This guest blog was written by Abdul Muqit Ahmed, Director of Digital Services at Banglalink.
Key takeaways from M360 Digital Societies: the rise of the digital citizen
As people have become more comfortable with technology, lifestyle services have grown considerably. From browsing the internet and shopping online, to the use of social media and eSports, lifestyle services have made a huge impact on society and the economy.
The internet has become a commodity for many people round the world, yet millions of people still gain access to the internet for the first time every year, and there remains a “usage gap” of 3.2 billion people.
This particular topic was introduced by Abdul Muqit Ahmed, Banglalink Director of Digital Services, on stage at the GSMA’s M360 Digital Societies event in Kualua Lumpur last month.
The GSMA’s M360 event has been an important platform for sharing experiences and success stories from digital initiatives across Asia. Muqit presented the success stories of the digital literacy programme, an initiative rolled out by Banglalink during the last quarter of 2018 in partnership with the GSMA Connected Society programme.
During the panel, Muqit highlighted the impacts that the programme has had on customers over a 3 month period. The other panel members discussed digital lifestyle enablers in Asia, and highlighted the opportunities that exist in the online space, including the use of social media influencers and the education of customers on the benefits of the internet and other digital products.
The GSMA MISTT- (Mobile Internet Skills Training ToolKit) based Digital Literacy Program by Banglalink
In Bangladesh, 87% of the population use mobile, yet only 25% of the population use mobile internet.
The MISTT-based Digital Literacy Program is a uniquely designed programme that aims to educate customers and turn them into internet users. A large portion of the smartphone customer base do not use mobile internet. Banglalink have already seen a positive impact on user behaviour as a result of the MISTT’s 2-minute, bite-size training modules. They have found that users who previously lacked the basic digital skills to type words into their phone are now using mobile internet for activities such as watching videos on YouTube. Various use cases such as this have enabled Banglalink to realise the programme’s high potential.
The MISTT helped 117,000 customers across the country to learn about the benefits of internet. 42% of the participants who did not use the internet before the training have become regular internet users . Banglalink also saw active participation from the customers in the sales shop vicinity who’s store owners welcomed this kind of training as it increased customer loyalty and engagement. The initial success of the programme led Bangalink to launch its second phase to train over one million users, in which Banglalink will extend to promoting its own digital product and partners, launching later in 2019.
Click here to read the full case study on the Banglalink pilot evaluation. Interested in learning more about the MISTT? Visit this page to gain access to the resources.