Speakers atthe Microsoft Young Bangla Summit 2018 have said the youth of the country are coming up with ideas that can connect people from remote and rural areas.
Microsoft Young Bangla, a platform for the youth of the country, organized the summit to prepare university students to face technological uncertainty of the future job market. The summit marks the conclusion of the Microsoft Young Bangla Internship program, which promotes tech entrepreneurship throughout the country.
The latest summit began on October 3 at the Institute of Engineers, Bangladesh (IEB), and ended yesterday after the five best ideas for this year were finalized. These ideas will receive financial and technical support from the organizers. This was the third iteration of the summit.
The five winning teams are – Finance Wizard, Gorur Doctor, Blaze Warrior, BSL, and Micro Beats. These teams will receive cash prizes and space at the tech hubs established by Microsoft with support from Young Bangla in seven districts of the country.
IEB President Engr Md Abdus Sabur, trustee of the Centre for Research and Information (CRI) Radwan Mujib Siddiq Bobby, and Managing Director (MD)of Microsoft Bangladesh Sonia Bashir Kabir distributed crests to the teams.
CRI Trustee Radwan Mujib Siddiq Bobby said the slogan of the Young Bangla platform is “Connecting the dots,” and that the vision of the organization is to work as lobbyists for such youths.
The important part is that the youth of the country has started bringing issues that are part of inclusive development – such as women and children’s rights – into their ideas. These were never addressed before,and they reflect Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s philosophy ofmaking progress without leaving anyone behind, Radwan said.
Sonia Kabir said 100 Microsoft messengers from 50 universities of the country would be promoted to Microsoft brand ambassadors and remunerated for their work. Moreover, the number of tech hubs in the country would be increased to 64, with at least one hub per district.
The platform introduced the top five teamsto the other participating interns during the event, and assured that they are searching for newer ways to develop and incorporate innovative ideas provided by those who did not make the top spots as well. This means a team with an innovative idea may be able to use their tech hubs in the future.
Tonmoy Ahmed, research coordinator for CRI, said the ideas from the interns were developed over several learning sessions, and they were provided with a starting capital for businessesas well as other technical support.
CRI Executive Director Sabbir Bin Shams said the summit has decided on the top five ideas to work with,but Young Bangla is thinking of how innovative ideas from otherscould be used by government and non-government offices.
State Minister for Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid Bipu, one of the judges of the program, praised the innovative ideas that came from the youngsters.
He said it is important to have strong self-confidence in order to get an idea to succeed.
He urged youths not to wait for jobs, but rather come up with innovative ideas so that they can be a source of employment for others.
The Ministry of Power and its concerned units are ready to adapt plans coming from youths, and would also provide support to the start-up if those are related to the power sector, he added.