UGC Plans Digital Network for All Universities

Propelling the country's higher education system into a tech-driven global standard, the University Grants Commission (UGC) of Bangladesh has unveiled an ambitious roadmap for comprehensive digital transformation.

Professor Dr. Mamun Ahmed, Chairman of UGC, announced these plans on Sunday (October 18, 2026) while addressing a consultative workshop titled "Digital Transformation of Higher Education Management" held at the National Science and Technology Complex in Agargaon, Dhaka. IT experts, faculty members, researchers, and officials from UGC and the HEAT project attended the event.

The UGC Chairman stated that the commission plans to bring all public and private universities under a robust digital network featuring high-speed Wi-Fi and comprehensive support infrastructure within the next two years. This initiative aims to establish digital classrooms and systematically transition universities into fully integrated digital campuses.

As part of the plan, major emphasis will be placed on automating student admissions, fee payments, hall seat allocations, and academic-administrative operations. This online framework will allow students to apply, pay fees, and access accommodation details remotely, while eliminating the hassle of visiting campuses physically to apply and pay for degree certificates upon graduation.

To enhance career readiness and youth empowerment, UGC plans to make internships mandatory across all universities within five years. For this purpose, UGC is developing a centralized online platform where universities will log internship demand based on departments, while corporate, service, and public sector organizations will post available slots, with UGC acting as the coordinating hub.

Addressing faculty shortages in specialized subjects, the UGC chairman highlighted that institutions lacking qualified computer science faculty can leverage remote instruction. Experienced professors from University of Dhaka (DU), Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), and Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) will conduct virtual lectures accessible to students nationwide. The expertise of Bangladeshi academicians working abroad will also be tapped into.

To streamline university administration, UGC emphasized creating integrated software for handling admissions, accounting, staff management, and scholarships. This unified dashboard will allow Vice-Chancellors to track operational progress across departments while optimizing registrar and accounting workflows.

Instead of developing separate software systems for each university, Professor Mamun Ahmed sought advice from IT experts on integrating existing frameworks. He emphasized that achieving holistic digital transformation requires synchronized infrastructure across hardware, networking, data storage, and software platforms.

The workshop was also addressed by UGC Members Professor Dr. Masuma Habib and Professor Dr. Aslam Hossain, along with HEAT Project Director Professor Dr. Asaduzzaman.

//DBTech/UGJMR/SMP/BPO//