Workshop held at Military Museum on smart content creation
The country’s non-profit organizations Castaway On the Moon (COTM) and Aspire to Innovate-a2i will create education-technology-information-entertainment-based smart content creators and young innovators in the country in collaboration with Facebook parent company Meta. For that purpose, the Smart Bangladesh Accelerator program was held at the Bangabandhu Military Museum in the capital on Saturday with the participation of about two hundred young innovators and interested content creators.
In continuation of this event, UNDP and a2i announced a content creation competition campaign to encourage young innovators and content creators across the country. In this three-month long campaign, emerging content creators will create content on the SDGs. UNDP and a2i will award the top 10 creators voted by expert judges.
Theater personality Suman Patwari said that only young innovators can create a smart society. I see a lot of creativity among the youth of the country. Nowadays, thousands of young people are creating or inventing content to attract attention. It is our job to encourage them. You can create beautiful content with just a mobile. Such arrangements will undoubtedly encourage them, guide them and make them smart citizens. Let’s hope that they will be the reflection of smart Bangladesh someday.
Md. Abdul Qayyum, Head of Communications of UNDP Bangladesh expressed hope that the event will play a helpful role in creating smart citizens. He said, ‘The Creator Accelerator Program will further inspire young innovators. By immersing themselves in such an environment, the participants will be able to further encourage their creative thinking and the program will provide them with actionable knowledge to make the right changes. The event hopes to explore the various aspects of innovation and the transformative power of technology to shape the future.’
The event was sponsored by bKash, a mobile financial service provider of the country.
Saiful Haque Ami, a prominent photographer, shed light on the importance of photography in creating content by keeping social issues. He said, ‘A picture can tell a thousand stories. It is possible to change the society by capturing the stories of small anomalies around us in the lens of the film.’
Referring to the importance of the mental aspect of everyone, Touhida Shiropa, the founder of Moner Bandhu, said that the main point of smart citizens is that citizens will solve their problems themselves. ‘I am the solution’ will be the goal. Keeping that in mind, everyone should work to solve the mental problems of themselves and people around them.
It should be noted that Aspire to Innovate-a2i, which is ongoing under the Cabinet Division and the Information and Communication Technology Division and is managed with the support of UNDP, is continuing various innovative activities to implement Digital Bangladesh and Smart Bangladesh of the Bangladesh government.
Taufiq Ahmed, E-Commerce Implementation Expert, a2i;, Fahim Hossain, CEO, Cyber71; Ashfaq Zaman, Strategy Communications Consultant, a2i; Shah Jalal Alif and Arifa Shabnam, Co-Founders of Castaway on the Moon (COTM) were present on the occasion. And all other concerned were present in event.