ICT State Minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak Attended International E-Governance Conference In Tallinn And Held Meeting With Foreign Minister Of Estonia

UsaNewsOnline.Com Desk : State Minister for Information Technology Mr. Zunaid Ahmed Palak, MP paid a two-day visit to Tallinn in connection with e-Governance Conference 2018, hosted by Government of Estonia, on 29-30 May 2018. He attended the Conference as a panellist and held separate meetings with the Foreign Minister and Chief Information Officer of Estonia.

‘Governance for Digital Citizens’ was the theme of this year’s Conference which was inaugurated in the morning of 29 May 2018 by Ms. Kersti Kaljulaid, the President of Estonia – which is one of the leading countries in the world in the area of information technology as well as cyber security. During her speech, she said that these days Governments have no option but follow the people and the business in the age of internet and they need vision, political will, clear roadmaps with strong coordination and citizen-centric e-government. President Kaljulaid asserted that, ‘we cannot afford not to be digital, not to have e-Government.’

State Minister Palak took part in the Conference’s inaugural session titled ‘How to manage digital citizen-centric e-governance’ as a lead panellist which was also participated by the Prime Minister of St. Lucia Allen Chastanet. Sharing the Bangladesh’s experience Mr. Palak said that the Government has targeted three groups of people to further expand e-services: ‘digital natives’ – those who have born in the age of internet, ‘digital adaptors’ – those who have increasingly adopted themselves with internet usage and ‘digital outliers’ who remain outside of the internet domain and uninterested to use the internet. ‘To bring these outliers within the internet service realm is the biggest challenge for us’ he commented. The State Minister informed the audience that currently more than one hundred types of e-services are being offered and Government has undertaken the plan offer 90% of public services digitally by 2021.

State Minister Palak met with Estonian Foreign Minister Sven Mikser today at the Foreign Ministry. During their discussion, a host of bilateral issues were discussed with focus on collaboration in the area of e-governance and digital services. Foreign Minister Mikser, while sharing Estonia’s extraordinary success in e-Governance said that they are now looking for new technology which will provide citizens more efficient, personalised and secured services. He also mentioned that protection of digital identity will remain a key issue to continue with the success of e-services. State Minister Palak briefed the Foreign Minister about the ‘Digital Bangladesh’ initiative under the guidance of Adviser for ICT Mr. Sajeeb Wajed Joy and leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. As he focussed on the issues of verifiable digital ID, interoperable digital platform, enterprise architecture and ‘humanware’ – in addition to software and hardware – which are key elements for an efficient and secure IT regime, State Minister Palak proposed for an arrangement of knowledge sharing between the two countries. He also urged for opportunities for higher IT education for more Bangladeshi students in Estonia. The two ministers also shared their experiences on online and e-voting systems in their respective courtiers.

During the meeting, State Minister Palak discussed Estonian cooperation in the digital management and maintenance of the wide range of issues including critical services related to forcibly displaced more than 1.1 mn Rohingya population now sheltered in Bangladesh and awaiting return to Myanmar.

Foreign Minister Mikser lauded Bangladesh Government  and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for the generosity extended to host such a huge number of distressed Myanmar nationals. He also expressed his keen interest to visit Bangladesh in the second half of the current year.

Earlier in the morning, the ICT State Minister held a meeting with the Chief Information Officer of Estonia Mr. Siim Sikkut at the Conference Centre focusing on cooperation on e-Governance capacity building to enhance number and quality of e-services, inter alia, along with cyber security. The exchanged views about transparency and accountability which are key to digital Governance. The State Minister raised the issue of IT education and training facilities in Tallinn for Bangladeshi candidates as well as possible cooperation on sharing knowledge and expertise in ICT. Both the sides agreed to look at the specific issues in connection with such collaboration.

Bangladesh Ambassador to Denmark, Mr. Muhammad Abdul Muhith, who is concurrently accredited to Estonia and Iceland, accompanied the State Minister in Tallinn during the visit.