Huawei, in partnership with Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC) and Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority (BHTPA), is going to launch four ICT programs with the vision to accelerate the growth of the ICT industry and to facilitate ICT talents in Bangladesh. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed today between these three parties at BCC Auditorium, Agargaon, Dhaka.
The core purpose of the MoU is to initiate four programs namely ‘Bangladesh ICT Competition 2020’, ‘ICT Joint Innovation Center’, ‘Huawei ICT Academy’, and ‘Curating Bangladeshi Startups’. Among these projects, BCC will be working together with Huawei on Bangladesh ICT Competition 2020, ICT Joint Innovation Center, and Curating Bangladeshi Startups. Huawei ICT Academy will be conducted by BHTPA and Huawei. The responsible parties will be managing these projects for at least three years from the days of its inauguration.
Zunaid Ahmed Palak, Member of Parliament, Minister of State, ICT Division, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, was the chief guest in the MoU signing event chaired by Md. Rezaul Karim, ndc, Director General, DSA, Project Director, LICT Project. Zhang Zhengjun, CEO, Huawei Technologies (Bangladesh) Limited, inaugurated the event with a welcome speech in the presence of the guests mentioned above and Hosne Ara Begum, ndc, Managing Director (Secretary), BHTPA; N M Zeaul Alam, PAA. Senior Secretary, ICT Division; Parthapratim Deb, Executive Director, Bangladesh Computer Council; and others.
Zunaid Ahmed Palak, State Minister, ICT Division, commented, “All of our initiatives and projects are focusing on youth, ICT and employment. This agreement will be able to provide proper trainings to the young students, our researchers, and our innovators in the university level. At the same they will have the opportunity to experience world’s latest technologies, invented by Huawei. And also will be able to bridge the gap between industry and academia under this agreement. Secondly we are going to set up a permanent academy at CUET and KUET. Over there our teachers and students will get a chance to connect the university with the industry like Huawei and also they will have the chance to have the financial support from venture capital companies. We are really grateful to Huawei Technologies for their contribution for building Digital Bangladesh.”
Zhang Zhengjun, CEO of Huawei Technologies (Bangladesh) Limited, said, “Digital infrastructure is the basis for any industry and economy in the modern age. Hence, to adapt to this new, intelligent world and boost the nation’s growth, it has become critical for the youth to enhance their skills and become experts in the ICT field. Our programs will motivate the youth of Bangladesh to excel in the ICT field, which will ultimately help Bangladesh fulfill the vision of Digital Bangladesh. We are grateful for the opportunity to work with the ICT Division to play a role in accelerating the digital transformation of the country.”
Hosne Ara Begum, ndc, Managing Director (Secretary), BHTPA said, “Our Honorable Prime Minister declared her ‘Vision 2021’ to establish a digital country. The ICT division is working relentlessly to make this vision come true. To have a truly digital country, we need to have an interconnection between all the industries related to ICT and communication. We have to collaborate for the progress of the country and prepare for the 4th industrial revolution. On behalf of Bangladesh Hi-tech Park Authority, I would like to express sincere gratitude to Huawei for their consistent support. We are glad to have Huawei as our companion for boosting the country’s startup market, ICT innovation and youth development. “
Parthapratim Deb, Executive Director, BCC said, “I express my heartfelt thanks to Huawei for helping us consolidate our position in establishing a startup ecosystem, and to a large extent, reap the advantage of Chinese technology. Thanks to the Chinese government and especially Huawei, for their cooperation in establishing innovation centers for our young professionals and conducting the ICT programming contest.“
The ‘Bangladesh ICT Competition 2020’ program, which is a two months’ program start from Dec 2020, universities of Bangladesh will be chosen by Huawei and BCC. Universities or its science and engineering-related departments can also reach BCC or Huawei for enrollment because initially, the university needs to enroll for this program. Interested students of those registered universities need to enroll in this competition and complete online courses and exams. Designated university teachers will play the mentor or coach role with student groups. After primilary, semi-final, and national final stage, the TOP 3 group from different universities can get the chance to join Huawei ICT Competition regional final and global final competition.
In the ICT Joint Innovation Center program, BCC and Huawei will form a joint team to operate the ICT joint innovation center to provide R&D infrastructure to government research organizations and universities. This program will aid BCC in creating more ICT job opportunities, develop ICT talents, and promote ICT technology and ecosystem development in Bangladesh. On the other hand, Developers can get professional ICT training and support from both Huawei and BCC at those centers. It will help them not only in cost reduction with free computing resources and AI platforms but also boost the development of application and shorten the time go to market.
Huawei ICT Academy Program’ is aiming to bridge the ICT knowledge & skills gap between industry & Academy. Through this partnership, Huawei ICT Academy will deliver related training, encourages students to get Huawei certification, and develops talents with practical skills for the ICT industry and the community. And physically, an ICT Academy infrastructure and concept will be first built in the Sheikh Kamal IT Business Incubator in Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET) and Sheikh Kamal IT Incubation Center in Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (KUET) as an effort of a joint team of Huawei and BHTPA. And more and more universities are welcome to join this program.
‘Curating Bangladeshi Startup’ program will be a hub where students, entrepreneurs, researchers, mentors, investors, business leaders, government, and similar entities will work together to innovate ICT products. BCC and BHPTA also seek to initiate local and global frontiers of the startup culture in Bangladesh, where any local and international startups will generate plans, test, and collaborate on various grounds. Thus, the program will eventually accelerate the startup culture across the nation.
Among all the programs in Bangladesh, the upcoming program is Bangladesh ICT Competiton which is projected to be started by next month. The contest will have mainly two parts termed ‘Practical Competition’ and ‘Innovation Competition’ which will not only comprehend the basic theoretical understanding and hands-on practical ability but also assess innovative technology application and program design capabilities. It will cover technical areas like security, Big Data, and AI (Artificial Intelligence). Innovation competition focuses on technical fields of IoT solution, Cloud Service Solution, and many more.
