Digital World expo begins in city today

Digital World 2014, the country's biggest IT exposition, kicks off in the city today (Wednesday), aiming at spurring the growth of ICT sector for economic benefits of the nation, reports BSS.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will open the four-day extravaganza at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) at 10.30am.
President Abdul Hamid is expected to attend its closing session at the same venue on June 7.
ICT Division, under the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunication and Information Technology (MoPTIT), and Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Service (BASIS) are jointly organising the event.
A number of events will be organised during the 4-day fair, including software expo, mobile innovation expo, e-governance expo, e-commerce zone, gaming zone, business matchmaking sessions, IT forum, developers forum and outsourcing forum etc.
In addition, there will be 30 seminars and more than 10 technical sessions where noted experts from home and abroad will highlight the latest developments in the IT world.
"Digital World 2014 will be the largest showcasing of IT sector in Bangladesh. Local and foreign IT experts will share knowledge about the latest developments in IT world, offering a rare opportunity for our young generation," said MoPTIT state minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak.
As one of the prime goals of the government is to build a Digital Bangladesh by 2021, the government is implementing a number of programmes for the country's ICT sector development.
"Our plan is to build Bangladesh as the next destination of world ICT, and we've designed our plan in this regard."
Export earnings from this sector have soared to US$200 million, and it will cross $1.0-billion mark in near future, he also said.
Steps have already been taken to increase internet connectivity. Over 197 upazilas are now under fibre optic network. A move is underway to bring 2,018 unions under this network soon, he added.