Staff Reporter :
The government has appointed an Indian company named Ernst and Young (EY) India to develop strategic foresight for the Smart Leadership Academy (SLA), which was set up to create well-turned-out leaders and promote a citizen-centric culture to find the way to the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Sources said the World Bank financed the Enhancing Digital Government and Economy (EDGE) Project of the Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC) of the ICT Division and signed a contract with EY India for coping with the opportunities of creating capable leaders in our society.
Besides, ICT Secretary Md. Shamsul Arefin, at a seminar on Tuesday, asked the EY authorities to develop strategic foresight, keeping in mind the rapid technological shift and carefully outlining the tasks essential to effectively operating SLA for advancing the Smart Bangladesh vision.
The workshop was held in the conference room of EDGE in the capital’s Rokeya Sarani on Tuesday.
The event was chaired by Enhancing Digital Government and Economy (EDGE) Project Director Md. Shakhawat Hossain. It was addressed, among others, by Executive Director of Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC) Ranajit Kumar, EDGE Policy Adviser Md. Abdur Bari, and EDGE Policy Development Specialist Amdadul Huq.
Debarchana, Director, People Consulting, EY India, presented the keynote on strategic foresight tools and methodologies for the Smart Leadership Academy. Shamsul Arefin highlighted the urgent need to adapt to the swift technological transition reshaping our surroundings, cautioning that failure to do so would result in falling behind.
The Secretary said there is apprehension of losing jobs with the emergence of frontier technologies, but the reality is that more jobs will be created due to the use of more equipment in making robotics and AI tools.
“The potential for job creation through domestic robot manufacturing is immense,” he said.
Arefin stressed advocating for the engagement of polytechnic students in digital and hardware skills training initiatives to establish a hub for hardware repair, thereby generating employment and curbing foreign currency expenditure.
Officials of the ICT Division and representatives from industry and academia participated in the workshop and shared their opinions about the proposed strategic foresight for smart Leadership Academy.