A government-commissioned white paper has concluded that the Awami League’s signature Digital Bangladesh agenda functioned more as a powerful political tagline than a fully developed national digital transformation roadmap.

Although the vision projected an image of modernization, digital access and public service efficiency, investigators argue that the initiative rested on a fragile foundation—eroded by weak institutional oversight, corruption, political patronage networks and repeated implementation failures.

The review was led by economist M Niaz Asadullah, and a copy was recently submitted to Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus. While the document has not been released for public access, The Daily Star has examined its contents.

Key Findings from the White Paper

The task force scrutinized 52 ICT Division projects alongside large datasets, including 600,000+ e-GP tenders and over 30,000 software log entries. Its core conclusion: political influence repeatedly distorted decision-making within the technology sector.

According to the report, the early promise of a connected and digitally empowered Bangladesh lost credibility over time as citizens raised concerns about graft, policy inconsistencies and a widening gap between rhetoric and delivery capacity.

Even though internet infrastructure, training facilities and rural connectivity expanded rapidly after 2009, the investigation found a persistent mismatch between political expectations and the capacity of implementing institutions.

Many high-budget projects—12 large initiatives and 65 components—reportedly carried names of political leaders or were used for partisan branding. In several cases, even project sites were selected based on political convenience rather than economic or logistical suitability. The ICT Masterplan 2019 also incorporated the ruling party’s election manifesto as a policy reference, which the report cites as evidence of politicisation.

Inflation, Overpricing and Rent-Seeking

Investigators found extensive irregularities in procurement processes. On multiple occasions, tenders were shaped by collusion between officials, consultants and suppliers.

The report documents:

• Procurement anomalies valued at more than Tk 1,000 crore

• Hardware purchased at 2–4 times above international market price

• Repeated proposals for unnecessary equipment

• Poor technical specifications enabling inflated costs

Major connectivity projects including Info-Sarker II and III are described as classic examples of long-term rent extraction, where public investment secured revenue streams for a small number of private contractors. These initiatives were frequently accelerated using National Priority Project status, allowing key approvals to bypass standard legal scrutiny.

Institutional Weakness & Political Capture

The Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority emerged as one of the weakest links. Instead of driving innovation and industrial diversification, its activities increasingly centred on ribbon-cutting, showcase events and project allocation influenced by partisan networks. Many parks were launched without studies on demand, utility readiness or industry capacity to occupy them.

Programmes under Aspire to Innovate (a2i) also relied heavily on promotional claims, the review notes. Despite a strong reputation as a government innovation platform, the evidence of measurable service improvements remained thin. A dual governance arrangement gave UNDP-linked consultants disproportionate control over procurement, insulating the programme from domestic accountability.

School-based digital labs—particularly the Sheikh Russel Digital Lab (SRDL) and School of Future projects—were described as largely ineffective. Site selection showed political bias, and many labs lacked functional internet, equipment or maintenance. Independent evaluations found no significant improvement in student performance attributable to the programme.

Attempts to build digital cities fared no better. The Digital Sylhet City Project collapsed due to weak coordination, politicised contracting and lack of agency ownership. Ultimately, Wi-Fi facilities reached less than 5% of intended users.

Across the sector, nine major public projects displayed failures in financial integrity, procurement classification, and data management.

Path Forward

The white paper argues that meaningful progress toward a truly digital Bangladesh depends on rebuilding credibility and independence within public institutions responsible for technology policy and implementation. Without transparent governance, rigorous evaluation and accountability, the digital transformation agenda will remain vulnerable to capture and political misuse.