The government is going to establish two digital economy hubs for the ICT industry with the aim of policy support, greater skill development, and digital capacity building in the public and private sectors and creating a digital economy friendly environment with local innovators.
To this end, two commercial organizations of the information technology sector BASIS and BACCO signed an agreement with the ICT Department’s Enhancing Digital Government and Economy (EDGE) project funded by the World Bank on Wednesday at the Bangladesh Computer Council Auditorium.
In the presence of Minister of State for Information and Communication Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak and World Bank Regional Director Pankaj Gupta, EDGE Project Director Nahid Sultana Mallick, BASIS President Russell T Ahmed and BACCO President Waheed Sharif signed the MoU on behalf of their respective organizations.
At the MoU signing ceremony, the ICT State Minister said that the government is creating skilled human resources in advanced technologies like artificial intelligence, robotics, big data, blockchain, 3D to keep pace with the fourth industrial revolution. For this reason, 1 lakh graduates and post-graduates are being trained in these technologies from EDGE project.
Palak said, following the path of success in the implementation of Digital Bangladesh, the government has started the program of building Smart Bangladesh, the aim of which is to present Bangladesh as an intelligent and innovative nation in the world by 2041. Government is establishing Research and Innovation Centers (RIC) in 10 public and private universities of the country to develop innovation and research. As a result of research and innovation based on advanced technology from these RICs, entrepreneurs will be created in the country, who will create employment for a large number of people.
According to the agreement, the signatory parties will work to develop digital economy hubs as centers of dynamic innovation, experience exchange and skill development by leveraging the expertise and networks of business organizations. It will build partnerships with international organizations to share knowledge and resources, as well as create content related to the fourth industrial revolution for participants in the digital economy.
Md. Samsul Arefin, Secretary of ICT Division; BCC Executive Director Ranjit Kumar; Nahid Sultana Mallick, Project Director of EDGE Project; Abdul Bari Tushar, Policy Advisor of EDGE Project; Pankaj Gupta, Regional Director of World Bank spoke on the occasion.
Later the State Minister unveiled the newsletter titled ‘Tech Insight’ published by the EDGE project and edited by the project’s Communication Specialist Ajit Kumar Sarkar.
