Let the Country's Data Stay in the Country: What Bangladesh Must Do to Achieve Self-Reliance in Cloud and Internet Gateways

In the geopolitical context of the 21stcentury, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure is nowone of the main pillars of a country's sovereignty, security, and economicstability. While the speed at which Bangladesh is moving forward in digitaltransformation is praised by the global community, a strategic reliance onforeign cloud services, data storage, and international internet gateways canput the country's data sovereignty at risk in the long run. Especiallyinternational laws like the CLOUD Act can bring data stored abroad under thejurisdiction of foreign judicial authorities, creating anxiety for statesecurity.

In this context, keeping the country'simportant data—such as banking transactions, citizen information, secret governmentdocuments, defense-related information, and sensitive healthcare data—securedwithin the country's geographical borders is now not just a technical demand;it is a national security priority. For this, there is no alternative toimplementing a long-term and self-reliant data strategy.

Bangladesh has already taken severalpolicy and structural initiatives to strengthen cloud infrastructure.Formulating the ‘Cloud Computing Policy 2023’ and setting a mandatory rule tostore government data on domestic clouds has created the foundation for futuredata protection. Besides this, building Tier-4 standard data centers and the‘Sovereign Cloud’ established through the BDCCL–Oracle coordination is abreakthrough step in ensuring the country's data does not go outside thecountry. This infrastructure is extremely important for sensitive sectors likefintech, banking, healthcare, and e-governance, where data privacy andregulatory compliance get the highest priority.

If we become self-reliant in data storageand cloud capacity, Bangladesh will benefit significantly economically as well.Bangladesh is spending crores of taka every year on foreign cloud services; iflocal capacity increases, the technology industry inside the country willexpand further. Alongside this, new doors of possibility will open for localinnovators, startups, and researchers.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be oneof the main driving forces in building a Smart Nation in Bangladesh.High-Performance Computing (HPC) is essential for training AI and machinelearning models, which is extremely expensive and risky on foreign clouds.Through a sovereign cloud, the country's researchers, medical experts,agricultural technologists, and innovators can use safe, faster, andcost-effective HPC facilities on their own land. As a result, creatingspecialized AI-driven solutions using local data in sectors like health,agriculture, environment, and climate adaptation will become easier.

Similarly, reducing reliance oninternational connections is another important side of technologicalself-reliance. Bangladesh currently depends on submarine cables and limitedland-path international gateways. Work is going on for the third and fourthsubmarine cable connections to remove this reliance, which will increase thecountry's network redundancy and resilience. Besides this, by expanding ITCconnections, land-based internet routes with neighboring countries are gettingstronger, which will make the national network safer, faster, and morereliable.

The addition of Starlink satelliteinternet service has added a new dimension to Bangladesh’s technologicalprogress. In remote hill areas, coastal islands, and isolated rivervillages—places where traditional broadband or mobile networks do not reach orremain stable—Starlink will play an important role in ensuring high-speedinternet. This satellite-based connection will speed up the country's digitalinclusion and reduce the network gap in sectors like education, healthcare,agricultural technology, disaster management, and government services.Especially rural entrepreneurs, telemedicine, online learning, and remotemonitoring services will benefit significantly through Starlink’s stable andfast internet.

Therefore, I think right now our goal isvery clear—keeping data safe inside the country, achieving self-reliance intechnology, and ensuring digital sovereignty. However, building infrastructureis not enough. We need to create skilled human resources, strengthen cybersecurity, create experts in cloud architecture and data science, and encouragedomestic innovators more. If we can make this foundation stronger, standing onthe policy of ‘Let the country's data stay in the country’, Bangladesh will goone step further in implementing the vision of a Smart Nation and at the sametime achieve permanent progress in national security, economy, and technologysectors.

Writer: Sakif Shamim: Managing Director, Labaid Cancer Hospital