South Asia gets new information superhighway
To foster better regional and economic cooperation within South Asia, an information highway initiated by ADB will directly connect Bhutan, Bangladesh, India and Nepal by 2011. Facilitated by high speed optical fibre cables, it will create more business opportunities between the countries.
By 2011, Bhutan, along with Bangladesh, India and Nepal, will share an information superhighway.
- South Asian information highway/ Photo credit: Kuensel
The four countries will be directly linked to one another with, as part of the Asian development bank’s (ADB) South Asia sub-regional economic cooperation (SASEC) project. Through SASEC, ADB has been supporting and promoting regional cooperation among the four countries since 2001.
Currently, communications traffic from Bhutan to Bangladesh and Nepal is routed through India, making it expensive, explained department of information technology (DIT) officiating director, Karma Wangdi.
With direct connections to Bangladesh and Nepal, any kind of communications, whether using the internet or phone would become cheaper and more affordable, said the officiating director.
“The potential of economic cooperation in the SAARC region is very high,” said Karma Wangdi. But this is hindered by a lack of cheap and efficient connectivity, he said. The SASEC information highway will create more business opportunities between the four countries, he added.
As part of the SASEC information highway project, 30 community information centres (CIC), along with an ICT research and training institute, will also be established in Bhutan.
This is expected to contribute to the government’s efforts of producing more ICT proficient human resources, by offering more training opportunities and bridging the urban-rural digital divide. ADB has provided USD 4.7m for the three components of the information highway project.
DIT is currently in the second stage of project management tendering, said the officiating director. Six firms are being evaluated by the department before one is identified and appointed.
Consolidating the ICT strategies of the four countries was made a priority sector of the SASEC program in 2003.
Improving cross border connectivity, rural access to information, and human resource capacity were three areas earmarked for urgent addressing.
