The a2i Programme got the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) awards for the seventh consecutive time as two of its projects were declared champions in two different categories.
E-Commerce initiative ‘EkShop’ (ekshop.gov.bd) claimed the champion prize at the ‘e-Business’ category and ‘Collective Intelligence Platform for Skills, Employment and Entrepreneurship’ (skills.gov.bd) was declared champion in the ‘e-Employment’ category, said a press release.
The names of the final winners are announced at the end of the selection process and online voting process after receiving applications from hundreds of countries around the world. Applications were accepted in 18 categories while 354 out of 762 applications were nominated. Of the nominated projects, 18 were declared as winners and 72 as champions.
Two projects from Bangladesh have become Champions while one earned the winner prize.
This year, the prize distribution and closing ceremony could not be hosted physically due to the Covid-19 pandemic while the names of winning projects were announced virtually and representatives of the winning projects attended the virtual function on Thursday. The WSIS Prizes, given by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), recognize individuals, governments, civil society, local, regional and international agencies, research institutions and private-sector companies for leveraging the power of technology that promote basic and human welfare.
Dr Abdul Mannan, Project Director (Additional Secretary) of a2i, and Rezwanul Haque Jami, Team Lead – Rural e-Commerce of a2i represented a2i, joined the event.
Dr Abdul Mannan said, “It’s an honor for us to win the WSIS award for 7th consecutive years. During this pandemic, the a2i Programme of the government of Bangladesh has introduced virtual classes on technical and vocational subjects for youth to obtain skills and to fulfill our Honorable Prime Minister’s dream of Digital Bangladesh”. Rezwanul Haque Jami expressed his delight at EkShop becoming a champion and described how it transformed the lives of rural entrepreneurs.
“EkShop is the sole distributor of essential items to the remote rural areas of Bangladesh. The rural population seldom gets access to digital markets. EkShop has ensured such items reach their doorstep,” he said.
An initiative of the Aspire to Innovate (a2i) Programme of the ICT Division and Cabinet Division, supported by UNDP, ‘EkShop’, the first assisted rural e-Commerce platform of Bangladesh, brings daily necessities to the doorsteps of citizens easily within a quickest possible time.
So far, more than 5 lakh people availed e-Commerce services through the EkShop. EkShop has integrated more than 10 lakh items to its platform with the purpose of distributing products of local entrepreneurs throughout the country.
At present, 1,531 rural sellers are selling products through EkShop and more than 6.5 lakh items have been delivered through EkShop across the country on Cash-On-Delivery method.
Besides, the ‘Collective Intelligence Platform for Skills,
Employment and Entrepreneurship’ is a one-stop collaboration hub for industries, skills providers, and unemployed youth. The platform encompasses a number of features that reduce the difficulties of jobs and skills seekers to find all the opportunities in one single platform, for industries to reach out to more people from youth database, and for training service providers to provide market demand-driven skills training.
