Cabinet decides to store all govt data at Kaliakair Data Centre

Govt to pay special attention to 10 technologies

FE Team | Published: December 08, 2020 00:09:56

The Cabinet on Monday decided to store all government data at the 300TB capacity Kaliakair Data Centre under the ICT Division, reports UNB.
It will have a backup in Jashore so that the data will not be lost even if the centre is affected in the event of a natural disaster.
The decision came from the weekly Cabinet meeting held at Bangladesh Secretariat. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina chaired the meeting, joining virtually from her official residence Ganobhaban.
"From now on, all government data will be stored there ... it's compulsory for government's data and all private data can also be stored there upon payment," Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam said at a press briefing after the meeting.
He said even the owners of the data centre will have no access to data of any agency. Only the agencies concerned will have access to their respective data.
Islam said the Cabinet approved retrospectively the revised drafts of memorandum of association and articles of association of a company titled 'Bangladesh Data Centre Company Limited'.
He said the government is giving Tk 500 million as the initial operating fund of the company and then the company will have to run the data centre with its own revenues.
"Every ministry or division of the government will have to open a server at the Kaliakair data centre. The data of all government agencies will have to be stored there. All types of safety and security of the data will be there," he said.
The Cabinet was informed about the prospects of Bangladesh during the 4th Industrial Revolution in a presentation by the ICT division at the meeting.
The government, in the presentation, pointed out 10 technologies which will lead the world in the future. "So, we've to pay special attention to the 10 technologies [to unlock the potential of the 4th IR], otherwise, we'll not be able to survive in the international market," he said.
The 10 technologies are - advanced materials, cloud technology, autonomous vehicles, synthetic biology, virtual augmented reality, artificial intelligence, robots, blockchain, 3D printing and internet of things.
"Our future will depend on how we'll handle the 4th IR. We'll face problems if we can't handle it properly," said the Cabinet Secretary.
Noting that the system of production and total technology will be changed during the 4th IR, he said Bangladesh will have to make its workforces fit for the revolution, otherwise it will fall behind in international competition, economy or technology or all other perspectives.
The Cabinet Secretary said a few garment factories have started using robots in the country.
Besides, the Cabinet in principle approved the draft of the Jatiyo Muktijoddha Council Bill, 2020 aiming to replace the existing Jatiyo Muktijoddha Council Act, 2002.
"The Liberation War Affairs Ministry placed the draft law as the existing act can't fully meet the demands of the present time. With the passage of the proposed law, the existing act of 2002 will be annulled," said the Cabinet Secretary.
The provisions related to the operation and formulation of the Jatiyo Muktijoddha Council (National Freedom Fighter Council) have been made more precise in the proposed law.
As per the bill, the Council can recommend the list of the collaborators (Razakars) before the government.
Anwarul said the council will have the authority to recommend the list of those who had opposed the liberation of Bangladesh acting as members of Razakar, Al Badr and Al Shams or engaged in the war as members of the para-military forces from March 26 to December 16 in 1971.
Moreover, the Cabinet endorsed a proposal to observe December 18 as the national and international migration day every year.