Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday termed entrepreneurs of the digital centres across the country the “digital generation” and asked them to create more and more employment opportunities in the sector for others.
Calling the 7,500 entrepreneurs attending an ongoing conference her “digital soldiers,” she appreciated them as the future leaders who will oversee the country’s transition towards digitisation.
“You will lead the digital country and I want you to become entrepreneurs on your own instead of relying on others, stand on your own feet and create employment opportunities for others,” Hasina told the conference held at the National Parade Square.
The Access to Information (a2i) programme under the Prime Minister’s Office is organising the Union Digital Centre Entrepreneurs Conference to mark successful completion of four years of Digital Centres, previously known as Union Information and Service Centres.
The government started the project with 4,501 information centres at each union in late 2010. Currently, the country has digital centres at 4,547 unions, 321 city councils and 407 wards in 11 city corporations.
These centres have so far served people on over 120 million occasions, including registration of 70 million births; also, more than 2 million overseas job seekers have received services from these centres.
More than 11,000 entrepreneurs work in these digital centres.
The government has won two awards this year for providing efficient digital services to its citizens – the prestigious World Summit on Information Society Award 2014 in ICT Application: e-Government category last June and October, and the World Information Technology and Service Alliance (WITSA) Award in Mexico for bringing technology to the people’s doorsteps.
The prime minister said the aim of setting up of the union digital centres is to enable every person to stand on their own feet. “The activities will not remain limited to only Bangladesh as we have arranged training for unemployed youths so that they can go abroad after the training,” she said.
Hasina said there had been some attempts against these entrepreneurs who had been with the project from the beginning, but she categorically assured that none would be removed – rather “they will certainly stay in their positions.”
Hasina strongly warned public representatives – municipal mayors and councillors, upazila parishad chairmen, union parishad chairmen and members – against any interference and employing their own people in these digital centres.
In the conference, a number of entrepreneurs expressed concern about the union chairmen’s authority to remove them.
Hasina said her government had a plan to set up high-tech park in every district alongside the main high-tech park in the capital.
Prime minister’s ICT Adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy expressed dissatisfaction over the internet speed.
Both Hasina and Joy said the government had taken various steps to raise the internet speed; they said high speed internet would be made available in the future.
Joy said the speed and quality of internet services was lagging behind in over 4,500 digital centers across the country, but the government had taken an initiative – that it would be possible to ensure high speed broadband internet to every union in the next four years.
He said when the Awami League’s election manifesto was unveiled in 2008 to build a Digital Bangladesh, many had then termed it impossible because of the scarcity of electricity and internet. “But, after five years, Digital Bangladesh is now a reality,” he said.
LGRD and Cooperatives Minister Syed Ashraful Islam, State Minister for ICT Division Zunaed Ahmed Palak and UNDP Country Director Paulin Tamesis also addressed the conference chaired by Local Government Division Secretary M Monzur Hossain.
PM’s Principal Secretary Abdus Sobhan Sikdar also spoke at the event, while PMO Secretary Md Abul Kalam Azad gave the welcome address and Project Director of the A2I Programme Kabir Bin Anwar gave the vote of thanks.
Two entrepreneurs – Bishakha Chakma of Rangamati Sadar upazila and Md Arifuzzaman of Rangpur Sadar upazila – shared their experience with the audience at the programme.