Digital Transformation and Economic Development in Bangladesh: Rethinking Digitalization Strategies for Leapfrogging

This book assesses the digital Bangladesh initiative of the government through different lenses: supply-side and demand-side perspectives and policy diffusions. The Bangladesh government has been pursuing a big-push policy for digitalization, namely the “Digital Bangladesh Vision,” since 2009 as a shifting development strategy to leapfrog into the next level of development with the leverage of demographic dividend. However, historical anecdotes, dictated policy, international success stories and other related issues could lead to a rethinking on ICT-based development strategy. The content of the book draws on the author’s long-standing research works on ICTs and economic growth in Bangladesh. 

Monzur Hossain is a Research Director at the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), Dhaka. He holds a Ph.D. in International Economics from the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), Tokyo, Japan. With extensive research focused on evaluating and analyzing development interventions and economic policies, he got interests in some emerging development issues, particularly ICTs and knowledge economy. He has published extensively in nationally and internationally accredited journals, and he also has numerous other publications to his credit in the form of research reports and edited volumes. He recently edited a book titled “Bangladesh’s Macroeconomic Policy,” published by Palgrave Macmillan in February 2020.