SUSTAINABILITY OF UNION DIGITAL CENTRE IN BANGLADESH: HAS IT GOT INSTITUTIONAL ROOTS?

Abstract

In Bangladesh, Union Digital Center (UDC), an ICT (Information & Communication Technology) based telecenter, began its operations in 2009 in only 30 Union Parishads through partnership between Local Government Division and the Access to Information (A2I) program under the Prime Minister’s Office, presently operating at all 4,547 Union Parishads of the country. It is a one-stop service outlet operating under the Public-Private-People’s Partnership modality, run by local entrepreneurs, hosted by Union Parishad and supported by Central Administration. But stakeholders and observers frequently question the sustainability of these UDCs especially those in rural areas where telecommunications and electricity are problematic. The purpose of the study is to examine the sustainability whether the UDCs got institutional roots or not. It also attempts to find out the factors having influence on the sustainability of UDCs and also the challenges and the possible remedies for ensuring sustainability. The study used both quantitative and qualitative methods of research. It has been found that having high potentiality UDC’s sustainability is affected by various factors like Entrepreneur’s Qualification such as professionalism and technical skill, Infrastructure such as electricity and internet, Location such as accessibility and availability of needed services and Government Intervention such as governmental support and political will. Article visualizations: