute of Information Technology, and Rajan Hossain, a former student at the same institute, have created a special app called 'Covid Finder'.
