Speakers

Experienced Secretary with a demonstrated history of working in the government administration industry. Skilled in Nonprofit Organizations, Negotiation, Policy Analysis, Analytical Skills, and Government. Strong administrative professional with a Masters in Economics focused in Social Science from Chittagong University,Chittagong.He is also the Executive Director of Bangladesh Computer Council.

An experienced software development and delivery lead, IT project manager and management consultant. Enjoys working on business development and IT solutions strategies, helping clients and teams execute on them effectively in a structured way - yet embracing agile and lean principles. He has the ability to form and lead a team, as well as develop and manage multiple projects portfolio. Grzegorz feels comfortable in international environment and distributed teams. His technical background is software development with focus on Java/J2EE, Oracle DB and SOA/middleware. He has done his Masters in International Relations from Cracow University of Economics. He has worked as the Head of Software Development in POWEL AG. He was also the Founding Member/Business Consultant of YPI Consulting.

Mary Heather White joined TFO Canada as the Program Director responsible for projects funded by Global Affairs Canada. Mary Heather leads TFO Canada’s Geographic and Trade Information Services teams with an aim to improve trade between small and medium exporters from developing countries and Canadian buyers. Mary Heather brings more than 20 years of management experience in the development sector where she contributed to skills development and sustainable and inclusive livelihoods for women, men and youth. She has worked with numerous leading non-profits and in the higher education sector both in Canada and overseas and created synergies by building multi-stakeholder alliances and being a gender equality champion. Mary Heather has lived in India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. She holds an MA in International Development from Norman Patterson School of International Affairs, Ottawa.

Mr.Tanvir Ahmed is a Business and Marketing professional with over 13 years’ experience across FMCG, Financial / Money transfer service and Media Industry. Specialist in Business Development, Brand Marketing, Developing/Executing business strategy and new market/channel/product development with consumer focus towards market leadership. Possesses high skills and experience of building a money transfer brand as ‘My Brand’ from almost ‘zero’ in Bangladesh. Being the 1st Marketer to market the top global money transfer / remittance brand in Bangladesh, Mr.Ahmed took the challenge and successfully made that brand as the most popular & leading brand amongst C2C remittance consumers of Bangladesh across the world. He is the Co-Founder and CEO of Qube Eight. He is an MBA Degree holder from IBA, University of Dhaka.

Mr. Anir Chowdhury is the Policy Advisor of A2i. As the leader of A2i,he ensures the implementation of the government’s digital Bangladesh agenda. Under his leadership, A2i has been transformed from a project to the ‘World’s first Innovation Lab+’ nurturing a nationwide ecosystem and proved its capacity as the key driver of the government agenda of public service innovation. His current focus is on the whole-of-government approach, innovation lab+, Digital Financial Inclusion, Civil Registry and Vital Statistics- keeping everyone in the ‘Big Picture’, e-service delivery from crucial ministries and South-South cooperation. He is also facilitating the transformation of A2i to a state-owned authority under the Prime Minister’s Office. Mr.Anir is working in A2i since 2007. He holds a Bachelors in Computer Science from Brown University, Rhode Island, USA.

He earned his Ph.D from University of South Carolina in 1988, worked as a Director, AI lab at national research institute, KIST(Korea Research Institute of Science and Technology) from 1988 to 1991. Then, he moved to Sangmyung University to teach computers in 1991 until 2016. While he was teaching at Sangmyung University, he established a venture company, MarkAny, with his lab students in 1999. Based on Watermarking and DRM (Digital Right Management) technologies, Dr. Choi has developed and provided solutions: document security product (more than 260 enterprise customers in the world), and watermarking products (Universal Music, SONY/BMG, and etc.). Currently he is involved in three big blockchain projects in Korea, developing e-Certificate of Origin for Korean Custom office, P2P content delivery systems for Ministry of Science and Technology and e-certificates issue system for Government Agencies. He Developed and has provided Privacy protection systems, called Privacy SAFER. Currently, he is teaching ‘deep learning’ at ITB(Institute of Technology at Bandung), Indonesia

Dr. F H Ansary a Ph.D holder in Ecology brings with him management strength for a highly techno-dependent company. His wide experience of working in MNCs like Ciba-Geigy (currently Syngenta) and local corporate like Shetu Corporation Ltd in the field of chemical world gives confidence in realizing the business potential of the company. He is the Managing Director & CEO, ACI Agribusinesses, a leading Agriculture integrator in Bangladesh. He joined ACI Limited in 1995 as Head of Crop Protection Business and promoted as Executive Director, Agribusinesses in July 1998. He is one of the promoters as well as a Board of Director of ACI Formulations Limited. He is also the Director of ACI Agrolink Limited, ACI Salt Limited, ACI Motors Limited, Premiaflex Plastics Limited and ACI Godrej Agrovet Pvt. Ltd. Dr. Ansary with his dynamic leadership initiated a number of businesses in ACI including ACI Formulations Ltd., ACI Motors Ltd, Premiaflex Plastics Ltd. ACI Agrolink limited, ACI Animal Health, ACI Fertilizer and ACI Seed. He has also established some state of the art factories and Complexes for ACI. He contributed in building of ACI Pharmaceuticals factory, Aerosol & Mosquito Coil plant, Crop protection products Formulation plant in ACI FL, Tetley Tea factory which is a joint venture with Tetly UK, Dabur factory in Narayangonj which is joint venture with Asian Consumer Care, Salt Refinery factory with Vapor-Evaporation Technology, ACI Godrej Animal Feed factory, Premiaflex factory, Poultry Breeding farm, Poultry Hatchery in Valuka Molecular Breeding Laboratory, Seed Processing Center and ACI's Corporate Head Office - ACI Centre . Dr. Ansary is a visionary leader, who has not only transformed the company but outlined the future landscape of Bangladesh Agriculture with Government, donors, NGO's and other stakeholders.

Mr. Asif Saleh was appointed as Director to the board of BRAC IT Services Limited in 2015. He is the Senior Director of Strategy, Communications and Empowerment for BRAC and BRAC International. Prior to joining BRAC, he was Executive Director at Goldman Sachs, and also worked at GlaxoWellcome, NorTel and IBM. Upon his return to Bangladesh in 2008, he worked as a policy specialist for the UNDP funded project Access to Information Program (a2i) at the Prime Minister’s Office. He is the founder of Drishtipat, a global organization with chapters across the globe focusing on human and economic rights of Bangladeshis, and co-founder of Drishtipat Writers' Collective. He contributes regularly to local and international dailies. He was also recognized for his work by Asia Society’s Asia 21 program in 2008, the Bangladeshi American Foundation in 2007, and was selected as an Asia 21 Fellow in 2012. Asif Saleh was selected to be a Young Global Leader by World Economic Forum in 2013. He holds a Bachelors in Computer Science and an MBA in Management from NYU Stern School of Business. He is currently a member of the advisory board of Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust, board member of Institute of Informatics and Development, trustee board member of Spreeha Bangladesh Foundation and a 2013 mentor of the Unreasonable Institute.

Mr. Kazi M. Aminul Islam did his Master of Arts in Economics from University of Dhaka and Master’s in Economics from Boston University, USA. He also attended Mason School at Harvard University. He had a Graduation Certificate in Environment Management from University of Adelaide, Australia. Mr. Islam has joined Bangladesh Civil Service in 1981 and progressed to higher responsibilities in diverse areas of the Government. He was a secretary to the Chief Advisor’s office during the 2007-08 caretaker government of Bangladesh. While working as the Secretary, Prime Minister’s Office in 2009, he was appointed as Alternative Executive Director of the World Bank for the constituency comprising of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Sri Lanka. He worked for three and a half years on the Board of the Executive Directors of The World Bank. In course of work for transition to democracy and private sector development, Mr. Islam steered bodies like “Better Business Forum” and “Regulatory Reform Commission” developed a very strong relationship between the business and Government in Bangladesh. At Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) as the Executive Chairman he is focusing on investment climate and investors experiences in doing business in Bangladesh and emphasizing on the qualitative aspects of investment regime. These include improving the ‘ease of doing business’ establishing fully functional ‘One Stop Service Centre’ and initiating various reform activities to make BIDA as one of the best ‘Investment Promotion Agency’ (IPA) in the world.

Mr. Hirata's more than 20 years of experience in the field of development began in the Private Investment and Lending Division of the Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund of Japan (OECF), which he joined in 1989 after earning a B.A. in Law at Keio Gijuku University in Japan. Bangladesh played a prominent role at the start of his career. One of his earliest assignments at the OECF was a Bangladeshi project, the KAFCO fertilizer factory, and his first business trip was to Bangladesh in 1990, as a member of an appraisal and examination team which visited the site at which the factory was to be constructed.Mr. Hirata worked on diverse development projects in Asia and Europe. As representative of the OECF Paris Office between 1995 and 1998, he handled projects in the transitional economies of Central and Eastern Europe, one of which was to start reconstruction projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina just after the Dayton Treaty was signed in December 1995. Mr. Hirata has held a number of senior management positions at headquarters in Japan: Secretary and advisor to the President of Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) from July 2005 to September 2008; Senior Deputy Director General for Accounting, Treasury, Financing Department, in JICA from October 2013 to March 2015; Senior Director General for General Department from 2015 to 2017; and Director General for Knowledge Management in Personnel Department between October 2016 and July 2018. Mr. Hirata became Chief Representative of JICA's Bangladesh Office in August 2018. He greatly looks forward to working for the sustainable development in Bangladesh.

Mr.Hossain Khaled is the President of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI), the largest and most active trade organization in the country established in 1958. He also served as the President of this prestigious Chamber in the year 2007, 2008 and 2015. In his personal life he is the Managing Director of Anwar Group of Industries, a 182 years old company in Bangladesh. Anwar Group of Industries is one of the oldest business conglomerates in the country established in 1834. He is one of the leading industrialists and businessman of Bangladesh. He completed his Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) from University of Toledo, Ohio, USA in the year 1997. Later he completed his Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Texas A&M University, USA in the year 1999. He is the Chairman of the Bangladesh Finance and Investment Co. Ltd. and City Brokerage Limited. He is also the Vice Chairman of BD Finance Capital Holdings Ltd. and BD Finance Securities Ltd. He is the Managing Director of Anwar Group of Industries, AG Automobiles Ltd. and Anwar Jute Spinning Mills Ltd. He is also the Director of The City Bank Limited. He was also the Senior Vice President of DCCI in 2006 and Vice President in 2002 and 2003. His line of business includes Financial Services (Bank, Financing, Leasing and Insurance), Manufacturing (MS Rod, Angle Bars, Galvanizing Iron Sheet, Cement, Cement Sheet, Textile), Dyeing, Printing & Finishing, Towel, Weaving, Spinning, Jute, Pipes & Fittings, Information Technology, Automobile (Ford & Peugeot), Trading, Furniture, Real Estate and Construction.

Mr.Moshtaq Ahmed is the co-founder and CEO of the NybSys and a group of companies which, operate in 6 countries on 3 continents. Companies of the group are developing and implementing customs and border control systems, health systems, payment processing systems, enterprise resource planning systems and systems based on the concept of Internet of Things. Mr.Moshtaq has over a decade’s expertise in enterprise architecture, large scale system design and development, including many e-government systems in Asia and Africa. His many innovative projects have made positive changes to the lives of many people in Africa. His formal education includes BBA and MBA from Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh and a Masters in IT System Management (ALM-IT) from Harvard.

Mr.Paban is acting as the Executive Chairman (Secretary) at BEZA, PMO from October 2014.Before he was the Director General at PMO from 2010-2014. Mr.Paban has an MBA Degree from IBA, University of Dhaka.

Co-Founded a successful software development company in 2002 in the USA that has successfully implemented more than 250 projects. Co-Founded a profitable management consultancy company in 2008 in Bangladesh that has been working with reputed international corporations such as Uniqlo, Nestle, Yamaha, Toyota Tsusho, Oxfam, WaterAid, JICA, JETRO, Ajinomoto, PWC, Gunze, Mori Building, Kojima Iryo etc. Worked in Fortune 100 company for seven years as programmer, analyst, software specialist and project manager and worked on several multi million dollar projects such as PeopleSoft up gradation, Web based self-service application implementation. Have 16+ years of IT industry and consultancy experience. Have technical knowledge due to core level programming experience as well as technical project management experience Good connection in the USA and Japan market. Also good connection in top level business community and government level in Bangladesh.

Supratim Chakraborty is an Associate Partner at Khaitan & Co. He is a part of the corporate and commercial practice and spearheads the data privacy practice of the Firm. Supratim has advised several eminent domestic and foreign clients in relation to information technology laws in India, including laws pertaining to data privacy and cybersecurity. Supratim has spoken on data privacy and data protection (including GDPR) at eminent forums and has authored several articles for reputed publications. He is regularly quoted in leading dailies. Recently, Supratim was selected as co-editor of the American Bar Association’s international laws publication, India Law News, for their data privacy and data protection edition.

Corporate lawyer, enrolled with the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa, having 10+ years of work experience in corporate/ commercial laws. Apart from general corporate advisory, specialization in transactional work ranging from mergers, acquisitions, private equity investments, slump sales, asset sales and joint ventures, have handled end to end of several high value transactions, both in domestic and cross border deals across several sectors.

Mr.Sarkar is a transactional lawyer with extensive work experience in general corporate, M&A, joint venture, venture capital/ private equity, banking and financing transactions: having excellent drafting and negotiation skills, the ability to lead and steer transactions, mentor and guide a team while continuing to be a team player, and actively participating in business development and knowledge management initiatives. He mainly focuses on his practice on advising clients on investment strategies, domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, strategic alliances/ joint ventures, private equity/ venture capital investments (and their portfolio companies), strategic buy outs and exits in India and general corporate matters. Mr.Arindam has vast experience in several complex and big-ticket M&A transactions across a variety of industry sectors including the Financial Services, Telecom, Manufacturing, Pharmaceuticals, IT/ITES & Software, E-Commerce, Logistics and Insurance.

Mr.Manjur Mahmud accumulated regional and international experience as an ICT entrepreneurs exceeding 27 years of proficiency in team management and operational excellence by managing enterprise level project in various leading project management framework. He also drives the quality assurance initiatives for the company. His years of leadership experience has culminated into several leading executive positions and board memberships with local and International companies. He has been an adjuncts faculty in various national university like BUET and Jahangirnagar university and he has a very strong academic research interest globally that includes his association in various capacity with KAIST of South Korea, University of Maryland -college park,Hong Kong University and IIM Calcutta. Mr. Mahmud has majored in Computer Science and has been one of the early certified Oracle Professional in Bangladesh. He has also been a certified Project Management Professional (PMP), Information System Audit Professional (CISA) and trained Technopark Professional and an alumnus of Hong Kong University. He has been very active in various Non-profit tech forums such as BASIS Quality Forum (BFQ) and Co-founder the Data Science Bangladesh (DsB) initiative. He is also the Founder of Blockchain Circle, Dhaka; a group to understand practices of Distributed Ledger Technology ( DLT) and Blockchain. This group is comprised of tech entrepreneurs from all walks of life.

Experienced Chief Operations Officer with a demonstrated history of working in the information technology and services industry. Skilled in Agile Methodologies, Software Project Management, Human Resources, Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), and Management. Strong professional with a Ms.C, Ph.D focused in CSE from Kharkiv National University of Radio electronics.

Sami Ahmed is the Component Team Leader (IT-ITES unit) of the Leveraging ICT for Growth, Employment and Governance (LICT) Project of the Bangladesh Computer Council, ICT Division. Mr. Ahmed's core responsibilities include Bangladesh IT-ITES Industry promotion and Talent Development. He has also played a vital role in many policy reforms for the ICT sector. Prior to joining LICT, Mr. Ahmed was the Executive Director of the Bangladesh Association for Software and Information Services (BASIS) and was instrumental in many policy reforms for the Industry and in organizing key ICT events in the country. Mr. Ahmed also worked at the a2i Project of the Prime Minister's Office where he was part of many national initiatives under the Digital Bangladesh platform and played several roles including leading the Innovation team.

Mr. Rahul currently serves as the Mobile for Development (M4D) Director for the APAC region for the past six years, where he manages M4D’s portfolio of programs that aim to find innovative, commercially sustainable solutions to a variety of socio-economic problems through partnerships between mobile operators, tech innovators, governments and development organizations. Prior to this, Rahul worked in the M4D Utilities team at GSMA where he managed grants and provided advisory services to operators on the opportunity in the energy, water and sanitation sectors. Rahul has a varied professional background. He spent over a decade in the engineering of wireless communications systems and network planning. Post-MBA, he switched tracks to general management and worked in solar energy and media & entertainment. Mr.Rahul has an MSEE with a major in communications and digital signal processing from the University of Missouri-Rolla and an MBA in general management from IIM-Ahmedabad.

Michelle Hustler is a trade and business development specialist and has obtained her designation as a Certified International Trade Professional (CITP). She has worked in trade and small business development in the Caribbean and beyond over the past fifteen years, with a particular emphasis on services sector development. Michelle began her professional career as manager of the Barbados Coalition of Service Industries (2003-2010) where she held responsibility for the conceptualization, design, implementation, monitoring, assessment and reporting on projects designed to enhance the international competitiveness of the Barbados’ services sector, with an emphasis on encouraging services exports. Her main areas of specialty are export development and promotion, business development, institutional strengthening of PSD organizations and marketing and communications. She has worked directly and indirectly for many donor organizations including: World Bank, Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), International Trade Centre (WTO/UNCTAD), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa Secretariat (COMESA), ProInvest, Global Affairs Canada, TFO Canada, Caribbean Export Development Agency, Centre for the Development of Enterprise (CDE) and BizClim, as well as many private sector organizations. Michelle is co-developer of GATEWAY to Trade, the world’s only export training programme for service providers.

Ajay Gupta is the Global Head, Smart Cities , at Tech Mahindra. He is an accomplished leader who brings wealth of more than 20 years of experience on digital technologies including Smart Cities, IoT and Telecom. He has been instrumental in formulating the strategic direction to the Smart City business and spearheading its growth initiatives. Business leader with extensive experience in IT strategic outsourcing, Customer Engagement, PnL ownership, Pre-Sales, and Vendor & Partner Management role. Experience involving Banking, Cards and Loan business, Manufacturing,M2M, IoT and Telecom domains. 6 years of international experience in Customer Engagement, Techno Managerial and Implementation Expert role.

Dr. Ahmed received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Dhaka in Computer Science. She has served as a faculty member in the University of Dhaka right after her graduation. She pursued her MS at Georgia State University and doctoral degree from Georgia Institute of Technology. She served in Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) for a year. She joined North South University since she came back to Bangladesh to serve her country. She enjoys playing with her daughters Anuva and Arisha in her leisure time.

Ms. Farzana Chowdhury, ACII (UK) is the Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of Green Delta Insurance Company Limited (GDIC) – the only non-life insurance company with IFC World Bank equity investment in the country which has been awarded with the prestigious AAA rating for the 2nd year running.Having the most prestigious ACII after completing Masters from Monash University, Melbourne, Australia under AUS Aid scholarship, she introduced numerous successful integrated insurance models involving SME sector; micro health for the RMG workers and poor people through ‘Shudin’ and ‘Niramoy’; major remittance earners – migrant labors with ‘Probashi’; majority of the population – the female segment. As one of the 17 participants from across the globe, she was selected by the US State Department, for the International Women Leaders Mentoring Partnership program sponsored by US State Department and Fortune 500 companies in 2006. She has been key speakers in many national and international events including recently held International Conference on ‘Transformation Challenges and Opportunities for Bangladesh Garment Industry’ at Harvard University.Under her leadership, GDIC has been felicitated by many prominent institutions like ARC, IFM, SAFA, ICAB, World Finance, ICSB and these awards have driven her to scale newer heights. She is also a member of the advisory council of the BRAC Business School, BRAC University.She was awarded with the prestigious Chartered Insurer Status by the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) UK. According to CII, this is the gold standard for insurance professionals and a very few professionals in Bangladesh have this distinction.

As Head of Public Policy for the APAC region for the GSMA, Ms.Emanuela closely tracks developments in competition law and regulation. Prior to joining the GSMA, she was a partner at a leading law firm in London. In this role she advised governments, regulators, competition authorities and corporate clients on matters of competition law and regulation. This work included acting as an advisor to the Government of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas and the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Bahrain, as well as providing training courses to Ofcom, the UK’s communications regulator. A lawyer by background, she also has an MSc in Economic Regulation and Competition from City University London and from 2006 to 2015 she was a visiting lecturer, teaching the legal module of that MSc.

Aleya R Ikbal is a technology leader with experience in project/program management, IT operations management and business process re-engineering. In her career spanning over 20 years, she has held leadership roles in government and private sector in IT, finance, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, and telecommunication in the US and Asia. Ms. Ikbal has a BBA in MIS from California State University and executive certificates from Harvard University and University of Washington. She is a certified PMP and Scrum Master and a training specialist. She brings in exceptional communication and people skills to motivate learners. Currently, Aleya is leading and directing several IT programs and projects at Seattle IT. She is also managing a team of project managers for engineering services and management consulting at Optima. Previously she was leading and managing accounts for KloudData’s West and Northwest operations in the US. She executed exciting go-to-market strategies around cloud, mobility, analytics, big data and ERP for small and medium enterprises as well as the emerging market. Ms.Ikbal has been a leader and key contributor in developing Optimal Solutions’ SME business in Bangladesh. While at EZ-Data in California, she also had comprehensive customer service and project management experience with clients in the insurance and investment banking industry

Mr.Newaj has 19 years of software development experience and in last 7 years as a CTO he has developed, single-handedly recruited and mentored 200 developers, consulted customers for more than 30 products from all over Europe and made $15M in sales possible. A veteran .NET developer, scrum master, scalability and performance expert. Mr.Newaj built a number of large scale enterprise software over his career. He believes one can only develop great software with a great mind.

Fostering ICT integration in development initiatives and mainstreaming ICT4D in developing countries is the core expertise of Mr. Akbar. E-Krishok is one of the flagship ICT service brand in agriculture sector targeting farmers and agro-businesses. Nutrition Club is a new venture led by Mr. Akbar to engage youth in nutrition to achieve the SDG 1, 2 and 3. Innovation is the driving theme of BIID for developing sustainable ICT4D services. Nutrition Club and B-Lab are new ventures Mr. Akbar pursuing to fight against malnutrition & unemployment among youth in rural areas. Born on August 4, 1970 at Chittagong, Bangladesh and completed his Masters in Finance & Banking from University of Dhaka, Mr. Akbar worked as ICT Consultant in SwissContact/Katalyst, Bangladesh and introduced Rural ICT Market in Bangladesh led by private sector. Mr. Akbar also served in financial sector (SMEs and Agriculture Credit) for 8 years. He founded Bangladesh Institute of ICT in Development (BIID) in 2008 to foster entrepreneurship led ICT4D and worked in Tanzania, Malawi, Kenya, Myanmar etc. He contributed in various global ICT4D initiatives including the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) at national and international level and working with UN APCICT for the WIFI Program. Mr. Akbar serves as a Member of the Editorial Panel of ICT4D Working Paper Series. Mr. Akbar contributed the development of eAgriculture Strategy developed by ITU and FAO. Mr. Akbar is now serving as the Chairman of Asia Pacific Telecentre Network (APTN), a regional network of 8 member countries promoting telecentre and ICT4D.

An IT entrepreneur with focus in software service and SaaS. Experienced in marketing, operation and product development for both B2B and B2C sectors. With an MBA from the top school and MSC in software engineering he has developed the right balance of business and technology to make difference in the world using technology. Travelled extensively and appreciated different cultures and economies in the world. Later studied MBA and worked in advertising, telecom, and software companies in the capacity of client servicing, market communications, sales and operation. With diversified skills and experience in the background in 2010,co-founded Nascenia. He has a deep interest in entrepreneurship and involved in related movement. An International Exchange Alumni of US Department of State, mentor in Founder Institute, APICTA judge and involved in many other similar initiatives. I believe through entrepreneurship and supporting ecosystem almost all the problems in the world can be solved.He has worked with Khan Academy and contributed heavily in generating Bangla content for it in its early years.

The Co-Founder & CEO of Brain Station 23 Ltd. Where carefully handpicked & trained talented developers work on developing web & mobile applications as well as solutions, enterprise application, big data & cloud technologies. Our most clients are small and medium sized located in The Netherlands, Denmark, UK, Canada and US. Grew passion for web technologies since 2000 and was involved in many small to large web application development since then. And right after graduation in 2006 i along with my other Co-founders started our company Brain Station-23. He got inspired by the global Tech Giants and the news of latest techs always excites me. He has completed his Bachelors in Science from BUET.

Mr. Rade Kovacevic was appointed as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) effective from 30 January 2018. Earlier, he was serving as the Interim CTO in Grameen phone from 18 June 2017. Prior to joining Grameen phone, Mr. Rade was working as Head of IT Asia (acting), Technology & Services of Telenor Group. Prior to that, he also worked as Head of Sourcing at Telenor India. He has over 17 years of experience in telecom industry working in different senior positions. Mr. Rade has an MSc in Electronics and Computer Science from University of Montenegro.

Mr. Islam is holding the position of Managing Director & CEO since January 2012. Prior to that he was the Deputy Managing Director of the Company from July 2008 to December 2011. Mr. Islam joined IPDC in the year 2006 as Head of Operations. During his tenure at IPDC, he has played pivotal role in reshaping the organization through strategic planning, rebranding, organizational restructuring, automation, process reengineering, control and compliance, service quality etc. Prior to joining IPDC he worked in American Express Bank (AEB) and Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) for more than 7 (seven) years with an enriching career in different areas of the Banks e.g. General Banking, Reengineering, Service Quality, Risk Management, Project Management, Business Contingency Planning etc. During his tenure at AEB he went through the Six Sigma Black Belt training at Brighton, UK and managed several Six Sigma projects for AEB Bangladesh, Singapore, UK, Hong Kong, India and USA. He holds a Master’s in Economics from North South University and completed his Bachelor of Business Administration from Institute of Business Administration, University of Dhaka.

Mr. Mahtab Uddin Ahmed has been Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Robi Axiata Limited at Axiata Group Berhad since November 1, 2016 and served as its Chief Operating Officer until November 1, 2016. Mr. Ahmed served as the Chief Financial Officer of Robi Axiata Limited from 2010 to 2014. Prior to joining Robi, he spent 17 years of his career with Unilever where he held various business and finance leadership positions including the post of Finance Director in various operating companies like Unilever Pakistan, Unilever Arabia and Unilever Bangladesh. He is also a Fellow Member of Institute of Cost and Management Accountant of Bangladesh (ICMAB), FCMA & CGMA of Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA, UK). He holds a Bachelor of Honours and Masters in Accounting from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. He is also an alumnus of the Harvard Business School (AMP 190). Since November 2016 he is acting as the CTO & Managing Director of Robi Axiata Limited.

A hardcore software engineer with strong leadership & problem solving skill. With the motto "work smarter and harder" along with strong multitasking and goal oriented capabilities 'positively' backfired with holding multiple position at a time outside of the technical domain almost from the beginning - which was rewarded by growing multidisciplinary and cross-cultural competencies in cross-functional teams across the globe. He has a Bachelor Degree in Engineering from BUET. And an MBA Degree holder from North South University.

Mr. Ioane Koroivuki , Regional Director of International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok, Thailand. He was the Chief Executive Officer of Fiji International Telecommunications Limited (FINTEL) and worked in various facets of communications including switching, data, satellite and submarine cable transmission systems. He was responsible for all of FINTEL's business operations, including accountabilities as the Landing Party Operations Manager for the Southern Cross Cable Landing in Fiji. He was also responsible for FINTEL's Network and Technology department where he was assigned to assist in transitioning Fiji’s International Gateway from analogue to digital systems, including the introduction of the first NGN platform. Furthermore, he was seconded to start up the Pacific Islands Telecommunications Association (PITA). The Pacific regional body managing the telecommunication interests of tis member states. Mr. Ioane Koroivuki graduated from the Coventry University, United Kingdom, with an MSc in Telecommunications and has over 34 years of experience in the telecommunications industry.

The newly appointed Vice Chancellor Major General Md Emdad-Ul-Bari, ndc, psc, joined Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP) on Monday.Prior to joining, he served as the Director General of Systems and Services Division of Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BRTC). Earlier in Bangladesh Army, he commanded a signal brigade, a signal battalion and held many other important appointments. He also performed as Chief of Staff, Chief Communication Officer and Military Observer in United Nations Observer Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) at different times.

He is the Chairman and CEO of the Thailand’s leading software company Magic Soft.He is also the Honorary President of The Association of Thai ICT Industry (ATCI).And he was also the immediate past Chairman of Asian Oceanian Computing Industry Organization (ASOCIO). He has completed his Diploma in Computer Science from Chulalongkorn University.He has completed MBA from Thammasart Univery.And he has also done his Engineering Management from Engineering Institute of Thailand.He has over 40+ years of experience in IT Business sectors (Software Development/Sales & Marketing/Management).

Mr.Boonchuay Sanguanvorapong is serving as Chief Operating Officer in Magic Software which is a leading software company in Thailand. In Thai ICT market, MST is well-known as Technology Provider of major software & technology in area of Application Development & Integration Services, Governance Risk Management and Compliance Solutions which are focusing in Enterprises Fraud Management in area of Anti-Fraud and Anti Money Laundering (AML), Cyber Fraud & Risk Management, Data Loss, Prevention, Secure Payment & Financial Messaging. His over 20 years of experience in this sector has provided a deep understanding in area of Integration, Financial Messaging, Enterprises Risk Management, and Anti-Fraud & Anti Money Laundering especially of the unique Threats and challenges of FSI. He worked with 20+ of FSI in Thai Market with extensive and in-depth knowledge of team with core competency & understanding FSI domain. He currently holds the certification on The Program on Management of Technology (MOT)from The Association for Overseas Technical Scholarship(AOTS)/Tokyo, Japan and also Enterprise Risk Management & Risk Management Workshop from Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok Thailand.

Ms. Parveen Mahmud FCA was appointed to the Board on 17 October 2012. Ms. Mahmud serves in various Boards including the Chairperson of Shasha Denims Ltd., and MIDAS (Micro Industries Development Assistance and Services). She was the Vice Chairperson, Underprivileged Children Education Program (UCEP) and was the Chairperson of Acid Survivors Foundation. She is the Council member and Past President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB). In her diversified professional career, Ms. Mahmud worked in the development sector and was a practicing chartered accountant. Ms. Mahmud started her career with BRAC, and was the Deputy Managing Director of Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF). She was a partner of ACNABIN, Chartered Accountants. She was the first female President of ICAB for the year 2011 and also the first female Board member in the South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA), the apex accounting professional body of the SAARC. She is the Chairperson, CA Female Forum, ICAB. She was the member of National Advisory Panel for SME Development of Bangladesh and founding Board member of SME Foundation and Convener, SME Women’s Forum. Ms. Mahmud is also a member of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Bangladesh. She is the Managing Director of Grameen Telecom Trust. She received “Women at Work-2017” Award from BASIS and “Women of Inspiration Awards”-2017 from the BOLD Bangladesh. She was awarded Begum Rokeya Shining Personality Award 2006 for women’s empowerment by the Narikantha Foundation, Bangladesh.

Ms. Rokia Afzal Rahman is a leading woman entrepreneur and a former Adviser to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh. Ms. Rahman started her business career with an agro-based company in 1980 and further diversified her business into insurance, media, financial institution and real estate. Ms. Rahman is the Chair and Managing Director of R. R. Group of Companies. She is also the Chair and Managing Director of Arlinks Group of Companies. She is the Chairperson of Mediaworld Ltd. (owning company of "The Daily Star"- the largest circulated English newspaper in Bangladesh) and MIDAS Financing Ltd. She is a Director of Mediastar Ltd. (owning company of "Prothom Alo"-the largest circulated Bengali newspaper in Bangladesh), ABC Radio. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of Grameenphone Ltd. and MIDAS Investment Ltd. She is currently the President of Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industries-MCC!, Dhaka; Vice President of International Chamber of Commerce-ICC Bangladesh; Trustee Board Member of Transparency International Bangladesh-TIB. Ms. Rokia Rahman is the founder President of Bangladesh Federation of Women Entrepreneurs-BFWE. Ms. Rahman's commitment to the development of socio-economic condition of country brings her to the boards of BRAC, Manusher Jonno Foundation, SME Foundation, etc. Ms. Rahman is the founder Chair of Presidency University Foundation, former Chair and currently Board Member of Asian University for Women - AUW, Chittagong. Ms. Rahman has received several international and national awards.

A highly experienced leader with successful track record of brand management, product innovations, service delivery and corporate communication. Has been instrumental in building Telenor subsidiary Grameephone as number one brand and market leader . More than nineteen years of experience in telecommunications field having extensive experience in formulating corporate vision and long term strategy, leading all marketing related functions including spearheading numerous product innovations with P&L responsibility, segmentation, VAS, Data, Brand management and development, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), mobile commerce, customer service , managing Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) and internal, external stakeholders. Some successful product innovations have also achieved World GSMA awards and acclamations. An individual with results-driven approach and relentless in pursuit of excellence from a business and organizational standpoint. Believes in transparency, commitment and teamwork. Earned both national and international accolades at corporate and personal level.

Educated/ trained in Silicon Valley, Ms.Sonia lived in Northern California for 20 years. After completing her Bachelor of Science and MBA degrees, she worked in Silicon Valley for Sun Microsystems/Oracle and start ups. Sonia relocated to Bangladesh and served as the Country Director for Dell Bangladesh, Director Business Development for South East Asia, New Markets in Microsoft and Chief Operating Officer for Aamra Technologies. Currently Sonia is the Managing Director for Microsoft Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan and Laos, Vice Chairperson of United Nations Technology Bank for Least Developed Countries, Co- Founder & Vice Chairman of both D Money (Fin Tech) and Syntec (Health Tech). Sonia is also a member of the Governing Board of the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP) in New Delhi, India. MGIEP is the youngest of UNESCO’s category 1 institutes, and the only one in Asia Pacific. Sonia is the Founder President of Tie Dhaka Chapter and currently serves as its Advisor. TiE is a Silicon Valley based association which fosters entrepreneurship. Sonia also Co- Founded the 1st IT Association in Bangladesh for women called Bangladesh Women in IT (BWIT).

He is In charge of "Global Jobs" (Japan working opportunity support) BJIT group has launched "Global Jobs" website in 2015, GLOBAL JOBS is a global job matching website for Bangladeshi IT engineers. Career consultants of BJIT group can provide you the opportunity to build desired career among more than 500 companies around the world. Currently we operate business in Bangladesh, USA, Japan (HQ), Finland and Singapore.

DataSoft Systems BangladMahboob Zaman is the managing director of DataSoft leads on its Board of Directors, is responsible for DataSoft’s day-to-day-operations, as well as lead the company’s product & service development and technology strategy. He is a valiant freedom fighter, and has been recognized as one of the pioneer entrepreneur in the software industry. He has been successfully leading a promising team to the global forefront to build up the name of Bangladesh as one of the upcoming countries in the field of Information Technology. His business specializes in Port and Logistics Management, Banking & Micro Finance, Bioinformatics and Outsourcing. Over the years his hard work earned DataSoft to joint venture contracts with USA, Germany, UK, Denmark, Japan & Italy. Mr. Zaman was elected as the President of BASIS (Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services) for the year of 2010-2012 with the vision of taking Bangladesh to the next level. esh Limited

Having more than 14 yrs. of Project management and new biz development background in IT, Marketing, and Start up sectors. As well as one of the prominent B2B marketing strategists, leaded a lot of renown Japanese IT companies marketing projects successfully. In 2015, established VENTURAS LTD in Dhaka as an Education-IT company, which provides the largest education information platform to 800,000 college students in Bangladesh for seeking better education opportunities. Also, VENTURAS has supported close to 100 fresh graduates of Computer Science department of top Universities in Bangladesh to get hired by Japanese IT companies.

She was born in 1969,January.Daughter of famous writer-novelist Shahidullah Kaiser and Panna Kaiser. In May 2017 Ms. Shomi Kaiser was elected as one of the Directors of FBCCI. And in January 2018 she was elected as the President of E-Cab (E-Commerce Association of Bangladesh). Ms.Shomi Kaiser aims to create new entrepreneurs in the e-commerce sector and work for policymaking and capacity-building among the youth. She is also a producer. She owns Dhansiri Production since 1997. In November 2013 her firm, Dhanshiri Communication Limited, got license for a private radio channel named Radio Active.

Dr. Rokonuzzaman’s work focuses on the potential of technology and innovation to create increasing wealth from depleting resources. His work on technology, innovation and policy started in Canada in 1990s, primarily funded by Canadian and European Space Agencies. With the research funding of Canadian Space Agency, in the mid-90s, he succeeded in developing algorithms and translating them into software application in processing RADARSAT, satellite born synthetic aperture RADAR, images to show the viability of detecting offshore targets like Icebergs in foggy North Atlantic using RADARSAT. He advised multiple development projects funded by IFC, World Bank, ADB, UNDP, Asia Foundation, and ICT Industry. His research and advocacy work also focuses on policy and regulatory reforms to govern competition in the Telecom/ICT sector.He has published 50+ articles, two book chapters and a book (Human and Machine in Rivalry). He is a Professor at North South University, and also a Senior Fellow of Policy Research Institute (PRI). He obtained M.Eng and Ph.D in Electrical Engineering with specialization in Robotics and Intelligent Systems from Memorial University, Canada.

A Professor of Bangladesh University of Professionals. He has worked 12 years in National Mapping Organization as Director.Worked for 22 years in Engineering Branch of Bangladesh Armed Forces at different capacity including Chief Engineer and Director of Works. Researched, planned and implemented various nationwide projects on civil engineering works and digital surveying and mapping including GIS. Organized and conducted many national/international level seminars/ workshops/ awareness programs on GIS and digital mapping. Researched, planned, monitored, supervised and successfully implemented projects involving nation-wide digital topographic maps, GIS data base, DEM, orthophoto map, national geodetic network including tidal station, GNSS CORS and geoid model. Planned and implemented a JICA grants project on “1:5000 Scale Dhaka Digital Map” as Chief Project Coordinator from 2003 to 2005. Planned and implemented another JICA grants project on “1:25000 Scale Digital map of Bangladesh” involving entire country as Chief Project Coordinator from 2005- 2014.

Srinibas Patnaik is the Senior Director of DigitalGlobe for SAARC Region. His primary responsibility is to grow DigitalGlobe’s business in the SAARC Region, increase market share across product lines, bring in operational efficiency & ensure customer satisfaction. He is an experienced Business Strategist and Transformational Leader in the industry offering over 26 years of proven expertise in business development strategies, leading businesses, brand positioning, capacity building and managing businesses for South Asia. Extensive experience in managing Business & Alliance partners, Strategic Accounts, Small-Medium Business segments and more importantly the team of professionals. Exposed to key market segments –Manufacturing, Government, and Defense & Education. Also other segments like BFSI, Telecommunication, Healthcare & Retail. He has led many companies across diverse businesses – Consumer, Enterprise Business, Engineering Design, Product Life Cycle Management & Geo-spatial Technologies including Big-data Analytics. Adept in managing businesses with focus on top-line & bottom-line performance and expertise in determining company’s mission & strategic direction as conveyed through policies & corporate objectives.