Software testing centre on way

The government is set to establish a testing centre for locally-developed software to assure quality, a move that is expected to boost the IT sector's exports.

“As there is no process of software certification and testing in Bangladesh, local developers are always in a disadvantageous position when they compete with foreign companies, even for government projects,” said Zunaid Ahmed Palak, state minister for ICT.

Bangladesh earns about $150 million from software exports a year, while its imports are 4-5 times more.

A project has already been designed by the Information Communication Division and forwarded to the Economic Relations Division for funding.

The estimated cost for the Software Quality Assurance Testing and Certification Centre is Tk 37.5 crore, Palak said, adding that talks are ongoing with South Korea for soft loans to fund the project.

The centre will be built at the BCC Building. Last year, the government has established a small-scale testing centre at Jahangirnagar University, but it turned out to be insufficient to meet the industry demands.

Palak said they have also a plan to establish an Innovation, Design and Entrepreneur Academy in the BCC building.

Officials of the ICT division said once the hi-tech park is up and running, there will be a huge demand for software testing and certification, so the government needs to start the process immediately.

Habibullah N Karim, former president of the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services, said they proposed a software display and testing centre to the government 10-12 years ago.

“I think presentation is more important than testing and quality assurance,” he said, while calling for a simple and transparent bidding.