Bangladesh is set to accelerate its digital transformation through a collaborative effort with GovStack, an initiative that focuses on the development and implementation of digital public infrastructure through public-private collaborations, said experts yesterday.

By leveraging the expertise of GovStack and fostering partnerships between the public and private sectors, Bangladesh aims to create more efficient, transparent and accessible public services, ensuring a smarter and more connected government, they said.

The experts were speaking at the opening ceremony of a two-day international workshop titled "Whole-of-Government Digital Transformation Leveraging GovStack" hosted by Aspire to Innovate (a2i), ICT Division in collaboration with International Telecommunication Union (ITU) at Amari Dhaka.

GovStack is an open-source community formed by the ITU, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Estonia, German development agency GIZ, Digital Impact Alliance, and Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany.
Its primary task is to establish a global toolkit for digitalising public sector infrastructure.

Anir Chowdhury, policy adviser of a2i, presented a keynote by highlighting Bangladesh's digital transformation.

He pointed out that Bangladesh was leveraging technology for inclusive growth, with special focus on differently abled people, women and cottage, micro, small and medium enterprises.

Md Mamunur Rashid Bhuiyan, project director at a2i, delivered the opening remarks at the workshop.
Atsuko Okuda, regional director of the ITU, highlighted the critical role of stakeholders in shaping Bangladesh's digital landscape through the GovStack approach.

"GovStack provides the foundational building blocks necessary for implementing a whole-of-government approach with efficiency, effectiveness, interoperability, and security," she said.

Zunaid Ahmed Palak, state minister for telecom and ICT, Masud Bin Momen, foreign secretary, Md Shamsul Arefin, secretary to ICT Division, and Md Mohiuddin Ahmed, chairman of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, also spoke.