There has been a lot of talk and enthusiasm going on in Bangladesh now a day with respect to digital divide and technology adoption to uplift the standard of living. During last decade cell phone paved the path of technology adoption. More and more application is landing into the market to increase productivity and way of life.
There were some major direction changes done by BTRC over the past year. Eliminating illegal VOIP, auctioning broadband connectivity and delivering a policy on how to do it. Most recently they deliver the WiMax policy. I am not in a position to criticize if those actions are good or bad. However, I always view technology as a tool to enhance life experience in a positive way.
I have several ICT project ideas which I day dream about. These ideas may not directly fall in to profitable business entity; however they may be categorized as social business. Under the social business umbrella, these projects could be taken as NGO activity; moreover some of these projects may fall in to the development activity of smart nation building.
1. Security monitoring and first response initiation over the internet.
2. Online Math and Science Tutoring for High school students in US.
3. Online trucking/goods shipping reservation facility for nationwide faster goods movement.
4. Micro-credit for laptop purchases for every University admitted student in Bangladesh.
5. RMG intranet for capacity and recourses sharing for maximizing throughput.
6. Online auction of excess or minor rejected RMG products. (Govt. need liberalization)
7. Consumer Pricing Interactive Information broadcasting system.
8. Intranet for Universities and dedicated network for all students.
Security monitoring and fast response initiation:
Bangladesh being one of the top UN peace keeping forces in the world deployed more then 9000 troops in various turbulent countries. They wear UN blue helmets to provide peace and security around the conflicting borders in the world. Bangladesh Military earned the honor outmost respect. One third of those troops are currently in Ivory Coast. Many of them returned home with experience and a solid track record of success.
New business initiative may capitalize these well earned expertises with evolving technology to solve the security surveillance challenge of the mid-east and may thrive to serve the west. Applying technology to the puzzle may deliver a robust and affordable solution of surveillances from a command center far from the object of interest.
Let us take an example of a Mega business center in Dubai. The management has to provide complete security of the facility. Now we have technological capabilities to provide the surveillance part of the solution from Kulna Bangladesh. The Mega business center will have complete wiring of the video monitoring and we will see them live via our submarine cable in the command centre at Kulna. I have chosen Kulna to get out of the big city dram doll and hassles.
To run that business, we need experienced man power, dedicate electricity and dedicated access to the information superhighway. We have ex military service men as expertise, electricity and access to the submarine cable can be managed if there is goodwill. The command centre will run 24/7. Let us assume that there are 100 cameras in that facility sending 3 fps each to 12 monitors each one capturing 9 cameras. We can safely deploy 2 people to visually scan through the screens and report any unusual activity to the direct voice line to the facility guards. The facility guard on site will take over from that point. Moreover, direct live data dispatch can be done to facilitate the guards during the operation from the Kulna command center.
In doing so, the Dubai Mega Business center may reduce 10 more people from surveillance duty and can maintain small secondary surveillance facility in site as a backup.
Now if we can integrate 10-100 more business entity as a customer around the mid-east, then we could replicate the model for any number of businesses or place of interest around the world. We could bring command center of surveillance for Airports, mass transit stations, museums, libraries, schools, major intersections etc.
Once you have one customer happy and satisfied, you will get 20 more customers to be a mega security center and may further reduce the cost and enlighten your customer. In addition, companies that could not afford security center will be able to do it as the cost is down. Hence the market will get bigger. One day the West may come to Bangladesh for their security solution for the affordability and reliability.
Online Math and Science Tutoring for High school students in US:
Dhaka probably one of the few cities in the world where “coaching center” is a necessary and integrated part of the education system. Moreover Dhaka also known for the other short term coaching business, such as TOEFL, SAT, GRE, Various University Admission including BUET, DMC, Cadet core, BMA Marin to name few. The “coaching business” is a matured enough to test for export. We have talented students, panty of medical college and engineering students who are very good in theoretical Math and Science and in “coaching center” business.
The next ingredient that we need is virtual presence; which could be done utilizing our developing broadband access to the internet or world wide web (WWW). Tutor student may meet at chat room or use web cam with audio to consult mathematical problems.
This could be done in a simple “24/7 coaching center” concept to serve a specific class of students with a monthly subscription fee for unlimited consultation. Let us assume for simplicity, a 24/7 coaching center is opened for students of “grade 8”. The coaching center has all the math text material for grade 8 math and offering unlimited tutoring for USD$ 10.00 per month or may be USD$100.00 per year. The center started with one school in the USA and there are 15 students signed up. If all 15 student of that school did pretty well during first month; then the coaching center may sell the success to get 100 more school with 1000 to 2000 students. There is a very good potential for rapid growth and the management should have the dynamics to handle the growth.
Online trucking/goods shipping reservation facility for nationwide faster goods movement:
With the fuel cost sky rocketing, you have to minimize your unnecessary drive and make the delivery quick and cheap. For simplicity let us assume that we have 10,000 trucks in Bangladesh. At any given time, 5000 are on the road making a delivery of goods. The remaining 50% are at some station or truck stand available for rental contract. Unless you have a regular contracted Truck Company to serve your need; than you have to go to that truck stand and make the contact and bring the truck to loading area to load it. Then the truck makes the delivery.
This problem of extra drive and waiting idle time can be solved by a smart locator program and a simplified GPS vs cross street database. First you have to build a database with the entire cross streets and their corresponding GPS entry. This is needed as we do not have a systematic street structure as well as corresponding digital map. However, couples of local tech companies in Dhaka are working on a digital map with every holding number or address entity included in the program.
A truck driver may text his location referring a cross street from his cell phone to a locator server. The servers take the text and translate it to GPS coordinate. A customer send a text of the cross street name of loading area. The servers translate the loading area coordinate and calculate 5 available trucks for hire. The calculation may be done through radial proximity or may be Manhattan length. There is no perfect solution here as because there is no digitized map of Bnagladesh integrated to the GPS servers. Now the customer has 5 potential bidders for the trip and everybody happy as less waiting, less overlap routing, less fuel cost.
Here for this business, the solution provider may charge a subscription fee or could be commission based. The transportation authority may sponsor the business and yearly charge the truck company during renewal of registration. Hence this business could be government, NGO, cooperative or an enterprise itself for profit.
Intranet for Universities and dedicated network for all students:
There are 74 universities in Bangladesh. Out of these, 21 universities are in the public sector, while the other 53 are in the private sector. Out of 21 public sector universities, 19 universities provide regular classroom instruction facilities and services. Each of them may take initiatives to get grant and design their intranet as well as the gateway to internet. BTTB may just drop the extension of submarine cable and fiber to the nearest node. Again, government may impose a mandatory 5% revenue contribution from the entire telecom provider operating in Bangladesh including BTTB to fund such a connectivity project. No University will benefit from the online capability more than the National University of Bangladesh.
The National University caters the general education at graduate and post-graduate level in colleges/institutions which were affiliated to different public universities since independence. About one million students are studying in more than 1600 colleges/institutions affiliated to this university. The National University is expanding in terms of number of students, courses and institutions day by day. To day this university plays the most significant role to provide opportunities for higher education among the students living especially in rural and semi-urban areas. A dedicated connectivity and access to the internet with a computer in students possession may do more then the education. The student will have a tool to shape his/her future.
Micro-credit for laptop purchases for every University admitted student in Bangladesh:
Currently there are approx 200,000 students who are attending any of the Universities in the country.
Let’s say, we need USD$ 40 million for 200,000 laptops (University Grant commission or ministry of education can strike a deal with ASUS Taipei or Lenovo China) which will ensure a piece for every university enrolled student of Bangladesh. Due to the competition price of laptop are going down everyday. A US$199 laptop called “Eee PC” an inexpensive laptop designed to help spread computing to poorer regions. The hardware funding may come from various foundations and NGOs. Universities need to research for that. Again you need a dedicated internet access to even to search the funding. It is feels like the chicken and egg problem. There is a lot of funding available to close the digital divide. BRAC or Grameen could take a lead on working out a micro credit loan with Universities for the funding of these PCs. Moreover, University governing body can work with various bank and financial agencies for a package of installment payable by each student in absence of funding from non profit organizations. A student may pay as low as 500 Taka per month for a laptop during his full length of study. I am sure, these creative students will innovate a lot of usages of these toys at their disposal for generating lot more then 500 Taka to pay for it. For this scheme we do not need any grant, we can work out with a bank for this venture.
Consumer Pricing Interactive Information broadcasting system:
The ultimate goal of this project is to have self sustaining free market price stability for consumer goods. This system will share instantaneous market valuation of major consumer good in major shopping zone throughout the country and thereby adjust the price fluctuation or price hike. This can be modeled after the stock exchange index. In a very high level, the system will be integrated in the following architecture.Each vendor will have a secure ID and product code. At any point of time during the business hour, the vendor will enter his asking price of a specific item. That information will store in a server and broadcasted to multiple billboards throughout the country to major market place like New Market, Sowary Ghat, Moluvi Bazzar, Chalk Bazzar, Kawran Bazzar, Gabtoli and likes. Now the vendor’s security ID may be his personal cell phone. Once he called to that specific server and entered his product code, the program will pick up the bid and broadcast it to the billboard as a “cron job”. Now if you paid careful attention you already figure out that any customer will be able to access that bid through their cell phone from that server. The transaction will happen as usual with the vendor and customer in the respected business site or over cell phone. You have the luxury to scale the system based on your investment or availability of funding. How you make money out of this? That is a trade secret. Be innovative or hire innovator.
RMG intranet for capacity and recourses sharing for maximizing throughput:
The proposal that I am about to unveil here may be analogous to knife. Doctors use them to save life and miscreants use it to harm life. This centralized database will be populated with all the RMG order that has been placed in the nation to various factories.
A standard form need to be developed for the database entry. The sensitive and competitive business information may or may not be required. If that sensitive information needed for statistical purpose to maximize the national RMG production, than proper guideline should be strictly enforced to guard that information. Binary coding may be introduced for that sensitive information.
Once we have such a system, than NBR at any point may estimate net tax earning accurately. BGMEA will be able to know the status of the national production statistics. More service may be customized to member factories to share recourses or sub contract a time sensitive critical order. This will help to reduce if not eliminate the contract cancellation due to “delay”.
Online auction of excess or minor rejected RMG products:
In every RMG factory, there is always some not so perfect left over products. These products usually handled secretly. They often used for appeasing local influential and so called “Mastans”. In some cases they are dumped in the local wholesale markets. In addition to those products there are some products that are abandoned due to delay in shipments and any other minor breach of contract.
If government acknowledges these products as legal merchandisable entity; then there could be a auction house which can handle these products in a market driven manner. This auction house may be modeled after “ebay” to get the global participation. Free market force of globalize flat world will shape the supply and demand to equilibrium. Bangladesh may earn valuable foreign exchange as a result of that.
To design the model, the end customer has to be the top priority. A rigid delivery and shipping procedure have to be ensured. We have a history of export cheating. In the past frog leg or shrimp has been shipped with metal attached to them to get high weight. Once the bid is done, the delivery process should be seamlessly done by one dedicated management. No exception on the method of shipping. To earn the expertise, we may hire UPS or DHL or FedEx.
To enlist your surplus product to the auction database, a standard form should be filled. A standard procedure need to chalk out for the payment methods and release of fund agreement.
Conclusion:
In this article I tried to provoke thoughts to several ICT projects start-up ideas. Any of the above ideas has tremendous potential to transform into a profitable business. Moreover, each of them has inherent nation building ingredients. I hope that visionary entrepreneurs may find these ideas interesting enough to take the challenge.
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