South Korea has expressed interest in working with Bangladesh on drone technology and the use of geo-specialized labs. The interest was expressed by the Korean ambassador to Bangladesh Lee Jang-Keun during a bilateral meeting with the Minister of State for Information and Communication Technology at the ICT Tower on Monday. Welcoming the interest, Zunaid Ahmed Palak assured the South Korean ambassador that he would take a new initiative with the country’s young robot-scientists.
Dr. Khandaker Azizul Islam, Additional Secretary, ICT Department; Md. Monir Hossain, Deputy Secretary; Dr. Bikarna Kumar Ghosh, Managing Director, Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority; Jing Yun Lee, First Secretary, South Korean Embassy in Bangladesh; Siuk Lee, Chief Executive Officer, Hojang Solutions Company, a renowned South Korean technology company; and officials ICT Department and its affiliates were present among others.
During the meeting, the Korean delegation announced the implementation of a World Bank-funded pilot project on water quality management and aquaculture using drone technology in Bangladesh.
To this end, they also talked about building the capacity of the officials of the Ministries of Environment and Forests and Climate Change, Fisheries and Livestock, Land, Aviation and Tourism and Water Resources of Bangladesh.
The State Minister for ICT said South Korea is a trusted friend of Bangladesh. He expressed the view that effective measures should be taken in coordination with ICT and other ministries for the use of drone technology.
To this end, he emphasized building the capacity of officials of the Ministries of Environment and Forests and Climate Change, Fisheries, Fisheries and Livestock, Land, Air Transport and Tourism and Water Resources of Bangladesh.
On behalf of the ICT Department, officials from the ICT Department, Roads, Transport and Bridges, Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, LGRD, Ministry of Agriculture and Works were advised to be involved in the process. The meeting also expressed the view that Bangladesh would take effective measures through the Korean company KOICA to enhance the skills of government officials in setting up Geo Specialized Labs.
The two countries agreed to hold a coordination meeting in February on the establishment of drone technology and geo-specialized labs.
The Ambassador of South Korea assured all possible support for the development of the IT sector in Bangladesh and said that the ICT sector has come a long way under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. At present Bangladesh is considered as one of the emerging economies of the world. He said that in the coming days, South Korea will work with Bangladesh in various fields including technology. He expressed hope that Bangladesh would go a long way through the use of technology.
According to sources, a drone factory may be set up in the high-tech park with South Korean investment.
Earlier, State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak had a meeting with the head of ‘Digital Connectivity’ project and concerned people. The state minister directed the Project Director and Additional Secretary Dr. Khandaker Azizul Islam to start work on the Digital Connection (EDC) project at the fastest time.
During the meeting, the Minister emphasized sustainable design of LAN NOS (Network Operations Center) with IT infrastructure in district and Upazila complexes; and on setting up of 555 Digital Service and Employment Training Centers (DSETs) and Joy Silicon Valley for the development of digital skills.
Earlier, the ICT department undertook a project titled ‘Digital Connectivity’ to provide government services to the people quickly and easily by converting them to e-services and to set up the necessary ICT infrastructure to increase the use of ICT in all fields. The project was approved by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the ECNEC meeting on November 23.
Under the project, 1,09,244 broadband and user connectivity, 10,000 Sheikh Russell Digital Labs and 57 specialized labs, Central Cloud Platform and Frontier Technology Center of Excellence Labs are to be set up across the country.
