Sundat Special

Park spark for ICT revolution

With a US$ 5 billion Information Technology (IT) export target by 2021, the government has charted out a plan to set up 28 IT parks across the country to accelerate the IT sector’s progress, says industry insiders.
Managing director (MD) of the Hi-Tech Park Authority Hosne Ara Begum told The Independent that among the 28 IT parks, five—the Janata Tower Software Technology Park, Bangabandhu Hi-Tech City, Sheikh Hasina Software Technology Park, Rajshahi Silicon City and Sylhet Electronic City—have already started their construction work in full swing.
 
Janata Tower
Explaining the progress of the Janata Tower Software Technology Park, Hosne Ara Begum said that, as per the government’s policy, 10 start-ups had already begun operating successfully at their allocated free spaces on Level-4 at the country’s first IT Park.
“Ten new companies will be allocated space by December, replacing the previous 10 start-ups,” she said.
Currently, 15 technology service provider companies were operating and several more would be added to the fleet soon, Hosne Ara informed.
 The total rentable space in the building is 72,000 sq ft. Of that, 60,000 sq ft had already been allocated and were being used by tech companies, MD of the High-Tech Park Authority said.

Bangladesh Hi-Tech
According to the Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority, 10 IT start-up firms presently operating at the Janata Tower are Heroes 71, 6 axis, Humac Lab, Bdrates, khujun.com, Lokkhi, Head Blocks, Application Cockpit, Intelligent Artifact, eshkul.com.
 
Bangabandhu Hi-Tech City
About another IT park—Bangabandhu Hi-Tech City—she said it was being built on 355 acres of land at Kaliakoir.
She also said, as part of infrastructure development initiatives, the government was setting up a Tier-4 Data Centre, the fifth largest such facility in the world, at the Bangabandhu Hi-Tech City. The construction of the data centre was already on and was said to be progressing fast.
Describing the progress, she said two buildings, having 1, 86,000 sq ft and 1, 65,000 sq ft space, had already been built inside the Hi-Tech City.
“We have built another industrial building inside the Hi-Tech City, which will start producing laptops from next month. At present, out of 355 acres, 232 acres of land have are already been used for developing the Hi-Tech City. It would take about 10 years to develop it fully,” she told this correspondent.
When asked about employment potentials, Hosne Ara said the Hi-Tech city would create over 100,000 jobs.
 
Jessore Tech Park
The construction of the Sheikh Hasina Software Technology Park, in Jessore, has already been completed.
It had been built on nine acres of land, and 2,32,000 sq ft of floor space would be set aside for investors, she said. Twenty-four companies had already got their allotted space.
Hosne Ara said the construction of the Sheikh Hasina Software Technology Park was complete and the finishing work was currently under progress.
“Three Japanese firms have already registered to invest in the Jessore Software Technology Park,” she added.
The park comprises a 15-storey MTB building, a 12-storey dormitory, a 3-star complex, and amusement park, she said.
She pointed out that around 12,000 IT professionals would be able to work at the Jessore Software Technology Park.
 Hosne Ara also said, “To recruit new talent, we are arranging a job fair at the software technology premises this month. Thirty-five tech companies are going to participate in the fair.”
 
Rajshahi & Sylhet
The development work of the Rajshahi Silicon City and Sylhet Electronic City is currently under way. When asked about the work accomplished so far, she said, the architectural design of the Rajshahi Silicon City had been completed. It is going to be built on 33 acres of land.
She said the Sylhet Electronic City would be built on an area of 162 acres. The complex was being developed by the Navy Dockyard and Engineering Works Ltd. Land filling had already been done in 40 per cent of the area.
Experience & challenges
Projukti Next, an information technology solutions provider has been operating on Level-4 at the Janata Tower for almost a year.
When asked about the company’s experience, chief executive officer (CEO) and founder of Projukti Next Akramul Haider said the ICT division arranged some prudent training sessions and seminars at the Janata Tower, on topics such as business model building, legal advisory services, networking etc.
“The space and IT infrastructure that we have been getting are completely free for the last one year. That definitely helps us to cover our monthly business cost,” he added.
Akramul Haider pointed to some of the challenges, saying that the market size of Dhaka was big compared to those outside Dhaka. So, local infrastructure should be developed to expand the markets situated outside Dhaka because most of the IT parks will be developed outside Dhaka city.
Highlighting some of the advantages, Haider said, local people will have the opportunity to get jobs locally. So, there will be no pressure of skilled workforce coming to Dhaka. Besides, living expenses outside Dhaka are relatively cheaper.
 When asked about the Tier-4 data centre, Akramul Haider said its establishment would be cost-effective for IT firms, while the country’s data would remain in the country. Secondly, any IT organization situated in any part of the country can rent it by sharing their space.
 When asked about their project, ‘Eshkul’, Haider said that Projukti Next had developed ‘Eshkul’, a software that it has been working on for a couple of years.  
Eshkul is the first cloud school ERP with mobile apps for students, parents, teachers and management in Bangladesh.
It ensured smooth day-to-day school operations, functionalities and enabled parent-school interaction in a manner that bridged all possible communication gaps, he added.
Founder of Ajkerdeal Fahim Mashroor shared his views with this correspondent and said the IT incubator was a major initiative and a new concept in Bangladesh introduced by the ICT department.
“Ten IT firms on one platform can certainly accelerate the acquisition of knowledge to overcome obstacles,” Fahim explained.

Rent factor
But he said making the business sustainable in the long term was still a challenge. He said, to ensure that, the government should reduce the rent of space for IT companies at IT parks.
“Suppose, the rent is Tk 50 per square feet in Dhaka, then rent price of floors of IT parks that are to be built outside Dhaka should be cheaper than that of Dhaka. Otherwise, no foreign or local firm will feel interested to go there and operate their businesses,” Fahim Mashroor explained.
Officials of Hi-Tech Park said the space rent at the Janata Tower, country’s first ever software technology park, for IT companies was much lower than the current market price. The rent was only Tk 35 per sq. ft.
The founder of Ajkerdeal recommended a few things. “An IT park should have a few facilities such as low rent, good infrastructure and communication facilities, accommodation facilities and health centres for employees.”
The Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) president Mustafa Jabbar said that the Janata Tower Software Technology Park was indispensible to implement the government’s Vision 2021 digital Bangladesh. It was a fruitful initiative taken by the ICT division, he added.
He said the government’s present challenge was to create an environment for Janata Tower so that it grabbed the attention of local and international IT firms.
Pointing to another challenge, he said: “The land of Janata Tower was allotted in 1997 to build the country’s first IT Park, but it took almost 20 years to make that possible. So, the progress was not satisfactory. ”
Talking about a skilled labour force, Mustafa Jabbar said: “We need to include programming or coding at the primary level of education to create skilled and competitive human resources in the IT industry.”
According to Hi-Tech Park officials, three floors of the 11-storey Janata Tower building had already been occupied by software and IT start-ups.
Officials also informed that Level 2 had been allocated to the Hi-Tech park authorities, while Level 4 was entirely occupied with 10 start-up companies operating there at present.
FifoTech Technology service and NanoTech Solution and Consultancy Ltd, two Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) firms started their operation on Level 9 of the Janata Tower.
Managing director of FifoTech said they provided all types of BPO services having back-office components, human resource management, contact centre, and design and development.
Officials of Hi-Tech Park also said that 50 information technology start-up companies would be given space in the tower. At present, 15 technology service provider companies had started their operation and two more were to be added soon.

Sundat Special

Park spark for ICT revolution

With a US$ 5 billion Information Technology (IT) export target by 2021, the government has charted out a plan to set up 28 IT parks across the country to accelerate the IT sectors progress, says industry insiders. Managing director (MD) of the Hi-Tech Park Authority Hosne Ara Begum told The Independent that among the 28 IT parks, fivethe Janata Tower Software Technology Park, Bangabandhu Hi-Tech City, Sheikh Hasina Software Technology Park, Rajshahi Silicon City and Sylhet Electronic Cityhave already started their construction work in full swing. Janata Tower Explaining the progress of the Janata Tower Software Technology Park, Hosne Ara Begum said that, as per the governments policy, 10 start-ups had already begun operating successfully at their allocated free spaces on Level-4 at the countrys first IT Park. Ten new companies will be allocated space by December, replacing the previous 10 start-ups, she said. Currently, 15 technology service provider companies were operating and several more would be added to the fleet soon, Hosne Ara informed. The total rentable space in the building is 72,000 sq ft. Of that, 60,000 sq ft had already been allocated and were being used by tech companies, MD of the High-Tech Park Authority said. Bangladesh Hi-Tech According to the Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority, 10 IT start-up firms presently operating at the Janata Tower are Heroes 71, 6 axis, Humac Lab, Bdrates, khujun.com, Lokkhi, Head Blocks, Application Cockpit, Intelligent Artifact, eshkul.com. Bangabandhu Hi-Tech City About another IT parkBangabandhu Hi-Tech Cityshe said it was being built on 355 acres of land at Kaliakoir. She also said, as part of infrastructure development initiatives, the government was setting up a Tier-4 Data Centre, the fifth largest such facility in the world, at the Bangabandhu Hi-Tech City. The construction of the data centre was already on and was said to be progressing fast. Describing the progress, she said two buildings, having 1, 86,000 sq ft and 1, 65,000 sq ft space, had already been built inside the Hi-Tech City. We have built another industrial building inside the Hi-Tech City, which will start producing laptops from next month. At present, out of 355 acres, 232 acres of land have are already been used for developing the Hi-Tech City. It would take about 10 years to develop it fully, she told this correspondent. When asked about employment potentials, Hosne Ara said the Hi-Tech city would create over 100,000 jobs. Jessore Tech Park The construction of the Sheikh Hasina Software Technology Park, in Jessore, has already been completed. It had been built on nine acres of land, and 2,32,000 sq ft of floor space would be set aside for investors, she said. Twenty-four companies had already got their allotted space. Hosne Ara said the construction of the Sheikh Hasina Software Technology Park was complete and the finishing work was currently under progress. Three Japanese firms have already registered to invest in the Jessore Software Technology Park, she added. The park comprises a 15-storey MTB building, a 12-storey dormitory, a 3-star complex, and amusement park, she said. She pointed out that around 12,000 IT professionals would be able to work at the Jessore Software Technology Park. Hosne Ara also said, To recruit new talent, we are arranging a job fair at the software technology premises this month. Thirty-five tech companies are going to participate in the fair. Rajshahi Sylhet The development work of the Rajshahi Silicon City and Sylhet Electronic City is currently under way. When asked about the work accomplished so far, she said, the architectural design of the Rajshahi Silicon City had been completed. It is going to be built on 33 acres of land. She said the Sylhet Electronic City would be built on an area of 162 acres. The complex was being developed by the Navy Dockyard and Engineering Works Ltd. Land filling had already been done in 40 per cent of the area. Experience challenges Projukti Next, an information technology solutions provider has been operating on Level-4 at the Janata Tower for almost a year. When asked about the companys experience, chief executive officer (CEO) and founder of Projukti Next Akramul Haider said the ICT division arranged some prudent training sessions and seminars at the Janata Tower, on topics such as business model building, legal advisory services, networking etc. The space and IT infrastructure that we have been getting are completely free for the last one year. That definitely helps us to cover our monthly business cost, he added. Akramul Haider pointed to some of the challenges, saying that the market size of Dhaka was big compared to those outside Dhaka. So, local infrastructure should be developed to expand the markets situated outside Dhaka because most of the IT parks will be developed outside Dhaka city. Highlighting some of the advantages, Haider said, local people will have the opportunity to get jobs locally. So, there will be no pressure of skilled workforce coming to Dhaka. Besides, living expenses outside Dhaka are relatively cheaper. When asked about the Tier-4 data centre, Akramul Haider said its establishment would be cost-effective for IT firms, while the countrys data would remain in the country. Secondly, any IT organization situated in any part of the country can rent it by sharing their space. When asked about their project, Eshkul, Haider said that Projukti Next had developed Eshkul, a software that it has been working on for a couple of years. Eshkul is the first cloud school ERP with mobile apps for students, parents, teachers and management in Bangladesh. It ensured smooth day-to-day school operations, functionalities and enabled parent-school interaction in a manner that bridged all possible communication gaps, he added. Founder of Ajkerdeal Fahim Mashroor shared his views with this correspondent and said the IT incubator was a major initiative and a new concept in Bangladesh introduced by the ICT department. Ten IT firms on one platform can certainly accelerate the acquisition of knowledge to overcome obstacles, Fahim explained. Rent factor But he said making the business sustainable in the long term was still a challenge. He said, to ensure that, the government should reduce the rent of space for IT companies at IT parks. Suppose, the rent is Tk 50 per square feet in Dhaka, then rent price of floors of IT parks that are to be built outside Dhaka should be cheaper than that of Dhaka. Otherwise, no foreign or local firm will feel interested to go there and operate their businesses, Fahim Mashroor explained. Officials of Hi-Tech Park said the space rent at the Janata Tower, countrys first ever software technology park, for IT companies was much lower than the current market price. The rent was only Tk 35 per sq. ft. The founder of Ajkerdeal recommended a few things. An IT park should have a few facilities such as low rent, good infrastructure and communication facilities, accommodation facilities and health centres for employees. The Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) president Mustafa Jabbar said that the Janata Tower Software Technology Park was indispensible to implement the governments Vision 2021 digital Bangladesh. It was a fruitful initiative taken by the ICT division, he added. He said the governments present challenge was to create an environment for Janata Tower so that it grabbed the attention of local and international IT firms. Pointing to another challenge, he said: The land of Janata Tower was allotted in 1997 to build the countrys first IT Park, but it took almost 20 years to make that possible. So, the progress was not satisfactory. Talking about a skilled labour force, Mustafa Jabbar said: We need to include programming or coding at the primary level of education to create skilled and competitive human resources in the IT industry. According to Hi-Tech Park officials, three floors of the 11-storey Janata Tower building had already been occupied by software and IT start-ups. Officials also informed that Level 2 had been allocated to the Hi-Tech park authorities, while Level 4 was entirely occupied with 10 start-up companies operating there at present. FifoTech Technology service and NanoTech Solution and Consultancy Ltd, two Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) firms started their operation on Level 9 of the Janata Tower. Managing director of FifoTech said they provided all types of BPO services having back-office components, human resource management, contact centre, and design and development. Officials of Hi-Tech Park also said that 50 information technology start-up companies would be given space in the tower. At present, 15 technology service provider companies had started their operation and two more were to be added soon.