A seminar was organized by the ICT Division of Bangladesh Govt in collaboration with Value Base AI, a Bangladesh based AI and Analytics solution provider. The seminar was held on the BIG DATA ANALYSIS IN BANGLADESH: STATUS, PROSPECTS, AND CHALLENGES. The seminar was organized on Big Data Analysis using the platform Zoom Cloud, a press release said.
Chief guest and Opening speaker Mr. A.B.M Arshad Hossain (Secretary-General) Managing Director, Information and Communication Department said, “The emergence of the project Digital Bangladesh was a challenge though it has come a long way in the past 10 years. As a result of using information and technology, the financial sector was not affected during the pandemic."
He added Bangladesh Government is working hard to develop the ICT sector. The time has come to work on human resource management to overcome the challenges in applying Big Data. It will help create human resources and minimize the unemployment of the country.
Mr. Rezaul Maksud Zahedi (Joint secretary) Additional Managing Director, ICT Department, stated the importance of BIG DATA, its prospects, and challenges in Bangladesh. He mentioned that the challenges we face regarding Big Data. He sees endless opportunities for Big Data in Bangladesh. He said that Big Data can be generated in the health sector, economic productivity, agriculture, and poverty reduction.
DISCUSSION BY THE KEYNOTE SPEAKERS:
Mr. Juwel Rana, Ph.D., Head of Analytics, Varner, Norway. He said that the technology sector of Bangladesh is developing with the Digital Bangladesh Project.
“We want to place Bangladesh among the tech developed countries in the 21st century where it can compete with them,” he said.
He discussed the fundamentals of data science, how data science helps in the automation and simplification of work in different fields. BIG DATA is a set of knowledge to equip someone to make insight into the business. He said it is possible to convert a brain for data science in only 12 weeks to apply it. Bangladesh needs to create global data science leaders to gain the maturity of Big Data analytics adoption in Bangladesh. He showed a clear path towards a modern economy where the competencies in Data science and AI from developing countries can rule the rest of the world.
Mr. Asif M Iqbal, Head of Data Science, DIGI, Malaysia. He focused on Digitalization, Big data Analysis, and Analytics as Catalysts to Sustainable Development. He appreciated the very fact how the Government is enabling development in ICT through digitalization which features a positive impact on the private sector and the public sector as well. The government improvisation on it and how to prepare for the post-digital era with our human capital. The biggest opportunity for BD Govt lies in IR4.0. He discussed how the government is improving our ICT sector and advised what can be done in the future to improve in Big Data analytics. He showed a roadmap to the Bangladesh Government to work on Big Data.
Sheak Rashed Haider Noori, Ph.D., Associate Professor, and Associate Head, Daffodil International University, Bangladesh. He discussed the topic ‘industry readiness and higher education’. He addressed some issues that will help us to reduce the gap between industry and higher education. He requested the UGC and ICT Department to work together to minimize the challenges faced to upgrade the learning process in our universities. We need to upgrade our curriculum with time. He said that industries need to emphasize internship opportunities to gain practical knowledge of AI, ML, and Data Science. He said, “We need support from the government in university and industry collaboration to adopt the changes in this fast-paced world.”
The seminar ended with a panel discussion, and a question-and-answer session. 75 ICT Expert officials participated in the seminar from different countries.
SUMMARY:
The government can improve their working procedure if seminars on Big Data and AI are organized. In the seminar, highly experienced people discussed the improvements and developments of the ICT Department. They sorted out some problems and asked the government to look into the matter as well. The project ‘Digital Bangladesh’ completion is a matter of time.