WCIT 2021: Business opportunities have been created with 67 countries

With the participation of more than 100 technologists from more than 75 countries under the theme 'ICT the Great Equalizer', Bangladesh has created business opportunities with 67 countries as the host country in the famous International Olympic Conference on Technology, 'World Congress on Information Technology'. The ICT department said that this opportunity was created through the B2B session during the conference. Shahidul Alam Majumder, media spokesperson of the Information and Communication Technology Department, said this in a press release sent to the media on Monday after the WCIT's silver jubilee. He said that last November 11-14, the conference was held in the country for the first time and Bangladesh took part in B2B sessions with 67 countries. As a result, business opportunities were created in those countries. At the conference, individuals and organizations were awarded in various categories from WITSA and ASOCIO. The Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina was awarded the 'Eminent Persons Award'. Former South African President Nelson Mandela received the award for the first time in 2010. Vint Surf, one of the fathers of the Internet, also received the award. Meanwhile, ICT Adviser to the Prime Minister Sajeeb Wazed Joy has been awarded the 'ASOCIO Leadership Award-2021'. Apart from this, the organization has also rewarded government and non-government organizations of different countries for their success in information technology in different categories. This year, Computer Services Limited from Bangladesh, Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC), Development of National ICT Info Network for Bangladesh Government (Info-Gov), Boighor and Jatyo Swasthya Batayan (National Health Window) have won ASOCIO awards in various categories. This year's event was held in a hybrid (physical and online) model keeping the Corona situation in mind. The four-day event was attended by IT experts, ministers from different countries, entrepreneurs, government and non-government representatives and visitors. The Asia-Oceania International Conference Association 'Digital Summit 2021' was held in the same period parallel to the 'WCIT 2021' conference. President Md. Abdul Hamid inaugurated the conference at the Bangabandhu International Conference Center (BICC) on November 11, 2021 as the chief guest by virtually joining the four-day world conference. The four-day gathering of IT experts was attended by various leading figures from various IT organizations around the world. One of them was the father of the modern Internet Vint Surf, one of the mothers of the modern Internet Radia Perman and Sir Timothy Berners-Lee, the founder of the World Wide Web; James H. Poissant, Secretary-General of the WITSA; Patrick Meyer, General Manager (AliPay and Global Payment Partnership) of China-based Alibaba's parent company Ant Group, Goming Cheng, Chairman of Intel Corporation Omar S. Ishraq and others. Among the local experts, Ferdowsi Qadri, a scientist who won the Magsaysay Award, known as the Nobel Prize in Asia; and Senjuti Sha, microbiologist and director of Bangladesh Child Health Research Foundation enriched the conference with their valued presence. At this global international conference, there were various seminars and sessions on almost all the important topics of information technology. The four-day conference highlighted the successes and achievements of Digital Bangladesh as well as IoT, BigData, Machine Learning, with the Fourth Industrial Revolution in mind. Discussions held on the latest additions to modern and smart technologies like robotics. The first day of the conference was 'Digital Bangladesh Night' to highlight Bangladesh's progress in information technology in this international event. In this event, progress in information technology of Bangladesh for the last 12 years was presented. On the second day of the conference, the birth centenary celebrations of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman will be held. On this day, various individuals and organizations who have made special contribution in information technology in Asia-Oceania region were honored at the 'ASOCIO Award Night'. Bangladesh's progress in the celebration of the golden jubilee of independence on the third day, the issues of achievement and glory were highlighted. At the 'WITSA ICT Excellence Award Night', various individuals and governmental and non-governmental organizations were honored for their special contribution in information technology around the world. On the fourth day, WCIT's silver jubilee celebration and closing ceremony was held. There were also several seminars on software, hardware, BPO and outsourcing. The ministerial conference was held with the participation of ministers from different countries. Prime Minister's ICT Adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy presented the keynote address at the event. Apart from this, Bangladesh has won three more awards in three different categories. Among them, 'Sustainable Growth/Circular Economy' award was given to BGMEA, an organization of garment traders, 'Innovation e-Health Solutions' award was given to Jatyo Swasthya Batayan (National Health Window)-18273 and 'e-Education and Learning' award was given to Daffodil International University. Various organizations and initiatives from Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar, Hong Kong, Nepal, Taiwan, Greece, Russia etc. have been awarded in different categories. State Minister for Information and Communication Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak, Senior Secretary ICT NM Zeaul Alam, WITSA Chairman Yannis Siros, WITSA Secretary General James H. Poissant, Bangladesh Computer Society (BCS) President Shahid-ul-Munir, Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC) Executive Director Md. Abdul Mannan and others were present on the occasion. Regarding the organization, State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak said, “This World Conference will contribute to the growth, development and development of information technology inter-communication as a result of sharing experiences with IT stakeholders and experts from different countries.” He emphasized the need for concerted efforts by all to address the challenges of the IT sector. The next WITSA World Conference will be held in Malaysia.