Dhaka is among the three South Asian cities that are at the bottom of a ranking of networked society city matrix among 25 mega cities of the world.
On the other hand, Singapore, Stockholm and Seoul are at the top of the ranking.
A joint study conducted by mobile equipment vendor Ericsson and management consultancy Arthur D Little recently released the index recently.
The two other poorly networked South Asian cities are Karachi and Delhi.
The Networked Society City Index shows that cities with a high level of ICT maturity are better able to manage issues such as environmental management, infrastructure, public security, health-care quality and education, Ericsson said in a statement.
The index also suggests actions for low-ranking cities, which are encouraged to provide digital access and ICT training for the underprivileged parts of their populations to reduce the digital divide. City mayors, local authorities and decision makers can use the framework ranking to meet the growing urbanisation trend and enable organisational and societal success.
“Although Dhaka is among the low-ranking cities, we believe the government endeavours to adopt and encourage ICT through its Digital Bangladesh programme will bring its position higher,” said Per-Henrik Nielsen, managing director of Ericsson Bangladesh Ltd.
He said, during the last five years, mobile subscribers in Bangladesh grew three folds contributing to societal development through providing better communications.
“It’s great to find Dhaka among the top 25 mega cities, Nielsen added.
The study was presented at Ericsson’s Business Innovation Forum in the US on May 10.
According to the study, the three best-performing cities presented in the index — Singapore, Stockholm and Seoul — have successfully met many social, economic and environmental targets by making extensive investments in information and communication technology.
Singapore, the study said, is aggressively driving innovation in e-health, and is a pioneer in traffic-congestion management (ICT).
Stockholm sees ICT as a major enabler for research collaboration and knowledge transfer, while Seoul is using ICT to realise green high-tech initiatives.
Erik Almqvist, director at Arthur D Little Nordic, said, “Building a networked society is one of our time’s great challenges for mankind. This report can serve as inspiration for cities that do not settle for the status quo.”
Courtesy of The Daily Star
