DHAKA: The two-day SAARC Tech Summit, jointly organized by CTO Forum Bangladesh and INFOCOM India, is underway for second day at BIAM Foundation auditorium in city’s New Eskaton area.

Seven technical sessions are going on at the summit on Saturday (March 12) where local ICT experts along with the other regional specialists are addressing the participants.

These are Financial Inclusion in the Digital Era – Opportunities and Challenges, Securing your Digital Experience, Power of Electronic Transaction – Opportunities & Challenges, Digital Marketing – New Challenges, Digital Business Model with compliance and capabilities, Ensuring Skill Development and Job Creation meets Global Demand and Cyber Crime Threats - Current scenario and future challenges.

The ‘INFOCOM-CTO Forum SAARC ICT Excellence Award 2016’ is set to be held at 5:30pm at the BIAM auditorium where the organizer will honor five ICT experts from different SAARC countries for their outstanding contribution in ICT development in their respective countries.

Home minister Asaduzzaman Khan is expected to be present as chief guest at award giving ceremony, said a press release.

Earlier on Friday, the first ever SAARC Tech Summit was kicked off to exchange the inter-regional technical experience on the latest technology and to enhance the technology movement from regional to global.

However, SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industries (CCI) is providing assistance to the summit.

It is arranging in such a way as to be a platform for all SARRC member countries to share their knowledge and experience with each other.

It will help the countries IT experts to adopt the new challenges of digital transformation and its security- hoped the organizers.

Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs minister Anisul Huq inaugurated the summit with the theme of ‘Architecting Secure Digital Business’.

"The two-day SAARC Summit seems the largest technological knowledge gathering spectrum where the SAARC countries are participating and this collaboration will significantly contribute the IT arena - said the minister   to addressing the ceremony.

"This collaboration will enhance our regional relationship and the experience will also foster our digital transformation to achieve the vision 2021,” he added.

Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) President Abdul Matlub Ahmad also addressed the audience at the inaugural ceremony.

Besides, SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Suraj Vaidya, was present as guest of honor and addressed the grand gathering.

Managing Director & CEO, ABP Pvt Ltd and Chairman, INFOCOM DD Purkayastha delivered the welcome speech.

The inaugural ceremony also addressed by CTO Forum Bangladesh President Tapan Kanti Sarkar, Partner, Ernst & Young India Harish Agarwal, former Secretary NI Khan.

“The digital business and its security is the key concern nowadays that we need to address. Besides we also have some other security and technical issues to share, collaborate and experience with each other where the gathering is expecting to be a effective platform,” said Associate Vice President of INFOCOM & IT Infrastructure, ABP Pvt Ltd of India Kali Krishna Mahapatra.

This is the second time, information technologists from all the SAARC countries are going to participate in the summit. And this participation will enhance CTO Forum movement from regional to global.

The gathering is going to focus the latest technologies with its features and digital security to use, said Tapan Kanti Sarkar
 
A total of 4 seminars and sessions were held Friday on different issues like Meeting Digital Transformation Challenges, Cyber War Game and Securing Enterprise in The Digital Mesh & New Age Computing.

At the first session titled ‘Meeting Digital Transformation Challenges’, Chief Operating Officer of Prothom Alo Bangladesh Ahteram Uddin, Senior Country Director India & SAARC, CA Technologies Animesh Sahay and former Secretary N I Khan discussed about the digital transformation of media and its challenges and prospects to adoption.

Jaspreet Singh, Partner, Ernst & Young India was the Keynote Speaker of the 2nd session that on Cyber War Game where the cyber crime and its security was discussed in detail.

It was a huge gathering on the 3rd section where Nilesh Jain, Country Head India, Trend Micro India, Mohammad Ali, Deputy Managing Director, Pubali Bank Ltd spoke on Securing the Enterprise in The Digital Mesh.

It was an interesting session as digital business is growing fast among the young entrepreneurship.

The 4th session of the first day was on the New Age Computing which was the interesting technical session of the day where Rohit Sood, Technical Sales Leader and IBM Systems were addressed the gathering.

The first Tech Summit was held at Dhaka on March 20-21 in 2015. Along with Bangladesh, more than 100 Technology Consultants, CIO, CTO, CISO, High Government Officials, IT Chief of important technological organizations, IT Consultants of different country were joined the summit.

This time the gathering is larger then that one said the organizer. As earlier this time, the participants are from the counties of India, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka including Bangladesh.

BDST: 1417 HRS, MAR 12, 2016
RS/RR/SMS

** 2-day SAARC Tech Summit begins in city Mar 11