On Friday July 27, 2018, a workshop on ‘Digital Bangladesh’ was organized for all the Divisional Commissioners and Deputy Commissioners at the Bangabandhu International Conference Center, Dhaka.
The workshop was jointly hosted by the Cabinet Division, the Ministry of Public Administration, Information and Communication Technology Division and the Access to Information (a2i) Programme. The core objective of this workshop was to share the progress of implementing the Digital Bangladesh agenda and to lay down the duties of field administration.
Minister for Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology Mustafa Jabbar in his Chief Guest’s address at the concluding session of the ‘Digital Bangladesh’ workshop said that, “the Deputy Commissioners have an all important role in establishing ‘Digital Bangladesh’ in the form of an information and knowledge based society. Already, high-speed Internet connection has been provided to 1,200 unions.”
He also mentioned that “The present government is working to ensure internet connectivity at every home in the country. The task of creating access to internet services at 2,600 unions through the InfoSarkar-3 project is at its final stage. By the end of this year, broadband internet services will have reached the remote areas, including islands, of Bangladesh. To ensure uninterrupted internet connectivity, under the e-DC project, 21 POPs (Points of Presence) have been created at district level from where districts can be provided direct internet access.” He urged the Deputy Commissioners to contact him directly regarding any problems related to Internet connection.
State Minister for Information and Communication Technology Mr. Zunaid Ahmed Palak, said, “In the last four years, Bangladesh has climbed up 33 steps to 115th position in the United Nations’ e-Government ranking thanks to the leadership of the administrators at the district and field levels.”
He applauded the Deputy Commissioners as the torchbearers in the establishment of Digital Bangladesh. He also said that, “Every citizen can now enjoy 24-hour services as a result of digital services. People are now getting uninterrupted services because of the capacity to innovate and creativity of the Deputy Commissioners.”
The Cabinet Division and the a2i Programme have taken a number of initiatives to implement Digital Bangladesh agenda. In addition to the various ministries, divisions, departments and directorates of the Bangladesh government, field level officials have made important contributions to the successful implementation of these initiatives.
In this workshop, all the Deputy commissioners under the leadership of 8 Divisional Commissioners were divided into 8 groups. Then duties were identified and recommendations collected on the successful implementation of important Digital Bangladesh initiatives including e-mutation, e-nothi, district branding, e-commerce, 333, Konnect, multimedia classroom, innovation team, ekShop, national information portal.
The Divisional Commissioners and the Deputy Commissioners received guidance on how to provide services at citizen’s doorsteps and fingertips using ICTs. In the concluding session, it was announced that the Cabinet Division, the Ministry of Public Administration, the Information and Communication Technology Division, and the a2i Programme would jointly analyse and implement the recommendations collected from all the 8 groups.
Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister’s Office Md. Najibur Rahman, Principal Coordinator on SDG Affairs to the Prime Minister’s Office Md. Abul Kalam Azad, Executive Chairman of Bangladesh Investment Development Authority Kazi Md. Aminul Islam, Secretary (Coordination and Reforms) of the Cabinet Division N M Ziaul Alam, Secretary of the Ministry of Public Administration Faiz Ahmed, Secretary of Information and Communication Technology Division Zuena Aziz, Additional Secretary of the Cabinet Division (Field Administration) Farouqe Ahmed, Joint Secretary of the Bangladesh Government and Project Director of a2i Programme Md. Mostafizur Rahman (PAA), Policy Advisor of a2i Programme Anir Chowdhury, Director (e-Service) of a2i Programme Dr. Md. Abdul Mannan; officers from the Cabinet Division, the Information and Communication Technology Division, and other departments within the government; Divisional Commissioners, Deputy Commissioners and concerned officials from all across Bangladesh; and senior officials of the a2i Programme were present.
