The trailblazers in the ICT sector are set to be recognised today with the Brac Bank-The Daily Star ICT Awards for their contribution to the development of the country's IT sector.

This is going to be the eighth edition of the ICT Awards that have been given to the IT entrepreneurs to raise awareness about the role of ICT in nation building and to encourage innovation and excellence among ICT talents and enterprises.

The Daily Star has been recognising and celebrating extraordinary achievements by IT entrepreneurs since 2016.

Five companies and one individual are expected to receive the awards from Planning Minister MA Mannan at the ceremony that started this evening at the Le Meridien Dhaka, the hospitality partner of the event.

The Daily Star is organising the event in association with Brac Bank, enlightened by Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS).

The IT sector is growing and Bangladesh's IT sector has been recognised as one of the most promising industries and is forecasted to reach $5 billion by 2025, according to Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (Bida).

Over 4,500 IT and ITES firms in Bangladesh have employed over 7.50 lakh ICT professionals and are generating export earnings.

Export earnings surpassed $1 billion in 2019, registering a compound annual growth rate of 21 percent since 2013, according to Bida.

"The earnings are further enhanced by a large pool of online workers. In 2017, Bangladesh had a total of 6.5 lakh registered freelancers, the second largest pool of online workers in the world, commanding a market share of 16 percent after India with 24 percent of the market," it said.

Among them, 5 lakh are actively working with aggregate earnings of $100 million per annum, it said.