The challenge of the 4th Industrial Revolution has to be tackled by building skilled human resources through education and technology, said Planning Minister MA Mannan.
He observed that the mega projects are paving ways for further corruption, looting and waste. Corruption will be reduced through law enforcement. Other institutional activities including ACC are being strengthened to prevent corruption.
The Minister made the remarks while addressing a program, organized by Debate for Democracy at the Bangladesh Film Development Corporation (FDC).
He assured that appropriate measures will be taken to remove the deviations that have taken place in the high-tech park. The government is committed to expansion of higher education and that is why universities are being established in different parts of the country, where science and technology education is being given priority.
Chairman of Debate for Democracy Hasan Ahmed Chowdhury Kiran presided over the function.
Speaking on the occasion, Hasan Ahmed Chowdhury Kiran said Bangladesh has also started the path of the fourth industrial revolution. However, how much Bangladesh can be associated with the fast-moving fourth industrial revolution is a matter of discussion.
“With the Fourth Industrial Revolution, came the issues of high speed internet, machine to machine communication, big data, real time data, artificial intelligence, modern robotics, nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, 3D printing, and automotive cars and so on. But none of these have yet achieved the expected position,” he said.
The most important aspect of joining the Fourth Industrial Revolution is the Internet. However, Bangladesh lags behind countries like Sudan, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Ethiopia and Uganda in terms of internet speed. Bangladesh ranks 135th out of 137 countries in terms of mobile internet speed.
Afghanistan and Venezuela are behind Bangladesh in terms of internet speed. However, online services have been launched in many government and non-government organizations in Bangladesh. Emergency services like 999 and 333, mobile banking, e-commerce, online marketing etc. have been introduced.
Multiple recommendations were made to address the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution including providing high speed broadband internet at affordable prices all over the country; developing skilled human force with emphasis on vocational and technology based education beyond traditional education etc.
The debaters of Bangladesh University of Business and Technology became the champions by defeating Northern University-Bangladesh in the competition.