ICT Div partners with BASIS to hold Internet Week

Bangladesh Internet Week 2015, the largest event of this kind, will be held on September 5-15 to ensure greater usage and utilisation of Internet among the people.
There will be three major expos in three cities of the country and in each of the 487 upazilas of the country, and an event will be held at the union digital centres of the upazilas.
The ICT Division has partnered with Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) and Grameenphone to hold the event.
A Memorendum of Understanding was signed on Monday between the ICT Division and BASIS in this regard. Harunur Rashid, additional secretary of the ICT Division and Uttam Kumar Paul, secretary general of BASIS, represented their respective organisations during the signing ceremony.
ICT state minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak, BASIS president Shameem Ahsan, ICT secretary Shyam Sundar Sikder, BASIS senior vice president Russell T. Ahmed, BCC executive director S.M. Ashraful Islam,  Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority managing director Hosne Ara Begum, BASIS director Ashraf Abir, executive director Sami Ahmed were also present on this occasion.
At the event, state minister of ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak said, "Bangladesh Internet Week will work to establish the Digital Bangladesh Vision of the government. An event like this, held concurrently in 487 locations throughout the country, is unprecedented worldwide. We are happy to be taking part in such an event."
To make the event a success, the ICT Division has drawn up numerous proposals for success.
BASIS President Shameem Ahsan remarked, "We are aiming to ensure that every year at least one crore people gain access to and start using the Internet. In this regard, one of the primary objectives of this endeavour is to ensure that more and more people from all walks of life learn about the utility and benefits of using the Internet."
"In this regard, we hope to expose more people to the benefits of ICT and internet enabled services and products," he added.
He said, "Along with this, one of the pillars of the BASIS's One Bangladesh Vision is to have one crore new Internet users every year by 2018." "This will be a part of the government's Digital Bangladesh, leading to the middle-income status of the country."
ICT Secretary Shyam Sundar Sikder noted, " … this is a good endeavour. In this regard, the week-long Bangladesh Internet Week will be even more impactful with the support of the ICT Division. The ICT Division will provide the necessary support for the event."
BASIS senior vice president Russell T. Ahmed said, "On one hand, Bangladesh Internet Week will get more common people to be interested in the Internet as well as allow all of the ICT and internet-based companies to display their products and services nationwide."
BASIS Director Ashraf Abir said e-commerce companies, web portal companies, mobile application development companies and other companies, which are mobile-based will take part in the event.
Apart from the three main expos in major cities of the country, workshops and seminars will be held at over 100 educational institutions throughout the country.