Seminars on ICT and Development by D.Net 

On the occasion of its 5 th Anniversary, D.Net arranged a two day collection of four seminars, one on 28 th January and three more on 29 th January, 2006 at BRAC Centre Inn, Mohakhali, Dhaka .

The first in the line of seminars was on 28 th January, which was presided over by Prof. Rehman Sobhan, Chairman of Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD). Among others were present: Mr. Reza Selim, Associate Director of BFES, Dr. Hossain Zillur Rahman, Chairman of PPRC, Ms. Rasheda K. Chowdhury, Director of CAMPE, Mr. Imran Matin, Research Director of BRAC and Ms. Shaheen Anam, Teamleader of Manusher Jonno. The seminar was inaugurated at 10 AM by the welcome speech from Dr. Ananya Raihan, Executive Director of D.Net, and a paper on “ Access to Information and Development: Role of ICT” was presented by Mr. Mahmud Hasan, Program Director of D.Net. In this presentation he shared his thoughts on impact of ICT-carried livelihood information for poverty alleviation on the basis of his experiences acquired through similar projects that D.Net are running. The panel discussion was carried out by the guests present and open floor discussion was also held, whereby the attending guests put forward their queries and discussed on them. The chairman, Prof. Rehman Sobhan concluded the session with his conclusion speech.

On the occasion of its 5 th Anniversary programme, D.Net called for papers from the whole country for submission on Youth and ICT, with the topics- “ICT and Human Resource Development”, “ICT and Localization” and “ICT and Human Rights”. Out of the papers submitted, 3 papers were selected as the best papers, titled- “ ICT for Human Resource Development, Using Rickshaw puller Majid's success story as an example to show how adult literacy program in Bangladesh may be enhanced using ICT” by A.S.M. Parves Shonchoy, Lecturer, ESS Department, BRAC University; “ Status and Challenges of Local Language Computing and BRAC University's Initiative ” by Naushad Uz Zaman, of Center for Research on Bangla Language Processing, BRAC University; and " Protection and Promotion of Human Rights: Role of ICTs " by Qumrunnahar, Senior Research Associate of D.Net. These papers were read and discussed upon in the seminars that were held on 29 th January, 2006.

The first seminar was on “ICT and Human Resource Development” and was presided over by Professor Jamilur Reza Chowdhury, Vice-Chancellor, BRAC University in the chair. Among others present were: Dr. Rokonuzzaman, Coordinator of SEDF, Mr. Zakaria Swapan, Director of RanksTel, and Dr. Ananya Raihan, Executive Director of D.Net. The seminar started with the paper presentation of Mr. A.S.M. Parves Shonchoy on “ ICT for Human Resource Development, Using Rickshaw puller Majid's success story as an example to show how adult literacy program in Bangladesh may be enhanced using ICT” . The paper was discussed upon after that. Dr. Rokonuzzaman, Mr. Zakaria Swapan and Prof. Jamilur Reza Chowdhury all expressed their thoughts and the other attending guests joined in an open floor discussion. The session was a lively one whereby the discussion moved around all issues of ICT for development. Dr. Ananya Raihan presented the activities of D.Net in the context of the seminar topic. The seminar was concluded by the speech from Prof. Jamilur Reza Chowdhury.

Later, at 2 PM, the third seminar of the program, the second that day, started at the auditorium on the 2 nd Floor. This seminar was on “ICT and Localization” and was presided over by Dr. Mumit Khan, Associate Professor of BRAC University. Other guests of the panel were Mr. K A M Morshed, Program Manager (ICT4D), UNDP, Ms. Rowshan Ara Rashid, Chairperson of Bangla Innovation through Open Source ( BIOS), and Mr. Masum Billah, SRA of D.Net. The session started by presentation of paper on ICT and Localization, which was presented by Mr. Naushad Uz Zaman, titled “ Status and Challenges of Local Language Computing and BRAC University's Initiative ”. The paper and related topics were discussed upon by the members of the panel and the other attending guests present. Ms. Rowshan Ara Rashid explained the activities of BIOS and her experiences in the field of national education. The seminar gave a fruitful outline of strategies required for the localization and Bengali integration into the ICT development of Bangladesh . Dr. Mumit Khan closed the session through his speech.

Almost at the same time, at 2:30 PM, the final seminar started at the 1 st Floor Auditorium of BRAC Centre Inn, which was on “ICT and Human Rights”. This seminar was chaired by Dr. Shamsul Bari, Chairman of Research Initiative (RIB) and guests of the panel were Barrister Tanjib Ul Alam, Deputy Executive Director of BRAC, Ms. Khushi Kabir, Coordinator of Nijera Kori. The seminar began with the presentation of the paper by Ms. Qumrunnahar, titled " Protection and Promotion of Human Rights: Role of ICTs ". Another paper was presented by Ms. Fatema Ferdous, Senior Research Associate of D.Net, titled- “ Establishment of Rights to Information: Case of Bangladesh ”. Later, all the panel guests and other guests present discussed related topics and asked questions and responded accordingly. It was a lively session with integration and contribution of people from different fields and generations. Dr. Shamsul Bari gave the concluding speech.

All the seminars highlighted very timely discussions in respect of requirements of Bangladesh , integration of ICT for her development and steps required to be taken to that effect. All the guests appreciated D.Net and the initiatives it has taken and is taking to develop Bangladesh through ICT, and wished D.Net the best of achievements in its endeavors.