Staff correspondent :

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today inaugurated five new digital initiatives of A2I as part of the government’s campaign to transform the country into ‘Smart Bangladesh’ by 2041. The initiatives are – Student collective assessment app ‘Naipunya’, integrated e-toll collection service ‘Ekpass’, ‘Smart 333’, smart e-trade license and smart pregnancy monitoring system. Prime Minister inaugurated these initiatives at a function organized at Bangabandhu International Conference Center (BICC) on the occasion of Sheikh Russell Day-2023 and distribution of Sheikh Russell Medal-2023 and Smart Bangladesh Medal-2023. On the occasion of the 60th birthday of Sheikh Russell, the youngest son of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Department and Sheikh Russell Jatiya Shishu Kishore Parishad jointly organized the event.
According to the document, the app ‘Naipunya’ has been developed to digitize the process of evaluating student performance, maintaining records of collective assessment and providing study reports. The app was jointly developed by A2I and UNICEF, Bangladesh under the auspices of the Ministry of Education and the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB).
Road Transport and Highways Department, Roads and Highways Department and Bangladesh Bridge Authority in collaboration with A2I have launched a digital initiative ‘Ekpass’ to ensure smooth movement of vehicles at toll plazas using modern technology for automated toll management and involving financial service providers.
As the National Helpline 333 plays an important role in providing health and relief services across the country and proves the need, efficiency and convenience of this platform in emergencies, A2I has now launched ‘Smart 333’ to enable citizens to easily communicate with government officials and in an automated manner. All government information and services can be accessed.
Also, A2i has developed ‘Smart E-Trade License’, which allows service aspirants to download their expected e-trade license anytime and anywhere by completing all the processes within 24 hours of submitting the application for the license.
Under the initiative of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Directorate of Health Services (DGHS), Directorate of Family Planning (DGFP), A2I has developed Smart Pregnancy Monitoring System to ensure pregnancy monitoring for the safety and well-being of expectant mothers. Through this, all the information related to pregnant mothers and newborns and diseases and treatment of pregnant mothers can be stored simultaneously in one place.
In the event, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the Sheikh Russell Animation Lab at Dhaka University (DU) Faculty of Fine Arts, 300 Sheikh Russell School of Future, Python programming training for 27,000 students, distribution of certificates among 36,200 teachers trained at the Sheikh Russell Digital Lab, seven Sheikh Kamal IT trainings. and Incubation Centres, training programs for 25,125 women in 130 upazilas across the country under ‘Her Power Project’, ‘Sathik’, ‘Janamat’, ‘Rupantar’ and ‘UBoard’ software, toll-free helpline services to prevent juvenile cyber crime ‘13219’ and inaugurated three University Innovation Centres.
He inaugurated the setting up of Robotic Corners in 300 Sheikh Russell Schools of Future and laid the foundation stones of 10,000 Sheikh Russell Digital Labs, three Sheikh Kamal IT Training and Incubation Centers, 555 Joy SET Centers, Dolcity-2041 Smart Towers and seven University Innovation Centers.