Exploring Halal Awareness and Halal Knowledge of the Information and Communications Technologies Industry in Bangladesh

Abstract

The Halal industry is getting popular in Bangladesh nowadays. Being the second-largest Muslim-majority country, Bangladesh has immense potential to flourish in Halal industries. The Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) industry is thus a large part of the Halal industry’s reach. ICT must support the Halal movement as the main player in every organization. ICT firms must be well-versed in Halal and associated topics in order to do this. In this study, the knowledge and awareness of Halal among Bangladeshi ICT firms were investigated and evaluated. The study used a qualitative methodology and a survey approach. Members of the Bangladesh Organization of Software and Information Services (BASIS), the nation’s trade organization for the software and IT-enabled services sector, comprise the examined companies. A standardized questionnaire was created for data-gathering purposes, and the firms that were surveyed provided information. The study identified 18 factors as the areas of Halal knowledge, 14 factors as sources of Halal knowledge, and 6 factors as the methods of acquiring Halal knowledge. The collected data was compiled in MS Excel and a simple descriptive statistical analysis was performed. Data was presented in pie charts and bar diagrams. The study found that the ICT firms in Bangladesh have little knowledge of Halal and related matters, hence their Halal awareness is not satisfactory. The firms that have experience working with the Halal industry only worked with the financial dimension. It is also found that there is a shortage of experts and content on Halal and related issues. Very few firms have worked with these Halal issues and this is the first study conducted on the ICT industry regarding Halal awareness in Bangladesh.