[{"bbox": [97, 152, 1136, 284], "category": "Text", "text": "cellular network (3G or 4G) with 62% of the country's population owning mobiles phones. When it comes to disaggregated data for cellular and smart phones, the proportion of households with a cellular phone stands at 97.4% (97% in rural areas and 98.7% in urban ones) and the proportion of households with a smart phone stands at 52.2% (46.2% in rural areas and 70.2% in urban) ones. Of note, female mobile phone ownership stands at 51% and male at 72%."}, {"bbox": [97, 311, 1136, 470], "category": "Text", "text": "Districts and upazilas (urban areas) have broadband connection but not the next tiers (rural areas like unions and villages). As a result, only 8.7% households have a computer on average with a significant discrepancy between urban areas (25.6%) and rural areas (3.1%). As regards tablets, the only available statistics from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics refer to the proportion of individuals using the Internet by type of portable device and indicate that only 2% of the population access tablets using mobile cellular network and 1% using wireless networks (Wi-Fi etc.)"}, {"bbox": [97, 497, 1136, 710], "category": "Text", "text": "According to ITU, in 2021, 39% of the population used the internet out of which 33% women and 45% men. While mobile data coverage is strong, broadband connectivity is not up to the mark. Bangladesh ranked 125th among 139 countries in terms of mobile internet speed, according to the Speedtest global index released in September 2022 by Ookla²¹. While there are some ongoing projects that either focus on digital connectivity or have digital connectivity among their objectives implemented by partners such as the World Bank's Enhancing Digital Government and Economy Project (EDGE) or Digitalisation of Islands Beel and Haor (DIBH) by Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) there is still much scope for further international investment in digital connectivity."}, {"bbox": [97, 736, 1136, 870], "category": "Text", "text": "While Bangladesh leads its peer nations in providing digital access to citizens through widespread device and internet penetration, it lags peers in terms of share of population using the internet. This usage gap is majorly driven by barriers like lack of awareness and perceived utility of the internet, cultural reasons, lack of permission, and perceived security concerns. A mind-mapping workshop with JICA UDFs revealed that these barriers are deeper among senior citizens, rural residents, and non-working women.²²"}, {"bbox": [97, 895, 1136, 1135], "category": "Text", "text": "Despite the considerable increase in public e-participation (see UN's E-Participation Index statistics in section 2.1 above), broad, horizontal and targeted **public awareness on policy developments and public service initiatives has not reached its full potential.** Lack of public awareness implies insufficient or total lack of the public's understanding about the importance and implications of policies and initiatives, hampers public dialogue and consultation, and impedes adequate citizens' and civil society organisations' representation in policy and decision-making processes. This is particularly true for women and segments of the population in vulnerable situation including youth, persons with disabilities and minorities, among others. In the efforts to increase public e-participation but also public participation overall, awareness-raising is essential not only for information purposes but also for public action and partaking in the design of policies and service delivery."}, {"bbox": [97, 1163, 1136, 1218], "category": "Text", "text": "Identification of main stakeholders and corresponding institutional and/or organisational issues (mandates, potential roles, and capacities) to be covered by the action:"}, {"bbox": [92, 1243, 1136, 1403], "category": "List-item", "text": "- **Cabinet Division:** Cabinet Division is the executive office of the Prime Minister of Bangladesh. As a division of the Government of Bangladesh, it is responsible for the executive administration of the government and for ensuring smooth interaction among Cabinet Ministries. As per its mandate, Cabinet Division plays an instrumental coordination and oversight role in policy- and decision-making ensuring inter-ministerial efficiency and business continuity. It will play a key role in this Action for its strong convening, oversight and coordination role and powers."}, {"bbox": [92, 1429, 1136, 1563], "category": "List-item", "text": "- **Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Division:** ICT Division is a department of the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology of the Government's executive branch. ICT Division's main task is to develop ICT as means for digital transformation of Bangladesh focusing its efforts on improving the budget execution efficiency, mid- to long-term digital growth potential and administrative efficiency through e-government. The ICT Division is one of the major government authorities contributing to"}, {"bbox": [86, 1601, 399, 1624], "category": "Footnote", "text": "²¹ https://www.speedtest.net/global-index"}, {"bbox": [86, 1623, 903, 1647], "category": "Footnote", "text": "²² Smart Bangladesh: ICT Master Plan 2041 (https://a2i.gov.bd/a2i-missions/smart-bangladesh-vision-2041/)"}, {"bbox": [1038, 1681, 1144, 1706], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 8 of 36"}]