Digital Centers/Citizen Service Centers have been a cornerstone of last-mile digital service delivery in Bangladesh. These centers are Bangladesh’s largest and most inclusive citizen-centric service delivery platform, providing essential public and private services directly to citizens, particularly in rural and underserved communities. With a network of 9,408 centres 7,238 currently operational and managed by local youth entrepreneurs these centres function as last-mile access points under a unique Public-Private Partnership model. Services range from administrative and legal assistance to financial inclusion, market linkages for CMSMEs and migrant workers, and youth skills development. Most centres are housed within local government offices or rural marketplaces and are operated by male and female entrepreneurs to ensure gender-sensitive delivery, reaching over 7 million citizens monthly and significantly reducing time and costs for service access.
Since their inception in 2007, these Centres have expanded nationwide, supporting more than 300 essential services. The Centers contributes to inclusive governance, social protection, digital empowerment, youth entrepreneurship, and financial inclusion. Building on the success of the Centres, the Digital Centers/Citizen Service Centers 2.0 pilot, led by a2i in partnership with UNDP, aims to modernize Centres by enhancing operational capacity, governance, service delivery, financial sustainability, and inclusivity. This pilot seeks to strengthen the Centres model as a scalable, citizen-centric platform that ensures equitable access to essential services, promotes digital empowerment, and fosters youth entrepreneurship in rural and underserved communities.
Key interventions under this initiative include: baseline assessment and performance categorization, competency-based training, financial sustainability support, citizen engagement and inclusion, “Star” incentive program, and a policy roadmap for national scale-up.
The pilot will cover 100 selected Digital Centers/Citizen Service Centers, representing a diversity of performance levels and geographic conditions. The vendor will be responsible for delivering all components with audit-ready documentation, coordination with government and project stakeholders, and synthesis of learning for national scale-up.