Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mostafa Jabbar said the most important thing for the digital age is digital connectivity. At the same time, the side effect of digitization is digital crime. Both the jobs of digital connectivity and combatting cyber crime are vested on the postal and telecommunication department. For this, our department and all its wings have to work with full vigor.
The minister was speaking as the chief guest at a workshop on ‘Challenges to the Fourth Industrial Revolution and Things to Do to Expand 5G Technology organized by the Department of Posts and Telecommunications at the Bangladesh Secretariat in Dhaka on Thursday.
BTRC Chairman Shyam Sundar Sikder addressed the function as the special guest while the Postal and Telecommunication Secretary Md. Khalilur Rahman presided over the meeting. Dr. Md. Sharif Uddin, Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Jahangir Nagar University presented the keynote address at the event. Additional Secretary of the Department of Posts and Telecommunications Md. Mahbub-ul-Alam, Joint Secretary Khandaker Md. Abdul Hai, Director General of BTRC Brigadier General Nasim Parvez and Managing Director of BTCL Dr. Rafiqul Matin spoke on the occasion. Md. Aslam Hossain, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications conducted the program.
The Minister for Telecommunications said that digital connectivity was essential for the betterment of Digital Bangladesh, adding that the Department of Posts and Telecommunications has the highest role to play in the construction of this highway.
“According to the rules of business, we have to fulfill our responsibilities,” he said. There is no room for the slightest negligence in the discharge of duties. We are not lagging behind in technology as we have been able to do the right thing at the right time with utmost importance. We have been able to prove that ‘we can’ by introducing 5G technology. Instructing the officials to take necessary steps in this regard, the Minister said that the Digital Bangladesh program was announced eight years before the idea of the Fourth Industrial Revolution was unveiled at the World Economic Forum in 2016 under the visionary and wise leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
We could not participate in the first, Second and Third Industrial Revolutions but we have shown the ability to walk parallel to the developed countries in the Fourth Industrial Revolution by overcoming hundreds of years of backwardness. The Minister noted that Bangladesh is now fully prepared for the Fifth Industrial Revolution. Emphasizing the need to develop 70 per cent of the country’s young population as useful human resources in the digital age, the Minister said, “We must get out of the prehistoric education system.” Mr. Mostafa Jabbar, a pioneer in the development of digital technology, said, “We are offering 5G connectivity but its implementation needs to be ensured by the carriers themselves and the public needs to be informed about its requirements. At one point, we went from house to house explaining the need for computers to the people,” he said. Now people need to understand the need for 5G as well. At the same time, you have to show where and how to apply 5G.
As many as fourteen world class mobile manufacturers including Nokia, Samsung and Oppo are producing world class mobile sets in Bangladesh and exporting them to the world market. The Minister appreciated the role of BTRC in ensuring the quality of these digital devices. He expressed optimism that using the government’s technology-friendly policy, we are working to make high quality computers and laptops from Tesis under the Department of Telecommunications and components for these digital products. Following this, the journey of computer revolution is going to start in the country just like the mobile revolution. Expressing his determination to make the Bangladesh Postal Department suitable for the digital age through the establishment of digital post office, the Minister said that huge infrastructure of the postal department should be utilized. He hoped that the postal department would be one of the most needed institutions for digital commerce and that the Minister was working towards that end.
The Secretary for Posts and Telecommunications stressed on the need to build a strong digital connectivity highway to further accelerate the progress of Digital Bangladesh. He said that the proper implementation of the guidelines given in the workshop on future activities would be very effective in tackling the changed situation.
The Chairman of BTRC emphasized the need to formulate appropriate policies for building sustainable digital connectivity and infrastructure, including 5G.
The main article highlights the challenges and possibilities of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
