Bangladesh's Digital Flagship Program a2i Places Country Closer to Becoming a Developed Nation by 2041

Dhaka, Bangladesh--(Newsfile Corp. - May 31, 2022) - Bangladesh's digital flagship program, a2i, has been revealed to play a significant role helping to bring the country toward achieving its 'Vision 2041,' which envisions the country to be a fully developed nation by the year 2041. Serving in part of the country's Digital Bangladesh Agenda, a2i acts as an innovation unit that works across the whole government and helps its citizens by creating faster, hassle-free, and reliable services.

According to a2i senior officials, Digital Bangladesh implies the contextual application of ubiquitous technologies to unlock the full potential of education, health, job placement, and poverty reduction initiatives for the poor and marginalized.

The program traces its early beginnings to the Office of the Prime Minister, originally mandated to bring about a change in civil service. With full support coming from the Government and working with global partners, the program seeks to position the government to be at the forefront of integrating new, whole-of-society approaches to achieve the SDGs.

One of its initial projects included the implementation of an empathy training program that sought to give government officials a first-hand experience of what an ordinary citizen goes through when trying to secure a government service. The success of this initiative helped usher in a new concept called the Time, Cost, Visit (TCV) Audit-a full-pledged assessment program aimed at simplifying the process of accessing services by eliminating unnecessary steps, innovating interventions to save both cost and visits for citizens. The audit also gave way to learning how to further innovate the process via the infusion of newer technologies. Perhaps of equal importance was the fact that reducing TCV provided a clear byword for innovation that civil servants at all administrative tiers - from policymakers to field officers - irrespective of ministry or domain, could easily understand and rally around.

Aggregated, citizens of Bangladesh have saved over $16 billion, nearly 12 billion workdays, and 7.5 billion visits in the last decade due to the more efficient delivery of public services alone.

Int. Communication strategist Ashfaq Zaman explains that the a2i program is primed by its mission to enable the government to be citizen-centric-a single platform that offers multiple solutions to its constituents.

To date, a2i has successfully formed key strategic partnerships with major companies and organizations.^[1]

A2i is set to be formally established as Bangladesh's national innovation agency and roll out a series of new innovations to repurpose its existing programs such as the digital centers, national helpline 333, and MyGov app in lieu with making a SMART & Innovative Bangladesh for Vision 2041, whilst also exporting the successful models to be replicated in developing countries such as Yemen, Somalia, Philippines and others.

Media Contact:

Name: Ashfaq ZamanEmail: info@a2i.gov.bd^[2]

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/125842^[3]

References

1. ^{^} a2i has successfully formed key strategic partnerships with major companies and organizations. (www.newsfilecorp.com)
2. ^{^} info@a2i.gov.bd (www.newsfilecorp.com)
3. ^{^} https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/125842 (www.newsfilecorp.com)