Dhaka, 1 September :
Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen co-chaired a meeting of the Foreign Ministry and its 78
missions abroad on Digital archiving and Digital Service Design Lab scopes of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and Senior Secretary of ICT Division N M Zeaul Alam connected in the meeting.
The meeting commenced with the Foreign Secretary paying rich tribute to the architect of
independent Bangladesh, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and all the
members of Bangabandhu family who were assassinated on 15 August 1975. He also noted the
visionary leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for turning the dream of Digital Bangladesh into
reality and Prime Minister's Adviser on ICT Sajeeb Wazed for leading from the front as the driving
force behind the design of today's Digital Bangladesh.
Foreign Secretary mentioned that, in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, there is no
alternative to becoming self-sufficient in information technology. He highlighted recalibrating and
redesigning the existing institutional structure to extend the services to the doorsteps of the people.
Artificial intelligence, Blockchain and other modern technologies need to be gradually introduced for
the greater welfare of the people and reaping the benefits of Digital Bangladesh, the Foreign Secretary
added. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs provides an average of more than 7 (seven) lacs consular
services annually. If these services are moved to digital platforms, common people will benefit greatly
as they will be able to receive services from any corner of the world in the shortest possible time. The
criteria of TCV, i.e., Time, Cost and Visit would be greatly optimised if simple yet profound
technologies are deployed.
Congratulating the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for using the home-grown “Boithok” app as the
first Government office, a2i Project Director, Dr. Md Abdul Mannan, PAA has assured full support
and individual care for the Ministry's initiatives. The DSDL team presented on the scopes of Digital
Service Design Lab (DSDL) in the context of MoFA and shared the experiences with other
Government offices and the probable areas of cooperation. Bangladesh envoys joining the meeting
exchanged their views on the topic. They emphasized on getting the services to the doorsteps of the
people.
Senior Secretary of the ICT Division N M Zeaul Alam expressed his satisfaction and noted that
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already gained the necessary momentum for digitization over the
last couple of months and that now is the right time to implement the shifts. He praised the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs for volunteering to implement the Government’s Digital Agenda, saying that the
Foreign Office was the first to show interest in using the home-grown "Boithok" app. Secretary (West
and ICT) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed his gratitude to the participants and noted that
Bangladesh is currently in the way of transformation from manual or analog to fully digital system and
that Foreign Ministry and its missions will not also remain behind.
Senior officials from both Ministries and Heads of Missions and Mission officials joined the
meeting virtually.
