Bangladesh: A Surprise Digital Leader in Asia | Opinion

Bangladesh: A Surprise Digital Leader in Asia | Opinion

More than a decade ago, Bangladesh pledged to transform itself into a technologically advanced nation by 2021, the 50th anniversary of the nation's founding.Not many people believed we could do it.After all, when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina–the project's chief champion–took office in 2009, only 20 million Bangladeshis had mobile phones. But now more than 120 million Bangladeshis do, and millions more have access to high-speed connections even in remote villages. Countless lives have been improved and saved as a result.The ambitious Digital Bangladesh plan, launched in 2009, was designed to convert plodding, paper-based government services into easy-to-use internet and smartphone-based programs. E-signatures and electronic filing were widely rolled out and encouraged.It worked. The government created a network of 8,500 Digital Centers that now provide online services literally from cradle to grave. They help register births, locate jobs and provide online access to health care. Many national programs were put online. There was almost no interruption in government services when the coronavirus forced lockdowns last year.Courts continued to operate with the aid of a new judiciary portal. Farmers were able to get crucial weather updates and other data through an agricultural portal. Average citizens were kept informed about COVID-19 through now-pervasive