Bangladesh has maintained its progress in the ICT sector even in the year of pandemic, says Huawei’s Global Connectivity Index 2020 report. This year Bangladesh has advanced in the field of Broadband, Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in comparison to last year. And as a result, three more points have been added to Bangladesh portfolio this year.
Recently, this report has been published based on the progress of 79 economies in deploying digital infrastructure and capabilities. The goal is to provide countries and industries with authoritative, objective, quantified assessments and recommendations on digital transformation. Huawei has released this report based on based on 40 indicators under four pillar named Supply, demand, experience and potential from 2015 to 2020.
Here the countries are divided into three groups; Frontrunners, Adopters and Starters. Bangladesh is in the Starter group. The 2020 report has shown that Starters have made significant progress in broadband coverage. Their average mobile broadband penetration went up by more than 2.5 times, their 4G subscriptions increased and their mobile broadband became 25% more affordable. These achievements have enabled Starters to offer better comprehensive digital services and embrace new opportunities in economic development. In addition, their e-commerce expenditure has almost doubled since 2014. In GCI 2019 report, Bangladesh had confirmed her name on the ‘Top Movers’ by improvement & remarkable growth in digital economy in last several years.
According to the GCI 2020 report, Bangladesh has advanced eight points in the Global Connectivity Index since 2015. And among those 40 indicators, compared to last year, it has got advancement in the international Internet bandwidth and 4G connectivity in 2020. As well as the potentials of AI and IoT the have increased.
A key finding of the GCI 2020 is that the digital transformation of industries will help countries increase productivity, spur economic recovery, and develop future competitiveness. GCI research has suggested that economies which could increase productivity and go digital with intelligent connectivity generally enjoy higher gross value added (GVA) per worker or per hour worked.
It also says, full recovery from the pandemic requires two things to happen. One, it requires recovery from lockdowns and border shutdowns, so that school, work, and global trade can resume via communication and collaboration tools. Two, it requires a return to the same level of economic activity before the pandemic hit.
