Stakeholder involvement in Union Digital Centres in Bangladesh

Abstract

This paper evaluates opportunities and challenges of the Union Digital Centre (UDC) project, a Bangladeshi telecentre initiative, based on a Public-Private-People’s Partnership (PPPP) scheme. It investigates how each of the stakeholders contributes. In the face of many closures, it is a timely contribution. A stakeholder management framework focused on telecentres is used to understand stakeholder behaviour and to provide a hypothesis about the contribution of each to the operation. This study surveyed stakeholders such as entrepreneurs, central government officials and local government representatives. The roles of stakeholders are discussed and opportunities are identified for external support from government bodies to support the operation of UDCs. The potential demands and benefits of a massive client base are also examined. Application of a structural equation model highlights that current progress hinges more on external support and people’s participation than on entrepreneurial investment. The dependency on philanthropic support, combined with problems in stakeholder engagement, poses challenges to entrepreneurship development, a feature necessary for sustainability. To engage them, effective interplay of relevant stakeholders is required.

The magic bullet for rural development? Exploring the impacts of community telecenters in Bangladesh

“…The other challenges, as revealed during our interviews with entrepreneurs and management officials, include insufficient income due to limited use of services by the target population, compounded further by power blackouts, the absence of high-speed Internet, and lack of access to and integration with relevant government agencies at higher levels. Due to the fact that some UDCs offer only a handful services (also echoed by other studies like Ullah, 2017;Faroqi and Collings, 2019) -mostly of commercial nature -their impact remains marginal.…”

“…Much of the early advocacy is uncritical, assuming that telecenters have an inherent capacity to bridge the digital divide and to improve the conditions of individuals and communities living in rural areas (Whyte, 2000; Oestmann and Dymond, 2001). The recent literature, informed by empirical evidence, provides a more nuanced picture of economic gains and social empowerment, as well as widespread failures and closures of telecenters (Gomez, 2014; Pick, Gollakota and Singh, 2014; Gollakota, Pick, and Sathyapriya, 2012; Faroqi and Collings, 2019). The rapid proliferation of mobile phones across the developing world has not only bolstered the prospect of them becoming new tools for economic and social development of the poor, but has also raised concerns about the relevance of telecenters in the changed landscape (see Sharma and Ray, 2019).…”

“…The UDCs are uniquely positioned to tackle such problems. First, unlike the earlier initiatives, UDCs have been established throughout Bangladesh, effectively bringing the entire rural population within the scope of their operations (a2i, 2016; Rashid and Shafie, 2018; Faroqi and Collings, 2019). Second, at the core of UDC operations is the delivery of public services.…”

“…Islam and Hasan, 2009; Islam and Tsuji, 2011) or focused on the socio-technological context of UDCs and their problems and potentials (Rahman and Bhuiyan, 2014). While studies of Bangladesh’s e-journey abound (Bhuiyan, 2011; Sarker, 2013; Siddiquee, 2016; Faroqi and Collings, 2019), to our knowledge hardly any attempt has been made to analyze the UDC approach to service delivery, compare it with alternative delivery arrangements, and assess its impacts on users. The present study contributes to this by investigating the service delivery roles of UDCs in rural areas.…”

Cyberspace at the Grassroots: E-Governance and Citizen/Stakeholder Perceptions at the Local Level in Bangladesh

“…The union digital centres (UDC) have been widely studied, and their merits and drawbacks analysed (Faroqi & Collings, 2019; Faroqi et al, 2018; Islam & Hasan, 2009; Rahman & Bhuiyan, 2014; Siddiquee & Faroqi, 2021; Ullah, 2017). The sub-district experiment, on the other hand, has found scant attention from scholars.…”