Bangladesh Women in IT (BWIT) and Bangladesh Open Source Network (BDSON) have joined hands to mark the first death anniversary of Luna Shamsuddoha, former director of Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) and founder and chairman of Dohatech New Media.
Public and private sector personalities, including BASIS, were present at the meeting titled ‘Memorial Meeting of Luna Shamsuddoha’ at BASIS auditorium on Thursday (February 17).
At the commemoration, BASIS President Russell T. Ahmed remarked, “Only a few personalities I met with as humble, polite and ever smiling as Luna Shamsuddoha”. He also paid tribute to Luna Shamsuddoha as one of the reasons for her participation in the BASIS elections.
At the commemoration ceremony, the BASIS President announced that this year’s International Women’s Day would be observed on March 8, dedicated to Luna Shamsuddoha, and that awards would be given after her name to eminent women entrepreneurs and professionals. The award will be given every year in the name of Luna Shamsuddoha and a lab named Luna Shamsuddoha will be launched at BITM, he said.
BWIT President Dr. Lafifa Jamal and BDOSN General Secretary Munir Hasan, among others, addressed the commemoration.
Luna Shamsuddoha was awarded the Bangladesh Business Award in 2017 for her outstanding contribution to the economy of Bangladesh and received the top ten awards for her involvement in the software industry. Due to her leadership role, she received the 2013 Honorary Leadership Award from the Global Women Inventors and Innovators Network (GWIIN) in Stockholm, Sweden. She is also well known in various global forums on technology, e-governance and women’s economic participation and empowerment.
Luna Shamsuddoha holds a master’s degree in international relations from Dhaka University. She began her career as a consultant in 1978 and began her business in 1985 as a managing partner of the Executive Center. Prior to that, she was an English teacher at the British Council Language Resource Center and a lecturer at the English Language Institute of Modern Languages, University of Dhaka.