Title: Amplify the voices of vulnerable and marginalized groups through Community Radio in Bangladesh
Source: Blog of the Association for Progressive Communications (APC)
Date (published): 28/11/2011
Date (accessed): 15/12/2011
Type of information: blog post
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
"Rural people of Bangladesh entered into an era of community broadcasting to amplify the voices of vulnerable and marginalized groups through 14 community radio stations around the country. Community Radio provides the local community access to information and through exchange of information, leads them towards empowerment. Empowerment is the process to link them to their rights, good governance and development process.

Community Radio stations are going to full transmission in Bangladesh.14 stations are pioneering to be on-air, aiming to ensure empowerment and right to information for the rural community. Community Radio Padma 89.20, Rajshahi district and Community Radio Nalta 89.20 of Satkhira district has started full transmission.
…
It can be mentioned that these Radio Stations will broadcast programs, mostly in local dialect within the people living around 17 kilometers of a Station. The Programs will cover social, economic, cultural and environmental issues.
...
Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC) is promoting the advocacy with the government in relations to community radio with other organizations since its emergence in 2000 to open-up the Community Radio in Bangladesh to address critical social issues at community level, such as poverty, social exclusion, empowerment of marginalized rural groups and catalyze democratic process in decision making and ongoing development efforts.

As a result, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh acknowledged the importance of community radio and announced the Community Radio Installation, Broadcast & Operation Policy. Bangladesh is the 2nd country in South Asia in formulating policy for Community Radio."

Title: CellBazaar: Enabling M-Commerce in Bangladesh
Authors: Ayesha Zainudeen, Rohan Samarajiva, Nirmali Sivapragasam
Pages: 16 pp.
ISBN: 1544-7529
e-ISBN: 1544-7537
Source: Information Technologies & International Development; Vol 7, Issue 3 - Mobile Telephony Special Issue, 61-76 pp.
Publisher: USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism
Date (published): 09/09/2011
Date (accessed): 13/09/2011
Type of information: Peer-reviewed article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
"E-commerce has been seen as a way to reduce friction in the marketplace. It allows larger volumes of transactions to take place than would otherwise be possible in the conventional marketplace, and it effectively expands markets while opening up opportunities for new ones. However, it is heavily dependent on physical infrastructure and other support services; these are often unavailable or inaccessible at the bottom of the pyramid (BoP) in developing markets. The rapid proliferation of mobile phones throughout these markets, along with increasingly affordable services, creates opportunity to take the benefits of such applications to the BoP segment in these markets. This article examines the case of CellBazaar, a mobile-based electronic marketplace (e-marketplace) in Bangladesh, perhaps the first of its kind to reach the BoP in a developing market. It is a real-time collection of classified advertisements accessible even through the most basic mobile phone. Taking CellBazaar as a starting point, this article explores the potential for providing a wider range of e-marketplace services, including secure payment and delivery of the goods/services traded in a country with a significant BoP population such as Bangladesh; it looks at some of the obstacles that may arise in such a setting and discusses possible solutions."

Title: Bottom of the Pyramid Expenditure Patterns on Mobile Services in Selected Emerging Asian Countries
Authors: Aileen Agüero, Aileen Agüero, Juhee Kang
Pages: 14 pp.
ISBN: 1544-7529
e-ISBN: 1544-7537
Source: Information Technologies & International Development; Vol 7, Issue 3 - Mobile Telephony Special Issue, 19-32 pp.
Publisher: USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism
Date (published): 09/09/2011
Date (accessed): 13/09/2011
Type of information: Peer-reviewed article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
"This article analyzes patterns of expenditure on mobile phone services at the bottom of the pyramid (BoP), following users in six Asian countries: Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Thailand. We examine whether mobile phone services in the selected countries display characteristics of a luxury good or those of a necessity. We first evaluate the expenditure patterns of mobile phone services among five income groups within the BoP. Then, we estimate the income elasticity of mobile phone services using Engel curves. Based on these analyses, we conclude that mobile phone services are necessities at the BoP. We also find that any increase in price or tax adds the greatest burden on the poorest of the poor. We argue that the current high tax on mobile phone services in developing countries in Asia has an adverse effect on the poor."

Title: Sustainability First: In search of telecentre sustainability
Author: Harsha Liyanage
Pages: 171 pp.
ISBN: 978-955-599-507-8
Source: BookRix
Date (published): 05/04/2011
Date (accessed): 26/07/2011
Type of information: research report
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
"Sustainability First is a research project carried out to capture the key sustainability lessons emerging from this mix of dynamic and evolving efforts, which is unique due to the involvement of such varied participants, which include grassroots leaders, corporate executives, bureaucrats, and politicians. Although the word “sustainability” implies broader social, cultural, political, and environmental aspects, the attention of the current research was focused mainly on economic sustainability. The research was carried out over nearly two years, beginning in January 2007, and involved a deeper cross-section of the telecentre ecosystem, which started with telecentre operators from individual telecentres in South Asia, Africa, and South America and extended through the senior managers of selected corporate, civil society, and government institutions in Brazil, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Although this book derives its main lessons from five key case studies, which feature ATN (Brazil), Grameenphone CIC (Bangladesh), D.Net (Bangladesh), Drishtee (India) and Sarvodaya-Fusion (Sri Lanka), the overall content of the book was not limited to those lessons, but was derived from the broader spectrum of telecentre experiences studied in Africa, Asia, and South America. This book attempts to capture the rich lessons of that relatively complex larger research study in order to uncover the key constraining factors that work against telecentre sustainability, and then to derive key strategies for success from selected telecentre networks.
...
Table of Contents
...
Preface – Sustaining Telecentres in Development Landscape
Introduction
Research Methodology
Chapter 1 Sustainability Dream – Why is it Unsustainable?
Chapter 2 Sustainability – What Makes it Possible?
Chapter 3 The Silver Lining of the Sustainability Cloud; Building partnerships for telecentre sustainability, case study – ATN, Brazil; Tapping the bottom of the pyramid, case study – Drishtee, India Exploring the knowledge market at grassroots, case study – D.Net, Bangladesh • Telecentres as a corporate social responsibility, case study – Grameenphone CIC,
Bangladesh; Evolution of a social enterprise, case study – Sarvodaya-Fusion, Sri Lanka
Chapter 4 Social Enterprise Approach to Telecentre Sustainability
Conclusion and Recommendations
Bibliography "

Title: Strategic Priorities of Digital Bangladesh: Operationalizing the ICT policy 2009
Pages: 160 pp.
Publisher: Prime Minister’s Office
Date (published): June 2010
Date (accessed): 24/07/2010
Type of information: draft
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML and pdf)
Abstract:
The prime objective of this document is to integrate the goals of Digital Bangladesh with those of key development sectors to harmonize top-level priority setting through a participatory and inclusive approach.
The primary goals of this document are to: (i) analyze the current overall situation with specific references to relevant initiatives taken so far; (ii) identify some of the key success factors behind the progress; (iii) specify the key challenges and untapped opportunities; and (iv) identify the strategic priorities by building on successful approaches and initiatives and mobilizing relevant resources and partnerships.

Title: The early experience with M-PESA and what’s not to love about an ATM made out of Legos: Headlines for April 21, 2010
Author: Jim Rosenberg
Source: CGAP: Consultative Group to Assist the Poor
Date (published): 21/04/2010
Date (accessed): 21/04/2010
Type of information: blog post
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
Ignacio Mas and Daniel Radcliffe of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have a new paper summing up the early experience with M-PESA - Mobile Payments Go Viral: M-PESA in Kenya...
As more people use electronic means to connect to each other, fewer use the post office. Media reports suggest the Bangladesh Post Office is taking a ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’ approach when it comes to mobile phones - Bangladesh Post Office introduces mobile money transfer.

Title: Let’s Talk About a Digital Transition Rather than a Digital Divide
Author: Michael Gurstein
Source: Gurstein's Community Informatics
Date (published): 02/04/2010
Date (accessed): 14/04/2010
Type of information: blog post
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
What I mean by a “Digital Transition” in this context is when a country (and this seems to be more or less a national rather than a local matter) shifts over from a pre-digital—largely manual framework of communications, information and logistics management and transaction management—to one that is digitally (generally but not exclusively Internet) based.

Title: Bangladesh takes experts to the village, via internet
Author: Mark Dummett
Source: BBC News
Publisher: BBC
Date (published): 12/03/2010
Date (accessed): 07/04/2010
Type of information: article
Language: English
On-line access: yes (HTML)
Abstract:
The government of Bangladesh has begun work on an ambitious new scheme to tackle poverty with the help of the internet. It plans to improve schools, hospitals, businesses and government services by linking them to the web by 2021.
At the moment, most villages - and even some communities in the capital Dhaka - do not even have access to electricity.
But the rapid spread of mobile phones to even the most remote and impoverished parts of the country in recent years, has shown what is possible.
"This will be a digitised nation depending on information technology, for information, for services, for all kinds of activities that individuals can do," the finance minister, Abdul Muhith, told the BBC.
"This is a simple dream, and is really workable.
"It is the ideal solution for Bangladesh's various problems. I'm sure that by 2021 the largest sector in Bangladesh is going to be information technology, not textiles and garments."

Title: Bottom of the Pyramid Expenditure Patterns on Mobile Phone Services in Selected Emerging Asian Countries
Authors: Aileen Agüero, Harsha de Silva
Pages: 29 pp.
Source: CPRsouth
Date (published): 15/12/2009
Date (accessed): 22/12/2009
Type of information: conference paper
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
This paper evaluates the importance of mobile telephone expenditure in consumer budgets of the Bottom of the Pyramid (BOP) in Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Philippines and Thailand. We examine if mobile phone services in the selected countries display characteristics of a luxury good or that of a necessity. Upon evaluating the expenditure patterns as a share of total personal income we conclude the service to be a necessity.
Welfare and poverty issues are then addressed with the estimation of Engel curves, as they show how consumption of various goods and services change with variations in the consumer’s income. We estimate Engel curves for expenditure on mobile telephone services for the BOP in the selected countries to show that mobile phones are part of everyday lives among the selected consumer group.

See also:
Presentation pdf

Title: Narratives on Digital Bangladesh: Shared Meanings, Shared Concerns
Authors: Jude Genilo, Shamsul Islam, Marium Akther
Pages: 21 pp.
Source: CPRsouth
Date (published): 15/12/2009
Date (accessed): 21/12/2009
Type of information: conference paper
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf)
Abstract:
(CPRsouth4: Speaking Truth to Power, Conference, 7 - 8 December 2009, Negombo, Sri Lanka)
One of the campaign promises of the interim Awami League government was a “Digital Bangladesh” by 2021. What the phrase exactly meant remained unclear. Political speeches offered little clues amid the jargon. Hence, some political analysts think that the government simply wanted a political slogan that associated them with modern and progressive thinking. Such was done to win over the educated and young voters, who demanded from the government a strategic emphasis on using Information and Communication Technologies. In using such a catchy slogan, however, the government placed “Digital Bangladesh” on the public agenda. Academic conferences, roundtable discussions and media stories have been executed in its name. This paper looked at the emerging narratives concerning “Digital Bangladesh” to provide some direction to the current government regarding popular consensus - particularly the shared meanings and shared concerns taking shape. It sought to answer the question: What are the understandings of Digital Bangladesh by the various sectors of society – government, business, media, academe, information technology and civil society? The paper used a qualitative, descriptive and exploratory design using the research methods of document examination, interviews and discourse analysis.

From the data, the paper illustrated that there were still no clear definitions, goals and roadmaps on Digital Bangladesh. However, there existed a consensus regarding its beneficiaries, scope, components and feasibility. The study recommended that government continue with and expand the dialogue on Digital Bangladesh, particularly in areas where there have been no clear shared meanings. Government should likewise take off from emerging consensus and address the shared concerns, especially in designing future policies.

See also:
Presentation pdf
Policy Brief pdf