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An inspiring innovation fair

Abdullah Mamun
**“We are providing the money transfer service from last year with an average of 22,600 transactions a day. Last month, the department transferred Tk
104 crore***
ICT has the ability to change the whole view of any organisation or service. Bangladesh Postal Department is an example. The postal department is now a hero after introducing the money transfer service. The service that takes a minute to complete is called electronic money transfer service (EMTS).
"Kamrul Hasan was just a young boy. He showed me software, which he made for a private bank, which could transfer money within the postal system. Even though the bank did not adopt the system, I became very enthusiastic and took the opportunity with my department,” said M Mobasherur Rahman, director general of Bangladesh Postal Department. The department's EMTS programme won the championship award at the National Digital Innovation Fair 2011.
"The most unskilled, week and unprofitable postal department changed its character with the help of ICT. This institution may get the Asian innovation award now,” Finance Minister AMA Muhith said in a speech at the awards ceremony of the National Digital Innovation Fair.
“We are providing the service for the last year, with an average of 22,600 transactions a day. Last month, the department transferred Tk 104 crore,” Rahman said.
“We have a target to transfer Tk 250 crore next financial year and that is possible. We have engaged the service to 1,750 post offices so far and by the next six months, we will activate the service with all 9,800 post offices of the country,” he said.
The Bangladesh Post office's EMTS programme has been short listed for the 'mBillionth' award South Asia, a Digital Empowerment Foundation initiative to be held on July 23, Rahman said. The fair for change The year 2010 was a time for the 'e-content and ICT for Development Award'. This year, the ICT sector boomed with participation of a number of public-private institutions. Now it has become the top award and fair in information and communication technology in Bangladesh. The name of the fair has been changed to the Digital Innova-
tion Fair. The award is called National Digital Innovation Award. The fair ended yesterday amid great enthusiasm.
Award winners are eligible for final selection at the World Summit Award (WSA). The nextWSA contest is scheduled for the summer of 2011. WSA is the global initiative to select and promote the world's best mobile and e-content and innovative ICT applications. WSA started in 2003 in the framework of the United Nations' World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). More than 30 countries organised the national and regional contest. This contest also works as an indicator to measure the implementation progress of 'Digital Bangladesh'.
The ICT ministry and Access to Information (A2I) Project of the Prime Minister's Office organised the fair on July 6-8 that was extended by a day later. The innovation awards contest was managed by a non-government organisation, Development Research Network (D.Net).
Categories
The public sector had a total of 14 categories while the private sector
had 20. Individual, private and social enterprises were called to participate in the award. The categories were — electronic health, e-environment, e-learning and -education, e-culture and -heritage; and mobile health, m-environment, m-leaming and -education, m-culture and heritage, m-finance, m-inclusion and participation and m-livelihood.
Interestingly, 180 projects were submitted in the innovation contest from across Bangladesh. Among them, 31 were given awards. Three types of awards were given to the participants — champion, runner up and special nomination. A total of 11 projects received the champion award — out of 34 categories — from both public and private sectors.
Bangladesh Post Office, Directorate of Communication and Agriculture Information Service received the champion award. Private sector champions were Gonit Pathshala, Rabbit's Fury, Halda River: A natural fish spawning heritage, AppRain Content Management framework, Activity for Reformation of Basic Needs ARBAN, Somewhere in net ltd, CEGIS and Transformer Protection
from Unauthorised Person.
But submissions in a number of sectors were not satisfactory.
A total of 180 initiatives were submitted, which were screened upon pre-requisites. A preliminary screening was carried out and 53 nominations were rejected as these failed to fulfill the terms and conditions of participation. A total of 127 nominations were presented to the jury process, according to a D.Net statement.
Apart from filling up online nomination forms, contestants submitted presentations, audiovisual material and other relevant documents related to nominated products or projects. To avoid a conflict of interests, the organisers and organising partners did not submit any nominations. ICT State Minister Yeafesh Osman said this sort of an arrangement would be nationally covered from next year.
The champions' voice The Central Management System (CMS) of the communication directorate was an achievement of the communication ministry. Its website can provide huge information on the government's road, bridge scenario as well as tender or
procurement related information. According to officials, the offline CMS has now become real time CMS. The toll rates for the roads and bridges have been provided on the website.
The Agriculture Information Service (AIS) of the agriculture ministry can extend the information to the grassroots by the support of the internet or mobile phone. The service provides market situations, agriculture related documentaries, programmes on radio or television, training, support during natural calamities or even agricultural export-import information.
The AIS programme aims to set up a service centre in every village (87,362 villages) of the country by 2021.
Inspiring innovations
The fair was inspiring with a display of various presentations of public services. The electronic book (e-book) of the education ministry could attract many. One can get all the textbooks of the government by going through the ministry website. All the books have been presented in an orderly manner. The classroom content development project of the ministry is also attractive. The local level teachers in the country are developing content for their students, which are projected in classrooms using multimedia. The electronic student information system was also one of many e-governance related services exhibited at the fair.
The website includes a digital three-dimension map of the country that would allow precise monitoring of land and other resources. A Rajuk (Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha) initiative lets responsible citizens see detailed maps of the detailed area planning (DAP) to make sure their real estate plans are in tune with the urban plans of the city.
Anyone can book hotel rooms in any of the 34 Parjatan hotels and resorts across the country with mobile phones with mobile phones or by clicking the website. The religious affairs ministry's initiative allows concerned family members to track the location and movement of Hajj pilgrims by simply sending a SMS.
National Board of Revenue's online income tax calculator and submission was also an interesting
project. It would prove successful after introduction of the online payment system in Bangladesh.
Telemedicine, a health service by mobile short message and videoconferencing, was magnetic at the fair. Officials said full-phased equipment for telemedicine would be coming in shortly. Digital land survey and management, digital holding tax management, online birth and death registration, digital signature, mobile banking projects pulled people to the stalls.
A laptop assembled by Bangladesh Telephone Shilpa Sangstha drew in crowds as well. The Tk 14,000 laptop has an atom processor. The company would market its products this month. The fibre optic cables made by Bangladesh Cable Shilpa Ltd are an inspiration for the ICT-related service providers of the country. The company presented cables it produced locally. The Election Commission presented an electronic voting machine (EVM) at the fair.
A total of 86 public and private organisations, including all ministries and departments, showcased their services and initiatives at the fair.
Awards dedicated All the awards were dedicated to renowned personalities and institutions. Some of personalities were Dr Md Ibrahim, Dr Nawajes Ahmed, Dr Muhammad Shahidullah, Sahidullah Kaisar, Barin Mojumder, Dr Jamal Nazrul Islam and Johur Hossain Choudhury. The institutions were Extended Programme on Immunisation, Kumudini Welfare Trust of Bengal Ltd, and Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
Officials of the A2I project at the PMO said the fair aims to encourage all government and private organisations to come up with innovative and convenient services that can be taken to people's doorsteps.
The organisers also presented three seminars related to ICT — 'Empowering citizens by improving reach and uses of public services through ICT', 'Ensuring low-cost and high-speed broadband to rural areas’, and 'Developing skilled human resources to build a Digital Bangladesh.
abdullah.mamun@thedailystar.net