Anir Chowdhury
Anir Chowdhury is the Policy Advisor of the a2i Programmme of the ICT Division and the Cabinet Division of the Government of Bangladesh supported by the UNDP. In this capacity, he leads the formation of a whole-of-society innovation ecosystem in Bangladesh through massive technology deployment, extensive capacity development, integrated policy formulation, whole-of-government institutional reform, and an Innovation Fund. His work on innovation in public service has developed interesting and replicable models of service delivery decentralization, public-private partnerships, and transformation of a traditional bureaucracy into a forward-looking, citizen-centric service provider. He is a regular speaker in international conferences on public service innovation and reform, digital financial inclusion, civil registration and digital identity management, SDGs, youth and community empowerment, educational transformation, public-private partnerships, and South-South Cooperation.
He is a member of the Prime Minister’s National Digital Task Force, Education Minister’s National ICT in Education Task Force, UNESCAP Regional Steering Group for Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS), Co-Founder and Board Member of South-South Network for Public Service Innovation (SSN4PSI) and Co-Founder of South-Asia Civil Registration Network (CR8). He co-founded several software and service companies and non-profit organizations in the US and Bangladesh. Anir graduated magna cum laude in Computer Science and Applied Mathematics from Brown University and did post-graduate work on management, marketing, and education reform in Harvard, Columbia, and Boston Universities.
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Anir is the Policy Advisor of a2i. As the leader of a2i, he ensures the implementation of the government’s digital Bangladesh agenda. Under his leadership, a2i has been transformed from a project to the ‘World’s first Innovation Lab+’ nurturing a nationwide ecosystem and proved its capacity as the key driver of the government agenda of public service innovation. His current focus is on the whole-of-government approach, innovation lab+, Digital Financial Inclusion, Civil Registry and Vital Statistics- keeping everyone in the ‘Big Picture’, e-service delivery from crucial ministries and South-South cooperation. He is also facilitating the transformation of a2i to a state-owned authority under the Prime Minister’s Office.
Anir is working in a2i since 2007. He holds a Bachelors in Computer Science from Brown University, Rhode Island, USA.