Access to Information (A2I) under Cabinet and ICT divisions in cooperation with UNDP observed an era of providing services to citizens through digital centres on Friday. A programme was organised marking the era anniversary where State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak was present in the capital, as the chief guest. ICT division’s Senior Secretary NM Ziaul Alam and Local Government division’s Additional Secretary Dr Muhammad Sher Ali were present as special guests at the function with A2I Project’s Director Dr Dewan Muhammad Humayun Kabir in the chair. Read more: Digital Bangladesh: World’s 7th largest data centre eyes foreign currency State Minister Palak said entrepreneurs of the country’s digital centres will be made smart entrepreneurs to turn Bangladesh into a smarter one from digital by 2041. “For that online and offline trainings for entrepreneurs of digital centres across the country will be arranged,” he said, adding that one each digital centre will be set up in 87, 000 villages in the country. To convey digital services to people’s door-steps, one each digital centre will be set up within the distance of every two kilometers instead of now five kilometers, he said. The state minister also said special training and internship on skill development will be arranged for women entrepreneurs to convey unique services through the digital centres. Read more: Digital centres to transform villages into cities: LGRD Minister will also be taken to turn every digital centre into a rural economic hub through a participatory environment among men and women, he said.Along with the central function, several programmes were also organised marking the era anniversary in every district, upazila and union across the country with the campaign ‘Smart Bangladesh 2041: Smart services for all’.  

Speakers at a webinar here on Tuesday said there is a risk of job loss due to the emergence of 4IR, but the opportunities, including the creation of more jobs, are enormous. They also said if the opportunities are effectively utilised it would help create jobs double than the jobs loss. Bangladesh e-Government Computer Incident Response Team (BGD e-Gov CIRT) organised the virtual programme titled `Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR): Challenges and Opportunities’. Read: Voluntary disclosure of information helps establish good governance: Speakers IT-ITES Policy Adviser of LICT Project Sami Ahmed presented the keynote paper at the programme. Addressing the programme, National Data Centre Director Tarique M Barkatullah said the government will hold a series of discussions on the issues relating to 4IR and incorporate the suggestions of stakeholders and experts in formulating strategies in this regard to face challenges and utilize the opportunities of the fourth industrial revolution. In his keynote paper, Sami Ahmed referred to the research conducted by Aspire to Innovate (A2I) Programme of ICT Division about 5.5 million job loss and creation of 10 million jobs due to the emergence of 4IR and said jobs will be created more than the prediction of job loss. “The LICT project has also put forward a set of recommendations to the University Grant Commission (UGC) to change the academic curricula to cope up with the 4IR,” he added. Read:Global deal on plastic pollution is urgent: Speakers The frontier technology-based innovations and startups would contribute to creating the scope of jobs in different areas, including health, agriculture, education, finance, Sami said. “The government has been providing funds for innovations and startups to increase investment in the sector and promoting research and development.” Mentioning the government’s preparation for future works, including the establishment of Sheikh Hasina Institute of Frontier Technology (SHIFT), Sheikh Kamal IT Institute and Incubation Centre, Centre for 4IR, Leadership Academy, he said all these activities are being implemented keeping 4IR challenges and opportunities in mind. Sami also said frontier technology would be one of the biggest catalysts for turning Bangladesh into a developed country by 2041 and the government is working to ensure the optimal use of it. “Nearly three million people are expected to be provided training to build capacity on 4IR in the next five years,” he added.

The Parliament and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Bangladesh on Tuesday virtually launched the country’s first ‘My Constituency’ data platform, web and mobile-based application for Members of Parliament to measure the progress of SDGs.

The a2i Programme has succeeded at the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) awards for the 7th consecutive time.

Dhaka Doclab, an international documentary co-production project market in Bangladesh commenced online on Tuesday with a three-day virtual workshop.