The creators of the VAT Checker app for mobile phones are to be applauded for the huge interest they have stimulated among the public.
By providing a simple way for consumers to follow up VAT registration and Business Identification numbers to check if the Value Added Tax shown on retail and restaurant bills is actually going to the exchequer, they have empowered customers to help authorities identify tax irregularities.
Like the inventors of the popular GO! Traffic mobile app, which provides real-time updates on traffic in Dhaka, they are creatively using technology to give life to a good idea that helps the public.
These successes prove the ingenuity and talent of Bangladeshi apps developers.
Bangladesh has been ranked by two leading management consultants as among the world’s top 30 outsourcing destinations. With our low costs, growing market, and some 20,000 professionals joining the IT sector, there is huge potential to dramatically grow jobs in the IT sector.
BASIS’s target of planning for IT to provide 1% of total GDP within the next five years, is coming within reach. Of course to get there, the government will still need to overcome the broader obstacles caused by unreliable power supplies and infrastructure to attract more investment.
Projects such as those being supported by the government, ADB and World Bank to train to train 59,000 IT professionals over the next three to four years, are essential to help the sector on this path.
Improving education and skills training is the most important step needed to help unleash the talent latent in our youthful population.
As at present, the vast majority of jobs in the sector depend on freelancing and small enterprises typically employing less than 30 people, it is important to build on existing success stories to help the sector to scale up in size and attract bigger customers and investment.
The government and businesses should aim to nurture more clusters of expertise to help increase collaboration on improving training and build a virtuous cycle of investment and growth in the IT sector.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
