Call Center, VoIP, Opportunity flow and Bangladeshi youth!

We are living in a crazy world. These days, a university student Mark Zuckerberg creates Facebook in his dorm room in two weeks to become billionaire.

This era of Internet, Instant messaging, SMS is all about new ideas and innovations. And Leaders of these innovations, Bill Gates (Microsoft), Jerry Young (Yahoo), Larry Page (Google), were all students when they started building their companies.

All these crazy things are happening because of the Internet and its ability to move new ideas rapidly. After all, ideas are the fundamentals of great things.

How about Bangladeshi students? Are they playing any major role?

Not really! So far, we have been mostly Google users and members of Facebook.

Before finishing off this topic of new ideas & Bangladeshi students, let’s look at a typical new opportunity flow in Bangladeshi ICT industry – how it starts and ends.

First, experts, stakeholders, and policy makers shout a lot when things like “call center license” pop out from our good old Govt Organization BTRC. It followed by Bangladeshi dreaming about near future when country will fetch billion dollars (with in months) off call centers. What actually happens at the end - nothing. May sound harsh and hopeless, but it’s the reality in Bangladesh.

A recent example would be VoIP.

I remember I was in USA when I first heard excited immigrants talking about legalizing VoIP in Bangladesh. It was long long time ago. From global IT standpoint where industry moves in seconds, it was million years ago. What exactly we achieved from VoIP so far? As we all know, answer is pretty bleak. What’s really agonizingly funny is reading stuff (lecturing) on VoIP written by “few” expatriate Bangladeshi ICT experts on daily newspapers. These are the same people who utilized VoIP (illegitimate ways off course) to make quick cash.

Anyway, enough of this talks of despair.

Is there any hope for us? Yes, seriously.

Here is my message to youths and students of Bangladesh.

For the first time in the history of mankind, Internet is providing a platform for anyone to achieve anything from anywhere in the world. Be a part of this revolution, not just an observer.

Don’t wait for anyone (Govt., Politicians, policy makers, whatever) to help you out.

Get a PC with net connection, which will provide you everything that you need to invent the next Google. Yes, you can surely do it. I know like all others that our students got talent. Yes, you do. Just use it.

And those with PC and net already, please don’t waste time hanging out on facebook, myspace, hi5 only. Do something great so Bangladesh becomes known everywhere because of your work!