Dream of Digital Bangladesh and being on the verge of e-Exclusion?

E-Exclusion (also known as digital divide) - where certain people and social groups risk being excluded from the Information Age. [Online Glossary of the British Institute for Learning & Development]. And, on the flip side, E-Inclusion is overcoming the digital divide using systems developed to lesson the risk of 'e-exclusion'.

 

The role of infrastructure and communication in development of a society or civilization per se can not be over-emphasized. Since time immemorial, be it the invention of wheel or sextant, charting of trade routes to the Indian sub-continent, invention of steam engine or television – there were singularities, each dictating the course of history and spelling rise and fall of great civilizations. In their footstep has come another technology –that goes by the name ‘internet’. In its wake - the world has become a virtual workplace; communication has become effortless, real time and almost without cost; and all sorts of e-business and e-activities have flourished opening new horizons and new possibilities. Now the big question is, who will benefit from this technology, and who will lag behind and miss out on the road toward development and prosperity. Because, one thing is for sure - like its great predecessors, this phenomenon is bound to re-draw the demography of the word and thus spell out the identities of new rich and the new pariahs.

 

Now, where do we stand as a nation in terms of our readiness to book our place on this great boat? Well, during the last decade or so, we have seen a tremendous growth in mobile communication, prompting the economy to grow at a steady (though not spectacular) rate of average 5 percentage points. Unprecedented number of people have accessed internet for the first time through these mobile devices (this number is thought to be around 3 to 5 million as opposed to 1-2 million who access fixed line internet). Women folks are increasingly coming out and becoming part of the working force like never before. But, on the hind side, much of the economic prosperity is lost due to corruption and mismanagement; IT & education are still not integrated; and, most importantly, leaders & policy makers seem to be unaware of the consequence of missing out on this e-train.

Nations around the world, even the rich ones are adopting rigorous and innovative measures to ensure e-inclusion for all of their population groups. Sharing their strategies could help us devise our own plans:

 Public-private partnership will be the key: Policy of tax rebate (in VAT and corporate tax) for corporations who are participating in increasing IT –literacy among disadvantaged groups in France.

 No alternative of innovative solutions: In Portugal, they are using the money received from operators by selling Wi-max and 3G licences in promoting e-Inclusion.

 Youths have to be core to any strategy:

 ‘Education and e-inclusion’ feeds on each other: About, one thing we have to be really focused, we must not think of internet and IT as a successor or secondary to education and social uplift; rather IT should be the tool for achieving those goals. Things have become integrated and any plans for future should also be integrated.

Inauguration of Barack Obama: Does it have the same historical significance like the French Revolution or signing of the Magna Carta?

Yesterday’s inauguration of Barack H. Obama as the 44^th President of the United States is, no doubt, an event of great historical significance. But, centuries from now, will people still regard it as an event to turn the direction of human civilization? May be, may be not……

"Simple is smart" - even for mobile phones

(Source: BBC News)

New phone features 'baffle users'

The complexity of modern mobile phones is leaving users frustrated and angry, research suggests. Some 61% of those interviewed in the UK and US said setting up a new handset is as challenging as moving bank accounts. Compiled by consultants Mformation, the survey found 85% of users reporting they were frustrated by the difficulty of getting a new phone up and working. Of those questioned, 95% said they would try more new services if the technology was easier to set up. Web browsing Mformation spokesman Matthew Bancroft said users were frustrated by having to call an operator or look online for help. "There is an enormous range of things modern phones are capable of doing but the paradox is that many people are not using these capabilities," he said. Of the 4,000 people questioned for the survey, 95% said they would be more likely to use new features if the initial set-up was easier. Mr Bancroft said bad experiences turned people off trying to get more from their phone. "If an application does not work once or twice, they just will not use it or try again," he said. Some 61% of those questioned said they stopped using an application if they could not get it working straight away. Mr Bancroft said setting up a new phone should take only 15 minutes but many people were spending an hour or more to get the handset to do what they wanted. He added that most people wanted to do such tasks as browsing the web, reading e-mail, or sending picture messages, but the complexity of modern handsets was leaving them foxed. Industry work on standards for basic handset operations could help the situation, said Mr Bancroft. As phones packed in more processing power, he said, that computational ability could be used to anticipate what users were doing and help them find their way around the handset. He said operators needed to remove the frustration because new data services were likely to form a bigger part of their revenues in the future. "People are already using handsets as much as possible to do voice calls," he said.

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Lessons Learned

All new offers should be scored in a scale of User friendliness at the project concept and implementation phases. And, proposals should have a specific section on “how this offer can be made more user-friendly”.

It's the beginning!

Here I am; starting to put my thoughts in the cyberspace. Is there really anything out there? 

By throughing around the bits of my conscience, I hope to meet other minds, share ideas and at the end, synthesize something beautiful and noble.

Let's proceed....