Govt to set up two Digital Economy hubs for ICT
City Desk :
The government will set up two Digital Economy hubs for the ICT industry to create conducive environment for digital economy by providing policy support, implementing upskilling and reskilling initiatives and coordinating on digital technologies.
The digital economy hub will be set up on the premises of Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) and Bangladesh Association of Contact Center and Outsourcing (BACCO) would also develop a comprehensive institutional framework and system for the digital economy ecosystem that would benefit all businesses, reports UNB.
Two separate Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) were signed on Wednesday in this regard between the World Bank financed Enhancing Digital Government Economy (EDGE) Project of BCC and BASIS, along with BACCO at the auditorium of Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC).
EDGE Project Director Nahid Sultana Mallik, BASIS President Russel T. Ahmed and BACCO President Wahid Sharif inked the MoUs on behalf of their respective sides in the presence of State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak and World Bank Regional Project Director Pankaj Gupta.
The MoU signing was followed by a seminar on ”Effective Partnership Among Industry, Academia, and Government for Smart Bangladesh’, which was addressed, among others by, BASIS President Russel T. Ahmed, BACCO President Wahid Sharif, EDGE Policy Adviser Abdul Bari.
State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak unveiled the cover of the newsletter titled: ‘Tech Insight,’ published by EDGE Project and edited by its Communication Specialist Ajit Kumar Sarkar at the function.
Some 120 appointment letters were also handed over to those who were hired by different companies under the Hire and Train programme of the EDGE project,
After the agreement was signed, Zunaid Ahmed Palak revealed the significant progress in the past decade towards achieving a Digital Bangladesh and highlighted the robust growth of the country’s digital economy.
After the successful implementation of Digital Bangladesh, the government has been implementing various programmes in line with the ‘Smart Bangladesh’ vision as announced by visionary leader Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Palak said.
He also said the main objective of the government is to introduce Bangladesh as an intelligent and innovative nation by 2041.
The ICT state minister said the government is going to establish 10 Research and Innovation Centers (RICs) in 10 public and private universities.
The frontier tech-based research and innovations of these RICs will help create entrepreneurs which would create huge employment in the country, he added.
Palak said the government designed the EDGE project aiming to create frontier technology-based human resources to cope with the fourth industrial revolution.
