The ICT sector in Bangladesh is poised for continued expansion. According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) the number of internet users nearly tripled from 6.5 percent of the population in 2013 to 18.02 percent in 2017. Bangladesh ranked 147 of 176 on the ITU’s ICT Development Index 2017, an occasional report that captures the level of ICT development. The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) puts total internet subscribers at 117.3 million as of May 2021, of which only 9.8 million use broadband connections while the rest are mobile internet users. The ICT sector, excluding telecommunications, employs approximately one million professionals, while ICT exports are estimated to be worth over $1 billion.
The ICT sector of Bangladesh is one of the fastest growing sectors of its economy. ICT has been declared as the thrust sector by the Government. A comprehensive ICT Policy has been formulated and a National ICT Task Force, headed by the Honorable Prime Minister, has been formed. Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC), the apex body for promotion of all kinds of ICT activities in the country, works under the Ministry of Science and Information & Communication Technology. Focusing on ICT (Information and Communication Technology) has been one of highest priorities of the government of Bangladesh since 1997 when the government officially recognized that ICT can make an important development impact by deploying an executive committee to scrutinize scopes and opportunities in software export. Prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s effort to modernize Bangladesh through e-governance umbrella initiative was highly acclaimed by the world community and she was awarded the South-South Award and South- South Cooperation Visionary Award by the UN as recognition of her work. Apart from that, as appreciation of achievement Bangladesh won the World Summit on Information Society Prize from ITU and Global ICT Excellence Award form World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA).