The global economy is undergoing a profound transformation. The world's most valuable resource is no longer oil, land, or even data it is human attention. Decades ago, Nobel laureate Herbert A. Simon warned that an abundance of information creates a scarcity of attention. In 2026, his observation has evolved into an economic reality that shapes everything from social media platforms to artificial intelligence systems and digital marketplaces.
As Bangladesh moves from the vision of “Digital Bangladesh” toward the ambitious goal of “Smart Bangladesh 2041,” a critical question emerges: Does our national budget recognize the economic value of attention, creativity, and digital productivity, particularly among Generation Z?
The FY 2026–27 budget, expected to exceed Tk 9 lakh crore for the first time in the country's history, arrives at a moment when Bangladesh is confronting multiple challenges, including high inflation, employment uncertainty, technological disruption, and growing global competition for talent. While the budget places significant emphasis on education, health, and economic recovery, it must also address a less visible but increasingly important frontier the attention economy and the future of Bangladesh's digitally native generation.
Generation Z, broadly defined as those born between 1997 and 2012, represents one of Bangladesh's most strategically important demographic groups. Unlike previous generations, they do not simply use the internet as a communication tool. For them, the internet functions simultaneously as a marketplace, a classroom, a workplace, and increasingly, an alternative economic ecosystem.
Every scroll, click, share, view, and interaction generated by Gen Z creates economic value. Yet much of this value is captured by global technology platforms rather than being reinvested into Bangladesh's domestic innovation ecosystem. In this sense, attention has become a national economic asset. A truly Smart Bangladesh must develop policies that enable local creators, developers, educators, and entrepreneurs to retain a larger share of the value generated by Bangladeshi digital participation.
For more than a decade, Bangladesh's digital development narrative focused heavily on connectivity indicators—mobile internet subscriptions, broadband penetration, and digital infrastructure expansion. These investments were necessary and transformative. However, connectivity alone is no longer sufficient.
Across Bangladesh, young people are increasingly generating income through digital platforms. They work as freelance designers, software developers, content creators, video editors, digital marketers, AI prompt specialists, and remote consultants. Their clients are often located thousands of miles away, while their workplaces exist entirely online.
This shift reflects the emergence of a global gig economy in which traditional geographic boundaries matter less than skills, creativity, and digital visibility. Yet many of these young professionals remain trapped within an informal ecosystem. They often struggle with access to financing, business registration, international payment systems, and clear tax guidelines.
A budget that imposes excessive costs on digital tools, devices, software access, or internet services indirectly taxes productivity itself. If digital connectivity is viewed merely as a commercial service rather than a productive economic asset, Bangladesh risks slowing the growth of an entire generation of entrepreneurs.
The challenge is not simply to increase internet access but to recognize digital participation as a legitimate component of national economic development.
One of the defining characteristics of the modern economy is the monetization of human attention. Global platforms compete relentlessly for user engagement because attention drives advertising revenue, data collection, and platform growth.
Bangladeshi youth contribute significantly to this global ecosystem. Millions spend hours producing, consuming, and sharing digital content every day. Some successfully convert attention into income through content creation, freelancing, affiliate marketing, and digital entrepreneurship.
However, the economic structure remains highly asymmetrical. While Bangladeshi users generate value, the overwhelming share of profits accrues to multinational technology corporations.This creates an important policy question: How can Bangladesh transform passive digital consumption into active domestic value creation?The answer lies in nurturing local innovation ecosystems, supporting creators and startups, improving access to digital finance, and reducing barriers to participation in the global digital economy.
Artificial Intelligence is rapidly reshaping labor markets worldwide. Routine tasks once considered stable entry-level opportunities are increasingly being automated. Simultaneously, demand is growing for higher-order skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, digital literacy, and technological adaptability.
The FY2026–27 budget demonstrates continued commitment to education. The Secondary and Higher Education Division is expected to receive more than Tk 50,000 crore, making it one of the largest allocations within the national budget. Education and health together account for a substantial portion of development expenditure.
Yet allocation alone does not guarantee preparedness for the future economy.
Today's learners increasingly rely on decentralized educational platforms. They acquire skills through online courses, open-source communities, professional certifications, and AI-assisted learning tools. The traditional classroom remains important, but it is no longer the sole gateway to knowledge.
Therefore, a future-oriented budget should go beyond physical infrastructure. It should actively support advanced digital training, AI literacy programs, technical certification subsidies, and industry-linked apprenticeship opportunities. Investing solely in buildings while neglecting digital access is equivalent to constructing highways without enabling transportation.
Bangladesh's long-term competitiveness will depend less on the quantity of educational institutions and more on the quality of skills they produce.
Around the world, economic leadership increasingly depends on innovation capacity. Nations that fail to develop strong innovation ecosystems risk becoming exporters of talent and importers of intellectual property.
Bangladesh faces a growing challenge in this regard. Many highly skilled young professionals seek opportunities abroad or work remotely for foreign companies. While remittances and international income streams bring benefits, the long-term loss of domestic innovation capacity can weaken national competitiveness.
Encouragingly, the FY2026–27 budget includes significant attention to entrepreneurship and startup development. Reports indicate that approximately Tk 400 crore has been earmarked for startup initiatives, women entrepreneurs, and youth entrepreneurship programs. This represents an important signal that innovation-driven growth is receiving greater policy attention.
However, funding alone is not enough.Bangladesh must develop a comprehensive innovation ecosystem that includes venture capital access, regulatory flexibility, startup-friendly taxation, university-industry collaboration, and stronger research commercialization pathways.The objective should not merely be to produce skilled workers for foreign markets. It should be to cultivate founders, innovators, and technology builders capable of creating value within Bangladesh itself.
An increasingly important segment of the labor force does not fit traditional categories of employment. Freelancers, digital creators, remote workers, online educators, and independent developers operate outside conventional institutional frameworks.Many contribute significantly to economic activity, yet their work remains inadequately recognized by policy structures.
A modern fiscal framework should provide clearer taxation guidelines, simplified business registration pathways, improved access to digital payment systems, and specialized financial products tailored to digital workers.
Recognizing platform workers is not merely a social policy issue; it is an economic necessity. The future workforce will be increasingly decentralized, project-based, and digitally connected.Countries that adapt their regulatory systems accordingly will gain a competitive advantage in attracting and retaining talent.The discussion surrounding Gen Z cannot be limited to economics alone. The attention economy has significant social and psychological implications.
As digital engagement intensifies, traditional community spaces continue to decline. Youth clubs, cultural centers, and local creative platforms often struggle to compete with algorithm-driven digital environments designed to maximize engagement.
The result is a paradox. Young people are more connected globally than ever before, yet many experience increasing social isolation and detachment from local communities.
A genuinely smart fiscal strategy should therefore invest in both technological and social infrastructure.Instead of relying exclusively on conventional cultural institutions, policymakers could support modern community hubs that integrate technology, creativity, and civic participation. These spaces could combine sports facilities, digital fabrication labs, creative studios, entrepreneurial incubation centers, and collaborative learning environments.
Such investments would help transform young people from passive consumers of algorithmic content into active producers of social, cultural, and economic value.
Bangladesh stands at an important crossroads. The transition from Digital Bangladesh to Smart Bangladesh cannot be achieved through infrastructure alone. It requires a fundamental shift in how policymakers understand value creation in the twenty-first century.
The FY2026–27 budget arrives during a period of persistent inflation, which reached over 9 percent in recent months, highlighting the urgency of generating productive employment and sustainable economic opportunities for young people.
Generation Z possesses the digital fluency, adaptability, and global outlook necessary to help Bangladesh compete in an increasingly knowledge-driven world. However, their potential cannot be fully realized if fiscal policy remains anchored in outdated assumptions about work, learning, and productivity.
A truly Smart Bangladesh requires a budget that lowers barriers to digital participation, supports entrepreneurship, invests in advanced skills, strengthens innovation ecosystems, and recognizes the economic significance of human attention.
The challenge before policymakers is not simply to count young people as demographic statistics. It is to empower them as creators, innovators, entrepreneurs, and architects of Bangladesh's future.
The question is no longer whether Bangladesh can build a Smart Bangladesh.The real question is whether our fiscal framework is smart enough to build the generation that will make it possible.
Writer: Columnist