Experts and stakeholders of the country鈥檚 information technology sector have expressed concern about a possible waste of Tk2,000 crore in a Tk3,000 crore project聽 proposed by the World Bank.
They said that the money could be wasted in procuring unnecessary foreign hardware, software, and training programme for the WB-proposed Strengthening Institutions for Transparency and Accountability聽project.
In a statement on Saturday, they further said that such a decision would tie聽 Bangladesh to costly foreign systems, forcing the country to spend an additional 30鈥�40 per cent of the original cost each year on maintenance fees.
Thirty-two academics, professionals, and industry representatives signed the statement.
They included Professor Mostofa Akbar of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Suman Nath, partner research manager of Microsoft, Rezwan Al Bakhtiar, chief information technology officer of Sonali Bank, Raisul Kabir, CEO of Brain Station 23, Shamim Hasnat, CEO of Rithmic Lab, Md Al-Amin Sarker Tayef, CEO of BariKoi Technologies Limited,聽 Zuberul Islam, principal engineer of Samsung Research Bangladesh, Amirul Ahsan of Western Sydney University, and Professor Swakhhar Shatabda of BRAC University.
The statement said that the Tk 3,000-crore SITA project, conditionally approved by the ECNEC and awaiting a loan agreement, was seen as a major opportunity to strengthen governance through technology.
鈥楿nder the project, over 50 key software solutions could be developed by local firms through a transparent selection process, creating five years of work for around 4,000 software engineers,鈥� the statement added.
However, the decision on procuring foreign software and training would nullify the opportunities, the statement said.
Bangladesh鈥檚 software industry faces multiple challenges as government projects are shrinking, outsourcing and startup investments declining, while the private sector is showing little interest in purchasing local software.
鈥楧espite these obstacles, no visible government initiatives were in place to support the growth of the local software industry and create employment opportunities,鈥� it said.
The experts also said that foreign companies had repeatedly failed to deliver effective software solutions in Bangladesh, citing examples of the Bangladesh Railway, National Household Database, and Gas Transmission Company Limited projects.
鈥榊et, following the World Bank recommendations and policymakers鈥� unwillingness, around Tk 2,000 crore in potential waste appears to become a part of the SITA project,鈥� the statement added.
They urged the government to utilise local IT expertise, saying that full automation was essential to curbing corruption and waste in key state sectors, including energy, railway, Rajuk, and the housing authority.
Automation could improve services such as birth registration and land mutation, while locally developed software could replace costly and maintenance-heavy foreign systems, they added.
鈥業nstead of upgrading the SAP-based integrated VAT administration system of the National Board of Revenue, developing a domestic version could save hundreds of crores of taka,鈥� the statement observed.
It also said that using artificial intelligence in tax assessment and audit systems could help detect tax evasion worth over Tk 2 lakh crore.
Experts concluded that these allocations suggest a deliberate attempt to involve foreign firms and urged the聽chief adviser, the planning adviser, and the finance adviser聽to prioritise national interests by revising the SITA project to prevent waste and ensure success.