Liton Chandro Sarkar :
Bangladesh has drawn global attention as a “development surprise,” thanks to our impressive economic performance with an average GDP growth of over 7% for the last two years and improvements in other socio-economic parameters. It has already made tangible progress in the areas of industrialization, education, health, trade, infrastructure, energy and power, ICT and other service sectors. Bangladesh’s economy will be 28th largest in 2030 and 25th largest in 2035, the UK’s Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) has made the projection in a recent report. A tech revolution help boost Bangladesh’s development. Effective implementation of Digital Bangladesh may yet prove to be the single most important weapon for Bangladesh to achieve its potential as the fastest growing economy in Asia. In our development trajectory we need to have a clearly defined strategy to assimilate the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR4.0) technologies so that we can build our prosperity on the strength of our collective knowledge-the hallmark of a knowledge society-and not get bogged down by superficial knowledge and adoption.
New waves of technological disruptions and the emergence of advanced technologies have resulted in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR4.0), where Robotics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning, Virtual Reality (VR), Cloud Computing, big data and analytics, and the Internet of Things (IoT) are going to transform the way businesses operate – routine, mundane jobs will be replaced and there is a growing need to develop “smarter” talents that can ride along the wave of Digital Transformation. These technology advancements, when adapted in the workplace, are enabling new ways to execute work, bringing new opportunities for value creation to businesses and organizations – paving the way for the formation of digital ecosystems and collaborations as well as engagement with consumers at a greater scale. Technology today is indispensable in every aspect of life. The combination of technology and education has brought huge benefits to teachers and learners with much more engagement and excitement.
The Father of the nation of Bangladesh, Bangabandhu Sheikh MujiburRahman, in his life-long journey to establish a happy and prosperous Bangladesh, had given intense emphasis for a science and technology based education system. The Government of Bangladesh, under the pragmatic leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has already made significant progress in lifting the education system to a new height of science and technology. The government is working firmly to make the country into Digital Bangladesh and has also taken initiatives such as digital schools, incorporation of ICT subjects in secondary levels, use of multimedia classrooms, all of which require professional development of the teachers however, interdisciplinary and cross disciplinary mind set is yet to be instilled on them which is the modern version of Sonar Bangla that was envisioned by the Father of the Nation. Digital Bangladesh illustrates the latest idea of the forceful and valuable application of technology in terms of invoking the commitments in education, training, health, transportation, poverty reduction, literacy, electricity, wireless, internet coverage, social media services, e-Services, access point, policy making, agriculture, and job placement.
It is high time for Bangladesh to develop our own IR 4.0 strategy to prepare our students to join the workforce of the future. Local adoption and adaptation of IR4 technologies is a frantic race against time as all nations jostle for a seat at the table. Human civilisation has progressed from nomadic to agrarian to industrial to the currently evolving informational stage and Bangladesh must seize this transformational opportunity to leapfrog ahead of traditional industrialised economies. In this transformation, collaboration will be key to our success-the silo mentality in government, academia and industry must be discarded-and we must rise above sectoral turf dominance and rather the trio of government, industry and academia must learn to unroll the turfs to welcome collaboration by sharing information openly and fostering open competition for ideas and funds to solve local problems and leverage such solutions globally. We should nurture the world’s future innovators and uphold our country visionas a University of Technology and Innovation. Technology has become more important than ever before, during these post covid-19 times. E-Commerce, Digital Marketing & Digital Advertising are thriving and changing business models.
Most students have not gained exposure to IR4.0 and may be too reliant on only their academic programmes to make them job-ready. Universities of Bangladesh must evaluate and assess how well their current programmes provide training and real-world insights to graduates entering the workplace, and what they need to do to scale up beyond theoretical and academic teaching. Beyond technical skills, universities also have a crucial role to play in ensuring soft skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, leadership skills and lifelong learning are integrated across all programmes, so that graduates can cope with rapid changes in the industry and take charge of their own learning.
(Liton Chandro Sarkar is Deputy Inspector of Colleges, Bangladesh University of Professional; e-mail: [email protected])
