A roundtable discussion titled ‘Industrial Leadership Summit’ was organized by i-Lab of a2i on Tuesday, October 15 at the 3-day-long ‘Digital Device and Innovation Expo 2019’ held at Bangabandhu International Conference Center (BICC), Dhaka. The main purpose of this event was to emphasize on mass production and marketing of i-Lab’s local innovations in order to deliver them nationwide. Salman F Rahman, MP, Private Industry and Investment Advisor to Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was present as the chief guest. Md. Sirajul Islam, Executive Chairman of Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) participated in the discussion as special guest. NM Zeaul Alam, Senior Secretary, Information and Communication Technology Division presided over the round table.

Speaking on the occasion, Salman F Rahman, Private Industries and Investment Affairs Advisor to the HPM said, “This is the best session I have attended since my journey with government. Seeing these innovations, I felt that we are on our way to become a middle-income country by 2021 and developed country by 2041 in line with the dream of the HPM. Private industry entrepreneurs also seem interested in these innovations. That is a good news for us. We need to get prepared for the 4th Industrial Revolution.”

‘Industrial Leader Summit’ to Expand the Innovations of i-Lab

Md. Sirajul Islam, Executive Chairman, BIDA said, “Public, private and academia should work together and the involvement of youth in the field of innovation is the most important issue. BIDA will assist the inventors on finance, loans and policies.’

In the roundtable discussion Sudipta Mukherjee, Resident Representative, UNDP Bangladesh lauded the innovations of i-Lab. He said, “Last year UNDP set up Innovation Lab in 60 countries. Bangladesh did not need one. Because it already had an innovation lab (i-Lab). Few days ago I made a visit to i-Lab and got amazed by its projects. Bangladesh will serve as an example to other countries in the world in terms of innovation.”

Dr. Newton Howard, Professor of Computational Neurology and Functional Neurology at the University of Oxford said, “Every industry faces different obstacles at different times. The matter of hope is that Bangladesh doesn’t have to rush abroad for solving these problems. The solution can be derived from all these innovations utilizing domestic technology.”

NM Zeaul Alam, Senior Secretary, ICT Division said, “We saw a part of our innovation here. Our inventors are prepared with many more like this. Now private investors should come forward.”
At the beginning of roundtable discussion, Dr. Md. Abdul Mannan, PAA, Project Director, a2i delivered the welcome speech. Anir Chowdhury, Policy Advisor, a2i moderated the session. Faruq Ahmed Jewel, Head of Technology, i-Lab presented the key note speech. Media representatives along with the leading industrial entrepreneurs / investors of the country were also present at the discussion. Prior to start of this roundtable discussion, the guests and participants visited a2i’s innovations showcased in the Expo.

The ‘Digital Device and Innovation Expo 2019’ was organized by ICT Division, Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority, a2i, IDEA Project and BCS. This Expo exhibits variety of innovations made by a2i and different local innovators around the country under the theme ‘Made in Bangladesh’.