Senior journalists at a view exchange meeting called for updating official websites with latest information to make public services reliable and effective to help build “Digital Bangladesh”.
The government deserves appreciation for its relentless efforts to expand ICT across the country and more initiatives are needed to reach its benefit to all levels of people, they told the meeting at a city hotel on Sunday.
Press Institute of Bangladesh (PIB) in association with Access to Information (a2i) Programme of Prime Minister’s Office organized the meeting titled “Service week and launching the national web portal”.
State Minister for ICT Division Zunaid Ahmed Palak, Media Advisor to the Prime Minister Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury and Information Secretary Martuza Ahmed addressed the meeting with chairman of PIB board of management Habibur Rahman in the chair. Eminent journalist Rahat Khan, Managing Director and Chief Editor of Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) Abul Kalam Azad, Director General of PIB Md Shah Alamgir, Editor of the daily Bhorer Kagoi Shyamal Datta and senior representative of both print and electronic media attended the meeting.
Project Director of the a2i programme Kabir Bin Anwar and senior trainer of PIB Rafiza Rahman presented two papers at the meeting.
Palak said the government is going to launch the national web portal, containing 25,000 websites of government offices from national to upazila level, today aimed to ensure better public services.
This is the largest web portal of the world, he said, adding it will create a wonderful scope to reach public services to the doorstep of common people.
“We had no Bangla content, which was main barrier to online based services. With tremendous efforts of all, we have been able to develop Bangla content,” Palak added.
He hoped the national web portal will help build ‘Digital Bangladesh’.
Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury said the government has been able to remove digital divide between the poor and the rich through implementation of building “Digital Bangladesh”.
The concept of building Digital Bangladesh was a vision and now it is the implementation stage, he said, adding all should help the government to materialize the dream of building digital Bangladesh.
Martuza said the country has witnessed a silent revolution in the field of ICT as the present government has implemented a large number of programmes on ICT.
The application of ICT has made public services hassle-free and quick, he said, adding the national web portal will keep a valuable contribution in bringing dynamism in the public services.
Martuza urged both print and electronic media to supplement the government endeavors to build a technologically and economically advantaged “Digital Bangladesh” through disseminating information and sensitizing the people. Rahat Khan said the initiative of launching the national web portal is huge task of the present government in expansion of ICT based services. Both print and electronic media should extend their cooperation to make the web portal a successful information store, he added.
