The ICT State Minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak said that under the ‘One Family, One Seed’ initiative, the government has taken initiatives to ensure smart employment and entrepreneurial career for at least one member of each of Bangladesh’s 4 crore 10 lakh families. To that end, the program of ‘Smart Bangladesh Launchpad’ has been officially started at CUET Sheikh Kamal IT Business Incubator, the first university-based business incubator in Bangladesh.
This is Bangladesh’s first startup studio, which will provide opportunities to those who have a good business idea or innovation as well as those who don’t have a good business idea but have the skills to be a co-founder of a startup, to participate in the co-entrepreneurship model. In the first batch, 10 startup teams are already being allotted allotment and besides, 2 more batches from among the participants of this micro-course will be taken to this Launchpad later.
CUET’s Smart Bangladesh Launchpad will create 50 new startups a year through a 6-month long Venture Building Program and start their journey to the market. The program of ‘Smart Bangladesh Launchpad’ will be launched in each university and all Sheikh Kamal IT Training and Incubation Centers in phases.
The ICT state minister conveyed these matters at the closing ceremony of the workshop titled ‘Micro-Course on Intellectual History of Startup’ organized at the auditorium of the multipurpose building of Sheikh Kamal IT Business Incubator of Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET) on Sunday (August 27) at 3:30 in the afternoon.
The ICT Division of Bangladesh Government, Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority and Student to Startup Ventures jointly organized this workshop. The CUET Vice Chancellor professor Dr. Mohammed Rafiqul Alam presided over the session while the Secretary of Information and Communication Technology Division Md. Samsul Arefin and Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority Managing Director GSM Zafrullah were present as the special guest at the event. CUET Sheikh Kamal IT Business Incubator Director Professor Dr. Mohammad Mashiul Haque delivered the welcome address.
Md. Samsul Arefin said, ‘We believe that Sheikh Kamal IT Business Incubator of CUET will play a leading role in the progress of building Smart Bangladesh from Digital Bangladesh. University students are very talented. Through their creative initiatives and innovative thinking, the country will be able to emerge as a truly technologically advanced nation’.
GSM Zafarullah said that 14 programs have been undertaken under the ‘One Family, One Seed’ initiative at the initial stage. One of them is Smart Bangladesh Launchpad. Which will develop various ideas, projects, research works and thesis reports of university students into startups. Besides being the first university-based business incubator in Bangladesh, the Sheikh Kamal IT Business Incubator of CUET’s aesthetic design has created great enthusiasm and inspiration among students across the country. We intend to conduct the regular activities of this incubator from now on in a student-friendly, inclusive and self-sustainable manner with the students of Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology.
Dr. Mohammad Rafiqul Alam said, I believe that the students will reach their desired goal of the incubator of the dream of the Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the visionary of Digital Bangladesh and Smart Bangladesh Sajeeb Wazed Joy through their creative initiatives.
At the beginning of the program, the article titled ‘Cultural History of Startup’ was presented by Mahmudul Hasan, Youth Coordinator and Program Officer of UNDP Bangladesh and the article titled ‘History of Startup in Bangladesh’ was presented by Siddharth Goswami, Team Leader and Senior Consultant of iDEA Project of Bangladesh Computer Council. Around 460 students from various departments of CUET participated in the workshop. Later the Minister of State for ICT handed over the allotment papers of 17 startups and technology companies allotted to the incubator.
He participated in exchange meetings with the Incubator concerned and administration of CUET regarding the activities of the Incubator. He then planted a memorial tree in the incubator area.