The Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC; ) is a statutory government body under the Information and Communication Technology Division responsible for supporting the development and use of information and communication technology in Bangladesh.
Under its founding legislation, the Council's functions include promoting the use of computers and information technology, developing ICT infrastructure and professional skills, advising government bodies, preparing technical standards and specifications, supporting research and training, and assisting the implementation of national ICT policies.
BCC also operates government digital infrastructure, including a Tier III-certified National Data Center in Dhaka, and has implemented nationwide government-network and connectivity projects.
History
The institutional origins of BCC date to 1983, when the government created the National Computer Committee to formulate policies and programmes for the use of computers and information technology. The committee was replaced by the National Computer Board in 1988.
The Bangladesh Computer Council Act, 1990 transformed the National Computer Board into the Bangladesh Computer Council as a statutory body. Although enacted on 20 January 1990, the Act states that it is deemed to have come into force on 27 December 1989. The Council initially operated under the President's Secretariat and was placed under the Ministry of Science and Technology in 1991.
In December 2011, BCC was placed under the newly established Information and Communication Technology Division. The ICT Division continued to list BCC among its subordinate statutory organisations in 2026.
BCC also expanded outside Dhaka through regional offices. Its first regional office began operating in Rajshahi in September 1999, followed by offices in other divisional and regional centres.
Statutory functions
The Bangladesh Computer Council Act assigns the Council a broad mandate relating to the development and application of information technology. Its responsibilities include encouraging computer and ICT use for social and economic development, supporting ICT education and professional standards, developing human resources, advising government organisations on technology use and security, collecting and disseminating information, supporting research and training, and developing technical standards and specifications.
The Act provides for an executive council headed by an Executive Director, who serves as the Council's chief executive officer and is responsible for implementing its decisions.
Digital infrastructure
National Data Center
BCC established the National Data Center at the ICT Tower in Agargaon in 2010 as government computing infrastructure for hosting and managing public-sector digital services. The facility is certified to Tier III standards and provides infrastructure, hosting, cloud, backup, disaster-recovery and related services to government organisations.
The National Data Center later introduced an on-premises government cloud platform. BCC's data-centre documentation describes Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service and Software as a Service offerings for public-sector organisations.
BCC also implemented the project that established a separate Tier IV National Data Centre at Bangabandhu Hi-Tech City in Kaliakair, Gazipur. Construction began with Chinese financial and technical assistance, and the centre was inaugurated in November 2019. The Kaliakair facility is now operated by the state-owned Bangladesh Data Center Company Limited rather than by BCC.
Government networks
BCC has implemented several government-network projects, including BanglaGovNet and the Info-Sarker programmes. Info-Sarker II connected more than 18,000 government offices through a nationwide network, while Info-Sarker III was designed to extend fibre-optic connectivity to 2,600 union parishads.
BCC later implemented the Connected Bangladesh project to extend broadband infrastructure to remote and underserved areas. The project's current website states that broadband connectivity infrastructure has been established in 653 unions.
Standards and interoperability
BCC prepares technical drafts and specifications for information-technology standards that are subsequently considered and approved as national standards by the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution.
Its work has included revisions of the Bangladesh Standard Specification for Bangla Coded Character Set for Information Interchange and the national Bangla computer-keyboard standard. Revised versions compatible with contemporary Unicode standards were approved by BSTI in 2018.
BCC also developed the Bangladesh National Digital Architecture and an e-government interoperability framework intended to provide common architecture and interoperability standards across government systems.
Software and hardware testing
A government Software Quality Testing and Certification Centre was inaugurated at BCC in July 2018 to test software, mobile applications and computer hardware used or procured by government organisations.
The facility later developed into the Software and Hardware Quality Testing and Certification Center, operating under BCC's Testing, Quality Control and Certification Wing. Its services include functional, performance, security, compatibility and hardware testing.
NID verification agreement
In December 2024, the Election Commission terminated a 2022 agreement under which BCC had access to national identification data for verification services. The Election Commission said the agreement prohibited BCC from providing the data to third parties but that BCC had breached those conditions. It also cited unpaid fees and said that BCC's explanations had been unsatisfactory.
The cancellation disconnected BCC's API access to the Election Commission database and affected businesses that had been using identity-verification services through a private service provider connected to BCC.
See also Information technology in Bangladesh Bangladesh e-Government Computer Incident Response Team National Cyber Security Agency (Bangladesh) Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority Internet in Bangladesh
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