Digital World 2014, a four-day exposition on information technology arranged by the Information Communication division and Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS), will begin in the capital today.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the event at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre while Abdul Latif Siddique, Minister of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology, and State Minister of the same ministry Zunaid Ahmed Palak will be present at the ceremony.
BASIS invited Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web (WWW), to the event but he refused to come. Hasina’s son Sajeeb Wazed Joy will not be present either.
Thirty-two IT specialists and investors from more than 15 countries are participating in the event with the aim to enhance foreign investment and to give the visitors a glimpse into the technological improvement they have made.
Renowned technology figures, including Peter Vogaler, Martin Leive, Dr Pollob Saha, Ashok Kumar and Dr Henrik Hanson, will address the event.
Russell T Ahmed, BASIS secretary general and chief project officer of the Digital World, told the Dhaka Tribune the programme has been arranged at a cost of at least Tk8.50 crore but BASIS received Tk7.22 crore from the ICT Division.
Following the inauguration ceremony, the exposition, which will end on June 7, will open to visitors at 2pm. Seminars and workshops will be held throughout the four-day event. Visitors will be able to enjoy free unlimited Internet access for the four days.
Russell T Ahmed said it would be a milestone for the country’s technology sector.
“I hope it will be a world-class programme,” he said.
In the past, Digital World was arranged in 2011 and 2012, but not in 2013 because of political turmoil.
