Rural Bangladesh faces development challenges due to limited access to government services and information, significantly affecting community empowerment and socio-economic progress. The Union Digital Centre (UDC) initiative, launched by the Bangladeshi government with support from international partners, aims to tackle this by providing ICT-based services at the grassroots level. By decentralizing access to these services, it aims to reduce the burden on rural residents who had no choice but to travel long distances. However, its effectiveness is restricted by social inequalities that influence who benefits from these digital resources. Why is this the case and what can be done to address it?
Dr. Mohammad Sahid Ullah, a professor at the University of Chittagong, Bangladesh, is shedding light on the equitable use of ICTs to uplift rural communities. His research, “ICTs, Community Empowerment and the Politics of Inclusion and Exclusion in Rural Bangladesh,” is among the recipients of the 2025 FAO/IAMCR Rural Communication Services (RCS) and will be presented at the RCS special session of the IAMCR 2025 conference.
The study examines how the UDC project, despite its promise, fails to empower many communities in rural areas due to existing power hierarchies. Based on fieldwork conducted in six UDC areas and 55 in-depth interviews with national policymakers, center operators, users, and non-users, Ullah’s study reveals that “local elites” or those who already have material and social capital, have better access and capacity to utilize UDC services. Consequently, marginalized groups become excluded from opportunities that the project was meant to provide.
It also highlights how structural power dynamics distort the benefits of digital services. Instead of serving as neutral tools for development, ICT projects can reinforce existing inequalities unless deliberate efforts would be made to address these systemic barriers.
The findings suggest that it is not enough to rely solely on introducing digital technologies as a solution for rural communication issues. Without prior reforms in the local power structure, these initiatives can serve as what Ullah calls “another metaphorical magic bullet” of neoliberal policy, well-intentioned but ultimately inadequate. He emphasizes that ICT interventions would be more impactful with a bottom-up approach. It must be locally negotiated, politically sensitive, and socially just.
Dr. Ullah is a Professor at the Department of Communication and Journalism, University of Chittagong. A former Country Director for the Worlds of Journalism Study (WJS), he has also served in leadership roles with the IAMCR, including as Vice Chair of its Law Section.
He authored three internationally acclaimed books and over 60 peer-reviewed chapters and journal articles, he also received the Best Paper Award of the First World Journalism Education Congress in 2007. His expertise includes journalism education, new media and social change, community radio, and media laws.
His works highlight the need for community-led design and implementation of ICTs that reflect the realities of the people they intend to serve. It also calls on development practitioners to move beyond superficial inclusion and towards actual meaningful participation from women, youth, and the rural poor.
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References:
CU Prof Sahid wins FAO/IAMCR Award for rural communication research. (11 June, 2025).
Bangladesh Post. Retrieved from https://bangladeshpost.net/posts/cu-prof-sahid-wins-fao-iamcr-award-for-rural-communication-research-152696
International Association for Media and Communication Research. (2025). RCS awards 2025. Retrieved from https://iamcr.org/awards/RCS-award-2025
Article contributed by Maria Soledad, CCComDev intern.
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