ICT Division cancels 17 events to reduce costs

In order to reduce government expenditure amid the ongoing economic situation, the ICT Division has cancelled 17 programmes scheduled for the current fiscal year.

Cancelled events include Digital Device Innovation Expo; Digital World; BPO Summit; Block Chain Olympiad; National High School Programming Competition; Children’s Film Festival; Participation in World Congress on IT; Bangladesh Startup Exchange Programme; Japan IT Week; Channel i Digital Bangladesh Media Awards; Dubai, London Roadshow & Branding; International Expo; Japan, India, UK, America, Europe ICT Conference, and Tech Carnival, among others.

However, Digital Bangladesh Day will be celebrated online on a limited scale.

Confirming the matter in an online press conference on Thursday, ICT State Minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak said that preparations are underway to return Tk 40 crore to the finance division from the Tk 75 crore allocated for the current fiscal year.

At a meeting presided over by NM Ziaul Alam, Senior Secretary of the ICT Division, the state minister also said that a ‘Business Continuity Plan’ will be prepared to overcome the problems through technology as it was done during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The state minister said that cancelling the events will not cause much harm. Besides, arrangements have been made to reduce costs. Training programmes have been reduced by 50 per cent.

Apart from that, the government will also consider how to reduce costs in other scheduled programmes and upcoming projects, he said.