SIMEC Institute of Technology and SIMEC Sys terms Ltd. organized a roundtable discussion on 23 March 2024 at the SIMEC Institute of Technology. The theme was 53 Years of independ- ence: Exploring the Future of Smart Bangladesh. Dr. Forhad Zahid Shaikh, Chief e-governance, a2i, attend ed the roundtable as the chief guest. The special guests included Professor Dr. Saiful Islam from BUET and Professor Dr. Kazi Abu Taher from BUP. Dr. Forhad Zahid Shaikh provided valuable insight into the progress toward Smart Bangladesh. He put signifi cant focus on Smart Governance and shared that the Government of Bangladesh is committed to providing highly personalized citizen-centric services by 2041. Dr. Shaikh stressed the importance of prioritizing qual ity over quantity in this regard and talked about collab orations between government, industry, and academia for building Smart Bangladesh. He expressed keen interest in future collaborations between a2i, SIMEC Institute of Technology, and SIMEC Systems Ltd. Dr. Saiful Islam, in his presentation, commented on now Bangladesh can become a smart society by build- ing smart cities. Dr. Islam suggested collecting and analyzing data and developing a digital or smart intra- structure for a smart city. Dr. Kazi Abu Taher delivered a focused presentation on the importance of the Inter- net of Things (IoT) in building Smart Bangladesh. Dr. Taher recommended assessing the National IoT Strat egy’s progress and suggested that Bangladesh needs specific plans for urban and rural areas, regulations for lot adoption, faster standardizations, local manufac turing, progress tracking, skilled human resources, incentives, and interoperability.
The event was chaired by the Principal of SIMEC Insti tute of Technology, Professor Dr. Md. Monirul islam, and moderated by Santul islam, coordinator of the International Research Center of SIMEC Institute of Technology. Moreover, Professor SM Shameem Reza from the University of Dhaks and Dr. AKM Foysal Ah med from IUBAT joined the discussion and shared their thoughts.
