The rapid development and adoption of digital technology are transforming economies, societies, and political domains worldwide. Digital solutions can help countries skip traditional stages of progress, and digital ecosystems can provide unique opportunities for communities to accelerate their social growth and leverage technology innovations to reduce poverty and achieve the SDGs.

In Bangladesh, CSOs are not just players but key drivers in advocating for social change, promoting human rights, and providing essential community services.

Therefore, BNNRC implemented the Promote Digital Localization for Advancing Digital Democracy project, which aimed to empower CSOs in Bangladesh to promote and advocate for the effective implementation of digital localization, digital rights, and digital democracy.

Key objectives include increasing understanding of digital localization & governance for local ownership and adaptation, digital public goods and infrastructure to better serve the community, digital skills, and rights support for a more informed, equitable, and connected society.

https://demo.bnnrc.net/web/content/38

• Bangladesh

The project focuses on strengthening CSOs' capacities to influence the digital landscape, especially in localizing digital policy frameworks and services. This can be replicated by organizing capacity-building workshops and training programs and creating platforms for sharing knowledge about digital rights, policy, and infrastructure considering local needs.

Replication could involve creating similar training modules for CSOs in other regions or countries tailored to their digital contexts. These modules can be standardized to include workshops on digital inclusion, human rights in the digital era, and the importance of local solutions to digital issues.

The project also encourages collaboration between CSOs, governments, and the private sector to promote a localized approach to digital development. Replicating this would involve fostering partnerships between local governments, tech companies, and civil society in other countries to build digital policies that reflect the population's needs. This collaboration model could be replicated by other organizations working in different regions, adapting the framework to work with their specific locations' unique governance and technological landscapes.

The project focuses on strengthening the capacity of CSOs to support digital localization efforts. Digital localization refers to adapting digital technologies and policies to meet a specific country or region's local needs, priorities, and contexts. In Bangladesh, where digital inclusion and access to information are vital for economic and social development, this project aims to empower CSOs to advocate for local digital policy, ensure citizens’ rights, and protect data privacy. To ensure sustainability, the project is designed in several key ways like-

Capacity Building: The project's core focus is strengthening the technical, advocacy, and organizational capacity of CSOs. This ensures that the organizations involved are better equipped to continue working in the digital localization space beyond the project’s duration. CSOs are empowered to play a sustained role in digital policy discussions and local implementation efforts by training staff, offering technical resources, and building networks.

The WSIS values emphasize equitable access to information, fostering digital inclusion, and advancing human rights and development through ICTs. By empowering CSOs with knowledge and tools to promote digital localization, the project ensures that communities in Bangladesh can actively participate in and benefit from the digital age, thus advancing WSIS values of inclusivity, access, and human rights in the digital world. Besides building CSOs' capacity to engage with digital tools and platforms, the project helps bridge the digital divide. It ensures that marginalized communities in Bangladesh can access critical information, news, and services online. CSOs also play a key role in advocating for digital inclusion policies, which can influence national policies related to digital infrastructure.