Bangladesh Ambassador to the Netherlands Sheikh Mohammed Belal has said Bangladesh needs research-based innovation to compete with other developing countries.

 In terms of digital innovation and technological advancement, Bangladesh has entered into a new era in last ten years under the able leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, he said, reports the UNB.

As part of ‘giving back’, expatriates community was urged to contribute in further technological advancement of Bangladesh especially in the field of research and IT.

Bangladesh Embassy organized an interactive discussion session titled as ‘Brainport in Bangladesh: Lessons from Eindhoven, The Netherlands’ recently and discussed the issues.

A good number of expatriate Bangladeshis, who are working in different High-tech organizations/research institutions of Eindhoven, which is commonly known as Brainport of the region, attended the session, said the Embassy on Wednesday.

Expatriate community who are working in renowned IT firms like ASML, NXP, Phillips, TU Eindhoven etc participated in this discussion session and reiterated their resolve to be of assistance to young professionals and start ups should they wish to be helped.

They also highlighted the acute need of quantum increase in the government funding for public universities and create a culture of triple helix involving government, businesses and academics likewise what the Dutch have been doing for centuries.

The expatriates assured their sustained effort to impart skills among the youths of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh Embassy, in collaboration with Brain Chain, is working to create a database of all ICT expatriates from Bangladesh in the Netherlands and hoped that such database will help our experts and students to network for better opportunities at home and abroad.

The session was divided into two parts - in first part, members of the expat community presented the concept of Brainport and how the Netherlands is leading the region in terms of technological advancement and second part was focused on relating the concept with Bangladesh.

During the presentation part, Dr. Ramiz Uddin, Head of Results Management and Data of the Access 2 Information (a2i) Program, Prime Minister’s Office, Bangladesh and his team were connected via Skype and shared their views.

Bangladesh Ambassador to the Netherlands congratulated the expatriate community, who has kept their footprints in Brainport and acknowledged their contribution towards the development of various tech industries/research institutes of the Netherlands.

Ambassador Belal briefly outlined the latest development/status of IT sector of Bangladesh in light with the goals and targets embedded in the vision – 2021 and election manifesto of the present government.

In this regard, Ambassador Belal assured that the Embassy will act as a conduit to connect them with the concerned authority of Bangladesh so that they can exchange their views/ideas effectively.

Joining in the interactive discussion session, the a2i team raised the necessity of making a database of the expats as per their area of specialization and requested for sharing the database with the a2i team so that the expats’ expertise can be utilized when appropriate opportunities are available.

The Ambassador praised the relentless efforts of a2i in rendering hassle free public services to the door-steps of the grass root people through digitization of services.

Based on the concept of Brainport, the Dutch city of Eindhoven is considered as the 3rd European city of the future.

Brainport Eindhoven develops technologies that change lives as their innovation is future oriented, safer and cleaner.

Some 40 percent of all Dutch spending on Research and Development is spent in Brainport, Eindhoven.

Dr Dilruba Nasrin, spouse of the Ambassador while distributing token of appreciations to the participants wished to see more engaged community so that knowledge and innovations from the Netherlands could also be implemented in Bangladesh, where possible.

The Embassy also urged all to attend their forthcoming historic event of inauguration of first ever Shaheed Minar in The Hague on February 21 at the Zuiderpark in The Hague.