From the website of Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) you can find that BASIS has more than 170 members under its umbrella. These companies are either involved in software or in ITES (IT Enabled Services). Annual turnover and export income of these companies are yet to make any significant impact in the international media- this is a reality. However, it is true that Bangladesh has immense potential in this sector. One of the major problems faced by Bangladeshi software and ITES companies is good marketing. The challenge has two dimensions- to carry out effective marketing in the local market and in the international market. I am personally involved with the IT sector of Bangladesh for more than 7 years as an IT journalist and researcher. From my personal observation, I have seen that in Bangladeshi IT sector, a proper coordination between the industry and the academia is yet to take place. This is something needs to be addressed.
Another problem is that those many of the professionals who are good at marketing in Bangladesh do not have good knowledge about the IT industry and so they cannot use their talent well here. English language still is a problem as if you want to break into the international market you need a lot of highly skilled professionals who must be very good in communication in English language.
In the local market, the main challenge the software companies are facing is that the size of the market is still very small. Creating new customers is not an easy one in a society where PC penetration is still less than 2%. On the other hand, interactive websites can help the Bangladeshi software companies to present themselves more impressively in the international market.
Surely, Bangladeshi software and ITES companies have immense possibilities to shine both in the local and international market but they must become sharper as far as marketing skills are concerned.
I am totally agree with your view. There are lot of things to be done for IT movement in Bangladesh.
In our website we are introducing Science, Technology and IT related topics to motivate the young generation of Bangladesh. All the content is in Bangla. Hope that you will enjoy.
Best of luck,
Dr. Mashiur Rahman
Editor, biggani.com
Posted by: Mashiur Rahman | August 18, 2006 11:10 AM | Permalink to Comment