Empowering the Workforce for the Fourth Industrial Revolution: A Case Study for Employment in Bangladesh
A day-long conference was held at the Daffodil International University campus at Birulia, Savar on youth workforce empowerment in the fourth industrial revolution. A case study for employment in Bangladesh was presented at the conference to develop the skilled future-ready workforce required to meet the fourth industrial revolution in Bangladesh.
The conference was inaugurated on Wednesday (10 May 2023) by the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, Mustafa Jabbar, and the founder and chairman of Daffodil International University Md. Sabur Khan spoke as an honored guest at the opening session.
University Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr. M. Lutfar Rahman spoke as a special guest. The ICT Division’s Aspire to Innovate-a2i Project Director Dr. Dewan Md. Humayun Kabir, Group CEO of Daffodil Family Mohammad Nuruzzaman, Dean of Faculty of Science and Information Technology of Daffodil University, Professor Dr. Md. Fakhre Hossain, Director of Student Affairs Professor Dr. Syed Mizanur Rahman and Director of Career Development Center (CDC) Dr. Tanveer Fittir Aamir.
The day-long summit organized in collaboration with Daffodil International University’s Career Development Center and ICT Department Aspire to Innovate (a2i) was inaugurated after “Changing ICT, Textiles, Agriculture and RMG Jobs in Bangladesh with a view to building a future-ready workforce for Bangladesh adapting to the Fourth Industrial Revolution”. Four sessions were conducted on different topics of navigating the landscape. These sessions brought together leading experts from industry and academia to explore the latest trends and best practices in skill development for ICT and business professionals, as well as innovative approaches to skill development in the food security and agriculture sectors and the fourth industrial revolution in the textile and RMG sectors.
The Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar said that Bangladesh’s biggest strength is its human resources. Smart people are needed to build a smart Bangladesh announced by the Prime Minister. Our young generation and students are our golden people without whom Digital Bangladesh would not have happened or it is not possible to build Smart Bangladesh in the future. The aim of the present government is to make those qualified artisans of Sonar Bangla.
He also said that the biggest strength of Bangladesh is the people. Prime Minister spoke about smart people for smart Bangladesh. Next day industrial factories will run with Robot-IOT-AI. Connectivity highways need to be built for these technologies. We have done that preparation. We have tested and inaugurated 5G as the connectivity highway of the new industrial revolution.
Calling upon the students of the universities to be proficient in digital skills, the minister said, there is no such thing as a computer scientist to live in this world, the opportunity to become a scientist will be created from the user. If the new generation can be skilled in digital skills, they will not stop the fourth industrial revolution or the fifth industrial revolution. The minister expressed optimism that it will not stop.
The founder and chairman of Daffodil International University Dr. Md. Sabur Khan said, all the technologies and resources are now at our fingertips; the responsibility of the students is to integrate the technologies into a beautiful platform. He urged the students to become leaders or entrepreneurs instead of being tenants, saying that becoming a leader will be possible only when the students can use the available resources to create an excellent solution. For this, data and resources should be used appropriately.
While speaking as the President, The Daffodil University Vice-Chancellor Prof. M. Lutfar Rahman said, we have to create new technology innovators to face the challenges of the new industrial revolution.
The a2i project director said, as a result of automation, many existing jobs will be vacant, but many new jobs based on new technology will be created as well.