Digital connectivity is the base of a Smart Bangladesh, said Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology Minister Mustafa Jabbar on Saturday.

Smart Bangladesh will be built through the combination of digital connectivity and digital skills, the minister said while addressing at the closing ceremony of the three-day road to smart Bangladesh 2041 planning workshop organized at the Bangladesh Water Development Board auditorium in Dhaka, as the chief guest.

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Chaired by Kabir Bin Anwar, former Cabinet Secretary and convenor of the workshop committee, the President of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, Waseqa Ayesha Khan, former Director General of the Health Services and Dr. Professor Kamruzzaman, Vice-Chancellor of Haji Danesh University of Science and Technology also spoke at the event.

The Minister highlighted the need for digital transformation of education to build smart public resources for Smart Bangladesh and said that the implementation of Smart Bangladesh should not be disrupted due to inefficiency in the use of technology.

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Digitization should be done on a massive scale in every field including education, agriculture and health. The Minister noted that the use of IoT in the agriculture sector can be tremendous for the advancement of this sector.

Jababr expressed hope that this workshop will contribute fruitfully in creating a detailed roadmap for Smart Bangladesh.

Stating that digital connectivity has been brought to the doorstep of almost every person in the country, including remote areas, the minister said that sitting in the remote upazila of Haor, ordinary people can get specialist eye treatment online, which is unimaginable.

He said, as a result of high-speed internet connection, the National Institute of Ophthalmology is providing specialized treatment in 200 upazilas of the country. It is possible to provide advanced medical services to the helpless people of the village by utilizing the opportunity of high-speed digital connectivity in every community clinic of the country, he added.

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Kabir bin Anwar said that the opinions and recommendations of experts from the three-day workshop will play a role in the implementation of the Smart Bangladesh program in creating an effective roadmap for the successful implementation of the Smart Bangladesh program.