Expatriate Bangladeshi 2000
Linking Individuals, Regions, Ideas, and Actions
Expatriate Bangladeshi 2000Linking Individuals, Regions, Ideas, and Actions |
A Proposal for Building a Strategic Alliance of Bangladeshi ExpatriatesWhat follows is a final copy of the proposal which was released as a draft on October 30, 1998 to the Internet community of Bangladeshi expatriates. This version represents a revised copy based on the comment and feedback of the first round of members who chose to join in the undertaking.
Table of ContentsExecutive SummaryWhat follows is a proposal for linking individuals and communities of Bangladeshi expatriates with the process of development in Bangladesh. Towards that goal, a project under the title Expatriate Bangladeshi 2000 (EB2000) is proposed to carry out the following objectives:
1. IntroductionIn the information age, geographic space is fast becoming a misnomer. The four i's, that is, investments, individuals, information and industry, can now move freely across most national borders. High premium paid for the acquisition of knowledge capital continues to aid the outflow of scientists, engineers and other qualified professionals from Bangladesh to the industrially advanced countries. In the face of income disparities between Bangladesh and these countries, reversing the process of brain drain has become a formidable challenge. Fortunately the problem compounded by the mobility of global resources has also presented Bangladesh with a unique opportunity to replenish some of its losses in knowledge capital. Information technology now provides a tremendous opportunity to utilize the external resources and knowledge base. In the past four years, scores of non resident Bangladeshis have used discussion forums, news groups, letter campaigns, electronic petitions, and opinion columns on the Internet to voice their opinions, either independently or collectively, about the process of political, social and economic development in Bangladesh. Thus far we have seen two distinctive waves, which have washed ashore communities of expatriates on to the Internet. The first wave brought in individuals with mostly academic and technical expertise. The second wave was more diffused in nature, as computers and Internet penetration became global and uniform. It started about two years ago when information technology entrepreneurs in Bangladesh began to use overseas satellite uplinks to create direct pathways between the expatriate community and news and information resources in Bangladesh. Global Amitech (GA) has been a participant in the information revolution from the very beginning. GA introduced daily Internet edition of News From Bangladesh (NFB) as early as November of 1996, collecting and delivering news and information from a variety of sources with persistency and competence. The interactive component of NFB has already brought together expatriates from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Great Britain, Japan, Malaysia, Netherlands, Singapore, Sweden, United States and many other countries who have contributed important articles, commentaries, opinions and information for almost two years. In the meanwhile, GA has added other Newspapers, Magazines and discussion groups to its list of offerings, creating a powerful source of news, information and networking for the expatriate community. Successes of NFB and many similar initiatives in building sustainable communities of expatriates using the Internet encourage us to suggest that we are now ready for the third wave. We believe that the time has come for the Internet community of Bangladeshi expatriates to organize its concerns, ideas, initiatives and expertise through a common platform for guiding the process of comprehensive development in Bangladesh. Our thoughts are influenced by the realization that twenty-seven years have passed since independence, yet no coherent blueprint for attaining our national goals have been set in motion. The lackluster process of development in Bangladesh is still driven by governmental policy-making, a top-down undertaking that is susceptible to institutional, political, economic and natural instabilities. Infusion of ideas and participation of Bangladeshi expatriates in this process can dramatically improve its effectiveness. First, it will contribute towards a development process characterized by strong participation by the non-governmental sector in areas such as economic development, social welfare, foreign relations, crime prevention, education re form, and infrastructure construction. Second, it will create opportunities to examine and inform governmental policy making in order to better align it with the interest of both resident and non-resident Bangladeshis. In order to exploit the opportunity presented before us, we need to expand, consolidate and improve the current information infrastructure to further reduce the physical distance between the expatriate community and process of development in Bangladesh. To that end, we propose that a project, bearing the name Expatriate Bangladeshi 2000 (EB2000) be undertaken by the community of Bangladeshi expatriates, to create a strategic alliance between itself and various public and private sector institutions, located in Bangladesh and abroad, that are, or willing to be engaged in development of Bangladesh. The expatriate community will be represented in this strategic alliance through a think tank. The think tank will enter into a strategic and technical alliance with Global Amitech. The goal of this technological alliance will be to build a rich and sustainable infrastructure for the expatriate community to interact and participate in enriching the process of development in Bangladesh. This think tank is not an undertaking to compete with the existing government and non-government entities in Bangladesh and abroad that are currently involved in the development process. Nor is it to become another avenue for lofty ideals and unrealistic expectations. It will be an effort grounded in practicality to complement the existing processes and structures by finding and filling in the gaps in the area of ideas, skills, institutions, projects and coordination. It is to demystify policy deliberation by inserting in the process not only the diffused community of expatriates but also the isolated rural mass that was overlooked in the information revolution. Above all, it is an effort to find and implement solutions from within our own resources, information and expertise to leave behind a tradition of national pride and dignity for the next generation and beyond. 2. Expatriate Bangladeshi 2000The first objective of EB2000 will be to research, identify, invite, and connect expatriates with expertise within a common information network. To that end, a strategic and technical alliance between a think tank of global expatriates and Global Amitech will be sought. The think tank will be initially centered in the USA. It will use the reach of various community and professional organizations to build pools of expertise in different areas of socio-political and economic development. Global Amitech will use its resources to help establish relationships between the think tank and various public and private sector institutions in Bangladesh that are involved in policy development, education, advocacy, implementation and evaluation. Once the information network is set in place,
the second objective of EB2000 will be to stage a global policy seminar
to identify issues of national development that are of interest to the
expatriate community. It will utilize full compliment of information technology
available to date in order to make the seminar completely interactive through
multiple communication mediums. It will feature among others, members of
the think tank, governmental and non-governmental organizations in Bangladesh
and abroad, various policy-making bodies, as well as media organizations.
The goal of the seminar will be to deliberate over issues that are critical
to the process of development in Bangladesh and identify short and long
term policy agendas and project proposals for the think tank.
Figure 1. Suggestive Schematic Diagram of Strategic Alliances and Partnerships The third objective of EB2000 will be to research, deliberate, and evaluate the identified policy agendas and project proposals and translate them into realistic and realizable outcomes. For instance, a policy agenda for reducing information disparities between the urban and rural enclaves could be translated into a white paper on implementing a universal access program for connecting rural schools and libraries to the information superhighway. Similarly, a project proposal for providing distance learning could be translated into an introduction of a certificate program in computer science. With the outcomes of policy deliberation and project development in hand, the next objective will be to transfer them to Bangladesh. The policy white paper on universal access to the information superhighway, used in the previous example, could now be presented to media organizations, relevant legislative and administrative bodies, international organizations and advocacy groups in Bangladesh. Similarly, the certificate program in computer science could be pursued as a collaborative project between the think tank and a local university. Pursuance of these efforts in Bangladesh will serve as an ultimate test of the integrity and workability of the think tank and its various components. EB2000 will close after conducting an evaluation seminar among the members and staff of the think tank where recommendation will be made to further solidify the alliance and develop its agenda for the future. A final report detailing the experiences of EB2000 will mark the official closing of the project. 3. Think TankThe think tank will be politically and religiously
non-aligned and will represent the interests of the global community of
expatriates in connection with the development needs of Bangladesh. Its
initial physical presence will be in the United States because of the larger
concentration of expatriates, ease of setting up an organization, and easy
access to a group of organizations involved in the development process
in Bangladesh. However, it will be globally decentralized from the very
beginning to include all communities of expatriates who have access to
the Internet. The think tank will gradually establish physical presence
in different regions across the globe by establishing local chapters. It
is envisioned that at some point in the future the headquarters of the
organization will be moved to Bangladesh.
The think tank will be built around an executive committee that will expedite its startup and day to day administration. It is expected that it will comprise of more than three but less than ten members. During the startup phase and before the first election, a working committee will carry out responsibilities of the executive committee. The working committee will be drawn from volunteers who identify themselves with the mission of the think tank and are willing to commit time and resources in finalizing its name, constitution, structure, registration and administration procedures. The official appointment of the executive committee will be based strictly on the constitution of the think tan k. It will be the objective of the working committee to induct into the think tank, at least 2000 expatriate scholars, academics and professionals by the year 2000. These expatriates will help establish the supporting structure for the think tank in the form of a Board of Advisors and a collection of Thematic and Project Groups. The Board of Advisors will be a small group of individuals nominated and elected by the members of the organization. It will provide to the executive committee, general and strategic counsel on organizational matters. The thematic groups will be the mainstay of the organization as it will organize the expatriate scholars, academics and professionals into different specialized groups or cells based on their backgrounds, experiences and interests. Since duplication or substitutions of existing functional efforts are against the mission of the think tank, thematic groups may utilize members of other expatriate organizations that choose to establish working relationship with the think tank. The number and size of the project groups will depend upon the scale of the undertakings. An efficient organization of the two groups could be in the form of a matrix structure as suggested in Table 1. Table 1. Suggestive Organization of Thematic and Project Groups
The executive committee will appoint a manager for each thematic and project group who will coordinate the activities of the group and act as a liaison between the group and the executive committee. It is expected that these managers will constitute a review board for evaluating policy action items and project proposals. To maintain checks and balances, member of the board of advisors or executive committee may not be allowed to become managers of the thematic or project groups during their tenure. Similarly, a thematic group manager may not be allowed to become a project group manager and vice versa. 4. Global AmitechAs a partner in the technical alliance, Global Amitech will be responsible for setting up the information infrastructure between the think tank and the community of expatriates. It will commit human resources in the area of administration and coordination, media and public relations and information technology management. It will commit physical resources in terms of information technology, publication and office space. During startup phase of the operation, GA will setup an interactive web site to administer all activities of EB2000 and the think tank. This will include but not limited to, membership entry forms, moderated discussion forums, opinion surveys, account summaries, project status updates, and links to member organizations. This web site will be managed by GA but will provide content access to designated members of the think tank. At the conclusion of the startup, GA will assume responsibility, under the direction of the think tank, for linking the think tank with various governmental and non-governmental organizations in Bangladesh as a part of extending the reach of the strategic alliance network. GA will be reimbursed for its products and services by the think tank. During the project phase of the operation, GA will work closely with the think tank working committee to finalize the details and scope of its relationship in full accordance with the think tank’s constitution. It is understood that GA will be an integral part of the EB2000 strategic alliance. In due course it will change its status from a commercial to a not-for-profit organization in Bangladesh. 5. Budget and FundingBulk of the initial startup cost will be in the area of establishing the required information infrastructure. On the think tank side, incurred cost during startup will be based on the scale of undertaking. In the minimum it will require funds for registration, setup and administration. After the conclusion of the startup phase, the alliance will develop annual budgets for the implementation of its various projects and activities. Upon establishments of the organization and its supporting structure, the executive committee will solicit financial support from its individual members and various foundations to cover the cost. It is expected that outside funding will be utilized for the implementation of specific projects. Membership fees and donations will be used to finance the day to day administration of the alliance. Also, the think tank may raise funds by selling services such as access to its proprietary information data banks and products such as policy journals. All efforts will be made to assure accountability, transparency and propriety in each areas of financial administration. Legal and financial counsels will be appointed as needed. 6. Timetable and Task DefinitionsThe project phase of the initiative will
begin from January 1, 1999 and terminate on January 1, 2000. The tentative
time line for specific activities will be as follows:
A Plea to the Bangladeshi ExpatriatesWe believe that the fast revolution in communication technologies opened an excellent opportunity for the expatriates. By taking this lofty initiative, we feel that we are on the cutting edge of this technology. Our understanding of an expatriate's busy life is very clear. If we combine our efforts, however small it may be from an individual, the total effect and contribution will be significant. We request you to join this organization and make a difference. People who are not fluent in English should not hesitate to come on board, because ideas are what we are looking for.Last Update January 8, 1999
|
|
Send mail to info@eb2000.org
with questions or comments about this web site.
|
