BASIS plans e-government institution

BASIS plans e-government institution

FAISAL MAHMUD

Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) plans to establish a national level e-government research, planning and monitoring institution, zeroing in on e-governance as the main component for the development of the information & communication technology (ICT) sector in the country. According to BASIS sources, the institution will be modelled on India’s National Institute of Smart Government. The science, information and communication technology ministry, various development agencies and ICT associations have pledged support to the initiative, sources add.

Sources say that BASIS is now jointly working with Access to Information (A2I) programme, Prime Minister’s Office, to develop a framework for the activities of the institution.

According to sources, the institute would be a rendezvous for the ICT companies, through which they could work closely with the government policymakers. They would be given the task of popularising models and cases that would enable them to work as solution providers and service delivery partners, instead of as mere vendors.

BASIS sources say the different service models, including transaction fee-based service modules (software as service) and full service outsourcing models, will be popularised in a bid to ensure regular income generation for the member-companies of BASIS throughout the year.

BASIS senior vice-president Fahim Mashroor told The Independent that after the development of the framework, the association would establish a special cell to help its members bid for government projects.

“The cell will disseminate information about new government jobs, help the members to identify partner companies (resource sharing) and provide support for preparing tender submission documents” Mashroor said.

He said the cell would regularly check the status of ongoing jobs and, on request, co-ordinate with agencies for quick clearance of payment on the lines of the public private partnership (PPP) provision.

“The cell will also have a consulting wing that will help different government departments with software requirement specification (SRS) preparation,” he added.

According to science and ICT ministry officials, the institute would act as catalyse the ICT sector complementing the government’s effort in incorporating ICT in every field of its work.

“The government is arguably the biggest buyer of ICT hardware and service. It is also the biggest potential user of such services. By setting up the e-governance institution, the government will provide the much-needed boost to the ICT sector,” science and ICT ministry secretary Abdur Rab Hauladar said.