Research Paper on Information and Communication Technology Essay Example

Research Paper on Information and Communication Technology Essay Information and Communication Technology Research Paper 1. Importance of ICT in Developing Economies The spread of ICT technologies over the world has been dramatic in the past years, spearheading development all over the world. Increasing the pace of globalization, this trend opened new opportunities not only for developed nations but also for improving ones as the costs of ICT technologies decrease. Mansell Wehn (1998) note that â€Å"the increasing spread of ICTs opens up new opportunities for developing countries to harness these technologies and services to serve their development goals.† India is the most frequently cited case of explosive growth in ICT sector. However, other developing nations have also developed sizeable industries that contribute to their development, and Bangladesh is one of the successful examples. ICT sector is predicted to be at the forefront of development in South Asia that will promote its rise up to 2036 (Espiritu, 2006). The development of this sector is expected to support growth, replacing the production of raw materials with high technologies that allow rapid progress and advancement to the role of one of the world’s leading areas. In Bangladesh, building a dominant ICT sector recently became a priority in the government policies as this area was defined as â€Å"Thrust Sector† exhibiting â€Å"desire to turn Bangladesh into an ICT driven country† (INS, Asian Tribune, 2006). Possessing many advantages that can drive the development of the sector, the nation can reap benefits of advancement in a relatively short term. 2. History of ICT Sector in Bangladesh We will write a custom essay sample on Research Paper on Information and Communication Technology specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Research Paper on Information and Communication Technology specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Research Paper on Information and Communication Technology specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The beginning of the national industry can be defined in 1964 when the Bangladesh Atomic Commission was the first establishment to use computers. In later decades, mainframe computers spread to the financial sector to facilitate processing of data. In the 1980s, the printing and publishing industry began to use information technology. It was not until the 1990s that reduced price on personal computers made the use of ICT more accessible to the wide public. Given Bangladesh’s low-income level, it required several more years until the government’s decision to remove taxes on hardware and accessories and a general decline in global PC prices triggered an explosion in their proliferation. In consequence, the growth rate of computer usage averaged 40% in the past years (CentOS, n.d.). Computer technology received additional impetus from â€Å"the introduction of the direct Internet connection using VSAT in June 1996† (CentOS, n.d.). Initially, this connection was monopolized by the BTTB, a fact that allowed the agency to maintain high prices that effectively blocked access for the majority of the population. This monopoly was abolished in 2000 when Internet access soon became more affordable, reaching vast masses of people around the country (Razib, 1996). 3. Current Status of the Industry The size of ICT industry including software and IT-dependent services is estimated by the Bangladesh Association of Software Information Services (BASIS) to exceed Tk. 300 crore/year (BASIS, n.d.). The inclusion of other branches such as hardware production, Internet, and network services would bring this number to Tk. 1,000 crore/year (BASIS, n.d.). Explosive expansion demonstrated by the sector in the past six years is illustrated by the number of newly formed companies and increase in the number of IT professionals. According to CentOS, the number of hardware companies grew from 1,200 to 2,500 in the period 2000-2006, the number of software companies increased from 100 to 350, and ISP businesses from 30 to 150. Accompanying these numbers is the growth in the number of ICT professionals that reached 25,200 in 2006, up from 11,400 in 2000 (CentOS, n.d.). Growth is explained by a combination of factors that make Bangladesh well positioned for constructing a fully-fledged information technology sector. The nation’s advantages are â€Å"the unleashed English speaking youth force, skilled professionals working abroad, universities and other educational institutions turning out huge numbers of ICT graduates, a substantial number of ICT graduates studying abroad, and skilled workforce available at most competitive wages† (CentOS, n.d.). Although the BASIS notes some constraints in the current supply of IT graduates for the local industry, the association also notes that the remarkable increase in enrollment in IT-oriented university programs promises great improvements in the availability of qualified workforce. The relatively small number of software companies shows that this branch of the market has not yet fully exploited its potential, being a â€Å"late entrant to the ICT sector† (CentOS, n.d.). The demand for software development comes predominantly from the corporate market, and therefore, the most developed output is database related. The BASIS (n.d.) reports that software is at the moment propelled by the need to automate office processes including â€Å"Accounting/Finance, HR, Inventory, Billing†. At the same time, other sectors including Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and SCM (Supply Chain Management) are also developing at a quick pace. Speaking of the segments that represent the greatest users of software services, the most extensive demand comes from pharmaceutical and textile industries that account for a significant portion of the GDP and bulk of employment in Bangladesh. At the moment, more and more companies choose to specialize in the banking sector, competing in this area with inexpensive Indian software market. Businesses like Flora Limited, Beximco Computers, Techno Heaven have become the leaders in this area (Razib, 1996). The achievements of Bangladeshi software developers are represented in the annual Soft Expo exhibition. The hardware market is mostly represented by vendors importing PCs and accessories from Singapore for distribution in the local market. The annual market of over 100,000 units is largely represented by clone computers that dominate over brand computers because of their lower prices. Apple is not well represented in the Bangladeshi market because of its high pricing, and Intel dominates the processor market (Razib, 1996). Bangladesh can become an important destination for outsourcing, with its Dhaka City turning into another Bangalore. At this point, Bangladeshi software companies have signed contracts with Danish corporations for the provision of software development services. At the moment, the export of software from Bangladesh totaled $7.2 million and showed annual growth of 70% in 2003-04 and 2004-05 (BASIS, n.d.). 4. The Government’s Role in the Development of ICT Sector The administration of Bangladesh has committed itself to pursuing a focused policy that will make the nation’s ICT sector competitive with most of the world’s developments in this industry. Until 1996, however, the government paid little attention to the burgeoning industry. The situation changed when â€Å"the caretaker government of Justice Habibur Rahman opened Internet Technology for Bangladesh in June 1996† (Razib, 1996). In 1998, their successors, the government headed by Sheikh Hasina eliminated taxation on computer accessories. The efforts of the current government led by Begum Khaleda Zia resulted in increasing rate of Internet connections and spread of broadband access (Razib, 1996). On May 22, 2006, Begum Khaleda Zia, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, â€Å"inaugurated the long-awaited fibre optic submarine cable system at the landing station at Cox’s Bazar and thus connected Bangladesh to the global information superhighway†, another lan dmark event that will bring the nation closer to the global communication networks (INS, Asian Tribune, 2006). The tax-free status of ICT companies was preserved despite the nation’s general poverty and reliance on the budget. Serious attention to the development of the promising sector of the economy is displayed in the National ICT policy adopted in 2002 with the purpose of forming a knowledge-based society. This policy presented by the Ministry of Science and Information Communication Technology (2002) â€Å"aims at building an ICT-driven nation comprising of knowledge-based society by the year 2006†. In addition to the creation of skilled human resources through the increased introduction of ICT technologies at educational establishments, the program targets development of software, hardware, and services sectors within ICT industry. The creation of a government-sponsored ICT Incubator and encouragement of Non-Resident Bangladeshis to set up companies in the nation are ways to promote industry growth. The government also established an ICT Task Force headed by Prime Ministe r Begum Khaleda Zia to elaborate further details of the sector’s development. The government contributes to the development of ICT industry by initiating a series of projects related to e-Government, the aim to introduce ICT into government proceedings to increase their intensity. These projects initiated by the to ICT Task Force (SICT) account for a budget more than Tk. 60 crore. To this date, â€Å"SICT has so far floated 17 e-Governance projects out of which eight projects have been already awarded to a same number of companies† (Razib, 1996). However, growth and development of the industry remain largely driven by efforts of the private entrepreneurs and their corporate clients (Hasan, 2003, p. 111). 5. Prospects and Challenges of ICT industry Extensive government support for the industry demonstrates the recognition that the sector holds great promise for the economy that currently ranks among the least developed countries of the world. At present, Bangladesh’s â€Å"two main exports are jute and tea; both faced a price-inelastic world market demand† (Cypher, Dietz, 2004, p. 198). Unable to attract significant FDI flows and to lack population’s capacity to save given the poverty level, Bangladesh is left with its resources to overcome dependence on agricultural exports. In this light, the development of science and technology represented by the ICT sector appears most promising (Wignaraja, 2002, p.95). There are still serious obstacles to the development of the sector in Bangladesh. First, many residents cannot properly take advantage of its progress since â€Å"computers cost as much as half a year’s salary, and a modem costs more than a cow† (Mansell Wehn, 1998, p.250). However, electronic communication spreads slowly but continuously, often aided by the efforts of NGOs like Drik, located in Dhaka, Bangladesh, an organization engaged in the provision of unofficial e-mail services, connecting wide layers of the population to the Internet. In general, â€Å"lack of IT awareness in the public sector and lack of capital investment are the two major hurdles†, combined with lack of confidence in the sector’s prospects on the part of foreign investors, including non-resident Bangladeshis (BASIS, 2004). Lack of adequate infrastructure also remains a serious obstacle. The development of Internet access is mostly blocked by the low teledensity in the nation. In 1999, Bangladesh compared unfavorably against most nations in Asia Pacific, with its teledensity rate of just 0.5% against the regional average of 8.5% (Sobhan, Khaleque, Rahman, S., 2002, p. 9). The Public Switched Telecommunications Network (PSTN), the backbone for Internet connections, is available in a limited area encompassing Dhaka and major cities. The penetration in rural areas is only marginal. Internet access is characterized by low bandwidth capacity ranging between 100 and 150 Mbps, and connection speed averaging 64 kbps-2 Mbps (Sobhan, Khaleque, Rahman, S., 2002, p. 9). These technical limitations restrict the development of Internet networks, in addition to the high cost of hardware compared to local incomes and poor acquaintance with Internet usage. The development of the ICT sector in Bangladesh holds promise for many key areas that can propel the nation’s development including higher education. Recently, Bangladesh saw a surge in the number of distance education programs that permit democratization of education. The leader in this area, Bangladesh Open University (BOU) now relies on a combination of â€Å"print, correspondence tuition, audio-visual materials, broadcasting, and face-to-face tuition† (Harry, 1999, p. 173-174). Information technology can be another option helping the university and similar establishments deliver educational materials to prospective students and in this way broadening its reach. Conclusion The ICT sector in Bangladesh is crucial to the development of this developing nation and has the potential to dramatically affect living standards and the nation’s position in the global economy. Increased affordability of computer and communication technologies help reach vast masses of population, and the presence of a qualified workforce with competitive wages is an essential prerequisite for the successful development of the sector. With extensive government support and proclaimed orientation toward e-Government, the situation in the ICT industry is being taken seriously by politicians. Bangladesh can aspire to create its hardware industry as well as establish a high position in the software market. At the same time, there is still a lot to be done to overcome obstacles posed by poverty, lack of required investment, and inadequate infrastructure.

Banning Corporal Punishment in Schools

Banning Corporal Punishment in Schools What is corporal punishment? The National Association of School Nurses defines it as â€Å"the intentional infliction of physical pain as a method of changing behavior. It may include methods such as hitting, slapping, punching, kicking, pinching, shaking, use of various objects (paddles, belts, sticks, or others), or painful body postures. Still Legal in 22  States While corporal punishment such as paddling, spanking and hitting students disappeared from private schools by the 1960s, according to an article published by NPR in December 2016,  it is still permitted in public schools in 22  states, which can be broken down into 7 states that simply dont prohibit it and 15 states that expressly permit it. The following seven states still have laws on their books that do not prohibit corporal punishment: IdahoColoradoSouth DakotaKansasIndianaNew HampshireMaine The following 15 states expressly permit corporal punishment in schools: AlabamaArizonaArkansas  FloridaGeorgiaKentuckyLouisianaMississippiMissouriNorth CarolinaOklahomaSouth CarolinaTennesseeTexasWyoming What is ironic about this situation is that no accredited teachers college in the U.S. advocates the use of corporal punishment. If they dont teach the use of corporal punishment in the classroom, why is the use of it still legal? The United States is the only nation in the western world which still permits corporal punishment in its schools. Canada banned corporal punishment in 2004. No European country permits corporal punishment. So far, the United States Congress has not acted on requests from organizations such as Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union to enact federal legislation banning corporal punishment. Since education is widely viewed as a local and state matter, any further banning of corporal punishment will probably have to occur at that level. If, on the other hand, the federal government were to withhold funding from states where corporal punishment is legal, the local authorities might be more inclined to pass the appropriate laws. Rationale for Corporal Punishment Corporal punishment in one form or another has been around schools for centuries. It certainly is not a new issue. In the Roman Family children learned by imitation and corporal punishment. Religion also plays a role in the history of disciplining children by spanking or hitting them. Many people interpret Proverbs 13:24 literally when it states: Spare the rod and spoil the child. Why Should Corporal Punishment Be Banned? Research has shown that corporal punishment in the classroom is not an effective practice, and can cause more harm than good. Research has also shown that more students of color and students with disabilities experience instances of corporal punishment more than their peers. The research shows that children who are beaten and abused are more likely to be prone to depression, low self-esteem and suicide. The simple fact that corporal punishment as a disciplinary measure is not part of any education curriculum indicates that educators at every level know that it has no place in the classroom. Discipline can and should be taught be example and non-physical consequences. Most leading professional associations oppose corporal punishment in all its forms.  Corporal punishment is not allowed in the military, mental institutions or prisons, either. I learned years ago about corporal punishment from a man who was an expert in the field. I co-founded a high school in Nassau, Bahamas in 1994. As deputy director of the school, one of the first issues I had to deal with was discipline. Dr. Elliston Rahming, the owner and director of the school, was a criminologist. He had very firm views about the subject: there would be no corporal punishment of any kind. We had to find better, more effective ways than beating to enforce discipline. In the Bahamas, beating children was, and still, is an accepted disciplinary method in the home and in the school. Our solution was to develop a Code of Discipline which basically penalized unacceptable behavior according to the severity of the infraction. Everything from dress code to drugs, weapons and sexual infractions was covered. Remediation and resolution, retraining and reprogramming were the goals. Yes, we did get to the point on two or three occasions where we actually did suspend and expel st udents. The biggest problem we faced was breaking the cycle of abuse. What Happens in Americas Private Schools? Most private schools frown on the use of corporal punishment. Most schools have found more enlightened and effective methods for dealing with disciplinary issues. Honor codes and clearly spelled out results for infractions combined with contract law give private schools an edge in dealing with discipline. Basically, if you do something seriously wrong, you will get suspended or expelled from school. You will have no recourse because you have no legal rights other than those in the contract which you signed with the school. Things Parents Can Do What can you do? Write the state education departments of the states which still permit corporal punishment. Let them know that you oppose its use. Write your legislators and urge them to make corporal punishment illegal. Blog about local incidents of corporal punishment whenever appropriate. Organizations Opposed to Corporal Punishment in Schools The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry opposes the use of corporal punishment in schools and takes issue with laws in some states legalizing such corporal punishment and protecting adults who use it from prosecution for child abuse. The American School Counselor Association: ASCA seeks the elimination of corporal punishment in schools. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that corporal punishment in schools be abolished in all states by law and that alternative forms of student behavior management be used. The National Association of Secondary School Principals believes that the practice of corporal punishment in schools should be abolished and that principals should utilize alternative forms of discipline. The National Center for the Study of Corporal Punishment and Alternatives (NCSCPA) tracks information about this subject and puts out updates. It also offers an interesting reading list and other materials. Interview With Jordan Riak Jordan Riak is the Executive Director of Project NoSpank, an organization which is dedicated to the eradication of corporal punishment in our schools. In this article, he responds to some of our questions regarding corporal punishment. How Prevalent is Corporal Punishment in Schools? With the exception of those who are directly affected, most people are unaware that in more than 20  states, teachers and school administrators have the legal right to physically batter pupils. Children are sent home with bruised buttocks daily in untold numbers. There is a downward trend in the number of paddlings annually, which is encouraging, but still a small comfort to victims. Editors note: outdated data has been removed, but recent studies have shown that more than 100,000 students were physically punished in 2013-2014.  But the true numbers are surely higher than the records show. Since the data is supplied voluntarily, and since those reporting arent especially proud of what they are admitting to, under-reporting is inevitable. Some schools decline to participate in the Office for Civil Rights survey. When I inform people of the extensive use of corporal punishment in the schools, they almost invariably react with astonishment. Those who remember the paddle from their own school days tend to assume (erroneously) that its use had long since faded into history. Those who are fortunate enough to have attended schools where corporal punishment wasnt used or who lived in the states where bans were in effect are incredulous when presented with information about its current use. The following anecdote is illustrative. I was invited to address a class of students at San Francisco State University who were preparing to become school counselors. Some in the group already had teaching experience. At the conclusion of my presentation, one of the students- a teacher- opined that surely I was misinformed about the situation in California. Corporal punishment just isnt allowed here and hasnt been for years, she flatly insisted. I knew otherwise. I asked her where she had attended school and in w hich districts she had worked. As I expected, the places she named all had district-wide policies against the use of corporal punishment. She was unaware that in neighboring communities students were being paddled legally. Paddlers dont advertise, and one cant blame her for not knowing. The use of corporal punishment by public school teachers in California became illegal on January 1, 1987. In the United States, there is a long-standing gentlemans agreement between government, the media, and the educational establishment to avoid any mention of teacher violence. Typical of such taboos, adherents not only refrain from entering forbidden territory but come to believe that no such territory exists. An indignant correspondent wrote me the following: In my twenty years as a teacher in Texas, I never saw one student paddled. Strictly speaking, he might have been telling the truth about what he hadnt seen, but its hard to believe he was unaware of what was going on all around him. Recently I heard this on the radio. An author who had written about sports heroes influence as role models on youth was just concluding an interview and was beginning to field listeners calls. One caller recounted his experience at high school where a coach routinely beat up players. He told how one student who had been victimized by the coach later encountered him in public and punched him. The show s host abruptly cut off the call, and said laughingly, Well, there you have the darker side. Sounds like a movie by____ and hastened to the next caller. Rest assured, the United States does not have a monopoly on denial in this regard. At a conference on child abuse in Sydney in 1978, when I raised a question from the floor about why none of the presenters had talked about caning in schools, the moderator replied, It seems the things you want to talk about, Mr. Riak, are not the things we want to talk about. At that same conference, where I had set up a table to distribute anti-corporal punishment literature, a member of the New South Wales education department told me this: The corporal punishment controversy that youve been stirring up here is causing more broken friendships in the department than any other issue I can remember. Caning is no longer legal in Australian schools, and hopefully, old friendships have mended. How Do You Define Corporal Punishment? There never has been, and probably never will be, a definition of corporal punishment that doesnt stir debate. The American College Dictionary, 1953 Edition, defines corporal punishment as physical injury inflicted on the body of one convicted of a crime, and including the death penalty, flogging, sentence to a term of years, etc. The California Education Code, 1990 Compact Edition, Section 49001 defines it as the willful infliction, or willfully causing the infliction of physical pain on a pupil. Proponents of corporal punishment typically define the practice in personal terms, i.e., what they experienced when they were children, and what they now do to their children. Query any spanker on what it means to corporally punish a child and you will hear autobiography. When one attempts to distinguishing corporal punishment from child abuse, the confusion deepens. Lawmakers, as a rule, duck this conundrum. When it is forced on them, they act as though they are walking on eggs as they grope for language doesnt cramp the style of child punishers. Thats why legal definitions of child abuse are models of vagueness- an heroic accomplishment for those trained in the art of exactitude- and a boon to lawyers who defend abusers. School corporal punishment in schools United States typically involves requiring the student to bend forward as far as possible thus making the protruding posterior a convenient target for the punisher. That target is then struck one or more times with a flat board called a paddle. This causes sharp upward jolts to the spinal column accompanied by bruising, soreness and discoloration of the buttocks. Since the locus of impact is close to the anus and genitals, the sexual component of the act is unarguable. Nevertheless, possible adverse effects on the developing sexuality of young victims are ignored. Furthermore, the possibility that certain punishers are using the act as a pretext for gratifying their own perverse sexual appetites is also ignored. When these risk factors are cited, corporal punishment apologists typically dismiss the suggestion with derisive laughter and retorts such as, Oh, comon, please! Gime a break! Forced exercise is one of several unacknowledged forms of corporal punishment. Though the practice is unequivocally condemned by physical education experts, it is widely used, even in states that ban corporal punishment. It is a staple of locked facilities where troubled youth are corralled ostensibly for the purpose of being reformed. Not allowing children to void bodily waste when the need arises is another form of corporal punishment. It is physically and psychologically dangerous in the extreme, but its use against schoolchildren of all ages is ubiquitous. Punitive restriction of movement also qualifies as corporal punishment. When done to incarcerated adults, it is deemed a violation of human rights. When done to schoolchildren, its called discipline. In school environments where buttocks beating is key to student management and discipline, all the myriad lesser insults to which children are prey such as ear twisting, cheek squeezing, finger jabbing, arm grabbing, slamming against the wall and general manhandling are apt to pass unchronicled and unrecognized for what they really are. Article updated by Stacy Jagodowski