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Bangladesh Government using Covid-19 Vaccine Management System “Surokkha” to implement the overall management of Covid-19 vaccination activities. This system is used for citizen registration, issuing vaccination card, schedule management, vaccination, providing Smart Vaccination certification and Global Verification of Certificate which is playing a vital role in traveling abroad. Ensuring inclusion of citizens through online Self-Registration of Covid-19 vaccine by confirming social distance. Improving the quality of government services by government manpower. Ensure transparency and accountability through the proper use of information technology. Reducing dependence on foreign technology. The initiative is a Public Service Innovation to ensure service delivery closer to the doorsteps of citizens especially in this Covid-19 emergency situation. With the best use of technology, the Covid-19 vaccination program in this global pandemic has been greatly facilitated by the "Surokkha" system. To save government expenditure especially in epidemic situation. A transparent database is being created for the recipients of the Covid-19 vaccine, which will help in obtaining various statistics related to the Covid-19 vaccine in the future which will be helpful to make proper decisions.

The stagnancy in citizen life caused by the Covid-19 epidemic disrupts normal activities. There was a consecutive 66 days lockdown for educational institutions, offices, court, business even in every movement here in Bangladesh which can affects to our economy. To overcome this situation government decided to vaccinate citizens. There was no alternative of vaccination to get rid from such situation. But how the social distance will be maintained? How the vaccination data will be managed? The Covid-19 vaccine management system "Surokkha" has overcome such problems and manage vaccination program through digital information management.

SDG 1: No poverty 1.3 Implement nationally appropriate social protection systems for all 1.5 By 2030, build the resilience of the poor and those in vulnerable situations and reduce their exposure and vulnerability to climate-related extreme events and other economic, social and environmental shocks and disasters SDG 3: Good Health 3.3 By 2030, end the epidemics of communicable diseases 3.8 Achieve universal health coverage, access to quality essential health-care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all SDG 4: Quality Education 4.a Non-violent, inclusive and effective learning environments for all SDG 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls 5.3 Eliminate child, early and forced marriage SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure 9.5 Encouraging innovation and substantially increasing the number of research and development SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions 16.5 Substantially reduce corruption and bribery in all their forms 16.6 Develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels 16.7 Ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels SDG 17: Partnerships for the goals 17.6 International cooperation on and access to science, technology and innovation and enhance knowledge-sharing. 17.7 Promote the development, transfer, dissemination and diffusion of environmentally sound technologies to developing countries. 17.8 Science, technology and innovation capacity-building mechanism for least developed countries

This initiative is sustainable in social, economic and environmental terms because there is no barrier for all citizens including children 12 years and above, female, senior citizens, poor, Slum dwellers, refugees of Rohingya Camp to register and vaccinate through this system with no cost. People who have no internet facility can have assistance from volunteer and more than 5,000 union digital center (UDC). There were also provisions for spot registration and vaccination for disabled and old citizens. This initiative is sustainable in environmental terms as it is online based and less paper involvement.

Bangladesh government don’t have public health database so that the country should go for manual vaccination process. By which was not possible to maintain physical distance. This could be caused spreading of virus, time consuming and vaccine distribution process would not be organized properly. In spite of having lot of limitations like time, cost, resources, manpower, technology this initiative accommodate huge number of people for vaccination by overcoming all challenges as it is a nation emergency. To deliver said service, Department of ICT developed this system by their own initiative and management with no additional cost to the government and managing after implementation as well.

The initiative addresses gender inequality in the country context as there is about to equally get facilitate both the male and female citizens. As of today, there are 3,29,90524 male and 3,34,01445 female have registered for vaccine which is 49.69% and 50.31% accordingly. It’s mentioned that, the population of Bangladesh also in 50:50 proportion according to gender. This government institutional initiative already recognized as an example of gender equity in service delivery.

The initiative greatly overcome the challenges to vaccinate priority group like frontline fighters of Covid-19 (Doctor, Nurse, Midwife, Medical Staff etc.), senior citizens (greater than 60 years), Front-line law enforcement agency, Front-line media workers, Government officials and employees involved in emergency public service, students etc. and after ensuring their vaccine they can immediately start their service to overcome covid-19 situation. By vaccinating Garments workers, our one of main economic source were stable quickly. Vaccination of Bangladeshi workers has made it easier for them to go abroad and contributing global economy. It is becoming possible to keep the educational activities normal through vaccination of students, teachers and staff. All educational institutions including schools, colleges and universities are being opened. The Covid-19 vaccine management system "Surokkha" has made this task much easier through digital information management. Now 12 years and above all citizens, foreign diplomats, foreign students, foreign nationals staying in Bangladesh can registering and vaccinating through this system. This is the only system in Bangladesh through which people of all level can be vaccinated.

When Bangladesh Government decided to vaccinate citizen to protect from Covid-19 coronavirus, in that concern government looking for a Covid-19 Vaccine Management system on the urgent basis. According to the data sharing policy, citizens personal sensitive information cannot be stored outside the country. That’s why, Government wanted to do it by govt. internal resources and manpower. In those circumstances, a team of programmers from Department of Information and Communication lead by Principal Secretary, Prime Minister’s Office, Coordinating by Senior Secretary, ICT Division and supervised by Deputy Commissioner, Dhaka provides a detailed presentation on “Covid-19 Vaccine Management System [Surokkha]” in front of “National Covid-19 Vaccine Committee” on January 2021. The committee has accepted the proposal and let them prepare an online registration for citizens in an urgent basis as the first shipment of vaccine was knocked at the door. The mentioned team started Planning, Analyzing, Design, Develop, Implementation, Maintenance, Upgradation. They developed the system at no cost to the government. As first step prepare the online registration system within very shortest period of time so that vaccine recipients can registered online. The registration system was launched on January 25, 2021. In order to vaccinate a citizen must follow the following steps- 1. Identity Verification & Online Self-Registration 2. Receiving of Covid-19 Vaccination Card 3. Selection, Scheduling & Sending Notification 4. Verify, Signing consent & Doses Administration 5. Receiving of Vaccination Certificate 6. Verification of Vaccination Certificate Globally The authorities with different privilege can monitor the overall activities of respective areas and can make required decision. They can generate various reports (Age wise, Area wise, Gender wise vaccination etc.) on demand.

Among other limitations Time was the major obstacle. To stop spreading deathly Covid-19 coronavirus it was essential to ensure physical distance, we planned online self-registration but huge number of concurrent traffic was a big challenge on the country’s context. We used limited local server resources because of the data sharing policies. Also has to overcome Priority group vaccination challenges. Since there was no system to manage Covid 19 vaccine, there were no scope for knowledge sharing. To verify citizens information from NID Server needed to ensure uninterrupted verification through API for huge concurrent requests. Smoothly sent 150 million OTP/SMS notifications.

The service is innovative in lot of perspective in the context of our country. Even this initiative already achieved country’s highest milestone at lowest time. As of today, about 69 million citizens have registered without any physical contact. Beneficiary can choose their reliable vaccination center during registration. The self-registration process is very convenient for end user up to rural area. The right combination of government manpower and resources utilization in government service delivery. It’s a perfect example of Public Service Innovation to ensure service delivery closer to the doorsteps of citizens especially in this Covid-19 emergency situation.

The initiative drew inspiration from our earlier successful initiatives named Central Aid Management Systems (CAMS), for smooth distribution of cash incentives to Covid-hit people. Under the CAMS, around 50 lakh families got the financial assistance last year. After the success of the project, the team grew confident and started working on vaccine management system. At the beginning of this year, they presented the system to the government. It got the vetting from the “National Covid-19 vaccine committee”, which gave some inputs and allotted three weeks to complete initial online registration system.

For smoother user experience we have used JavaScript based React Framework, API based mobile app developed using Flutter. Vaccination app QR code scanning can update vaccination information within few milliseconds make the operation much easier. NDB Cluster based nodes make data storage integrity and process large data set. Web Framework with scalability and security. Aggregated API for ensuring huge amount of OPT and SMS notifications.

Initially the initiative started to use for vaccinating priority group, the people live in urban area and densely populated area. Later on, initiative been transferred and/or adapted to other cities, metropolitans, sub-districts and villages even overall all citizens 12 years and above. Some other countries have shown their interest to use these initiatives, if finalizing then it would be very easy to customize for their fit as it is Bi-Lingual (English and Bengali).

As government successfully implemented and managing Covid-19 vaccination here in Bangladesh and achieved a huge successful milestone. The system already proves it’s scalability, security, monitoring and decision-making capability, hence it can be transferred/adapted to other countries as well. Expanded program on Immunization (‎EPI), Director General of Health Services (DGHS) are interested to implement the system for regular child vaccination (of about 45 million). It also can be associated with health database. According to the instruction of WHO & IATA (International Air Transport Association) we are able to introduce Immune Passport/ Covid-19 Health Passport.

In order to implement the Covid-19 Vaccine Management System “Surokkha” government don’t have to expend. The initiative was developed with free of cost by the government employee of Department of ICT. Even the Hosting Server, NID verification, OTP/SMS notifications all are in CSR model with no cost. The right combination of government manpower and resources utilization in government service delivery.

DoICT has enough capability to sustain this system because of it has ICT enabled personnel’s all over the country. They will operate, maintain and develop further requirements. We have inter-linked with other concern Ministry and Departments. The Surokkha Team is going to attach or more features in the system by their own. Though the initiative is developed by Department of ICT and managing as well with no cost in emergency for development, other services are in CSR model.

Yes

The initiative was initially evaluated by Software Quality Testing & Certification Center (SQTC), Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC) for bug testing, load testing, functional and penetration testing before launched. The initiative formally evaluated externally by Dr. BM Mainul Hossain, Associate Professor, Institute of Information Technology (IIT), University of Dhaka, PhD, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA. The main objective of the study was to evaluate how the implementation of “Surokkha” service has changed citizens’ experience. Significant changes compared to the manual process. The study also highlights overall socio-economic impacts, level of acceptance and convenient use of technology and getting vaccine easily.

This study focuses on digitizing service-based user experience and evaluating how digital service improved service delivery mechanisms. The study applied different research mechanisms including Desk Study, Analyzing Media Coverage, Social Media Review, Google Play Store Review, Statistics, Interviews, and overall impact observation on the vaccination program and the Covid-19 Scenarios.

Among all limitations, time limitation was the major obstacle. In a global pandemic, we intended to save government costs. To stop spreading deadly Covid-19 coronavirus it was essential to ensure physical distance. The huge number of concurrent traffic was a big challenge in online self-registration. We had to use limited local server resources because of the data sharing policies. Also, overcoming the priority group vaccination was a big challenge. To verify citizens' information, the National ID server needed to ensure uninterrupted verification through API for huge concurrent requests. To ensure uninterrupted OTP and SMS notifications we engaged all telecom operators in a single aggregated API. Surokkha system achieved highest milestone in lowest time and resources. Using Surokkha system, the social and economic scenarios have changed, the maximum sector has gotten back to its normal position. New Normal Informal workers are getting back to their work, students are getting back to their schools. By vaccinating Garments workers, one of our main economic sources become stable quickly. Migrant Workers joined back to their overseas works and started contributing to the global economy. Mass vaccination on the huge population dramatically recovered the economic loss, decreased child marriage and gender-based violations.

The Surokkha system works in an integrated manner while it adjoins different government stakeholders under one umbrella. The system works across different levels of health offices all over Bangladesh. The Department of ICT is the central authority that developed, manage, service and maintenance centrally. Director General of Health Services (DGHS) are monitoring vaccination activities, vaccination centers user can schedule and vaccinate citizens and all other user can get facilitated according to their privilege. Different authorities from division, district, sub-districts, union can access to their operational panel. The Surokkha system coordinates for Covid-19 vaccine program to all the government health offices, Hospitals, Clinics, Community Clinics. The most important feature of the system is, it ensures an accountability and transparency for all citizens and stakeholders of different classes, economic status, and social conditions.

Department of ICT has developed the system "Surokkha" on their own initiative and management. Bangladesh Government using it to implement the overall management of covid-19 vaccination activities. With the collaboration of Prime Minister's Office, Department of ICT, ICT Division and Directorate general of Health Services (DGHS) are working together. 12 years and above all the citizens, foreign nationals, foreign diplomats, foreign students, refugees of Rohingya camp etc. are the beneficiary of “Surokkha” system. In order to coverage all beneficiary, the system working with collaboration, engagement, partnerships, and inclusion. For deigning and analysis EPI, MIS, DGHS cooperate with DoICT. In implementation stage, lots of Ministry engaged with the system, for keeping the educational activities normal through vaccination of students, teachers and staff with the collaboration of Ministry of Education (MOE), Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE), University Grand Commission (UGC). The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) vaccinating foreign diplomats, foreign nationals, migrant students with the help of “Surokkha” system. The Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) vaccinate migrant workers. Ministry of Social Welfare (MSW) is working to vaccinate special child through “Surokkha” System. All the Districts, Sub-districts, Union level office aligned with the system.

We have learned that- A digitizing system can ensure accountability and transparency rather than manual system. In 4IR in this ever-changing world, we need to keep us updated with the electronic system Covid-19 Vaccine Management System “Surokkha” could be the best solution as it involves almost all the citizens of Bangladesh. The technological innovation and promotion of this system would be helpful to make Covid-19 Vaccine more reachable to the mass people. It will need supports from related public entities under a common policy framework. Continuous research and user engagement is needed for further system enhancement. The initiative continuously learns from the results and challenges. Yet inadequate infrastructure including internet, electricity and ICT infrastructure is a barrier to the system implementation. Lack of literacy including ICT literacy among the citizen and also in user level By analyzing the results and addressing different challenges the major learnings are: Steps need to be taken to increase ICT literacy among the user through training and sensitization; Commitments from Government (responsible ministries) is vital for policy and infrastructure issues; and Periodic mass promotion using 360-degree communication approach was very helpful to inform the citizens about Vaccination and get feedback from them.