2nd Sub-marine cable to be set up at Mongla: Dr Moshiur

http://www.theindependent-bd.com/details.php?nid=151450

2nd Sub-marine cable to be set up at Mongla: Dr Moshiur
Independent Online

Nov 25: Adviser for finance to the Prime Minister Dr Moshiur Rahaman said the government has already decided to set up the second sub-marine cable at the Mongla Port for connecting it to the information superhighway as part of building Digital Bangladesh.

The government also has taken a project involving Taka 850 crore for supplying gas through pipelines to the Khulna region.

An IT village will be established in Khulna and preliminary work for it has already started.

After inaugurating the Khulna Pedia, the adviser said a cross of people including readers, researchers, traders, tourists and all professional bodies would get the opportunity for connecting them with the modern information technology.

Dr Moshiur made said this while inaugurating a day-long Khulna digital festival-2009 as the chief guest at Khulna Government Zila School maidan.

Speaking on the occasion, he also said the people would collect their necessary information relating to geographical, historical, educational, economical and business activities from now on.

The adviser said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has taken a project that would create human resources after getting training through computers at the end of 2001. For this purpose, the Prime Minister has given computers to many schools in the country, he added.

Dr Moshiur said Sheikh Hasina is doing politics for welfare of the people, not for making money. He termed the recent development in the information and communication technology field as one of the major development tools for the nation.

Organised by the Khulna district administration with the technical support from Pranon Private Limited, the Khulna digital festival was presided over by Khulna deputy commissioner N M Ziaul Alam.

Mayor of Khulna City Corporation (KCC) Talukder Abdul Khalek, Molla Zalal Uddin, MP; Begum Noor Afroz Ali, MP; Khulna district Awami League president Sheikh Harun-ur-Rashid, Khulna divisional commissioner Md Eunusur Rahman, DIG of Khulna range Sheikh Hemayet Uddin, KMP commissioner Md Helal Uddin Badri and Khulna police super Md Samshddin addressed the function as special guests.

President of Khulna Nagarik Forum freedom fighter Sheikh Abdul Quiyum and Khulna Press Club president A K Hiru also spoke.

Prof Dr. Mahbubur Rahman of Khulna University and Prof AKM Azhar of Khulna University of Engineering and Technology presented separate keynote papers.

Earlier, a colourful procession was brought out from Khulna Government Zila School.

Various socio-cultural organisations and general people joined the procession with banners, festoons and replicas of different species of animals of the Sundarbans.

Later, a cultural function and a day-long IT fair were held besides inauguration of automation of traditional Umesh Chandra Public Library in the city.

At least 12 IT stalls were set up by different organisations at the school maidan.

Info centres to be built in all UPs: Nanak

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/more.php?news_id=85428

Info centres to be built in all UPs: Nanak

State Minister for LGRD and Cooperatives Jahangir Kabir Nanak has said access to information as well as information technology by all is essential to materialise ‘Vision 2021′, announced by the present government.

“Getting information as well as services is very much essential in the technology-based life and livelihood,” he said while addressing the concluding function of a national workshop as the chief guest on District Web Portal and Content in the city Tuesday, reports BSS.

To this end, he said, the government has undertaken an initiative to build an information centre in each Union Parishad (UP) of the country.

“Activities of such information centres have already begun in 30 UPs and construction work of more than 1,000 centres is going on,” he added.

UNDP-funded Access to Information (A2I) Programme under the Prime Minister’s Office organised the workshop for additional deputy commissioners and high officials of various levels.

Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Mohammad Abdul Karim was the special guest at the function chaired by Project Director of the A2I Programme Nazrul Islam Khan.

“To make the programme successful, training for divisional commissioners and deputy commissioners was completed and training for Upazila Nirbahi Officers is on,” Mr Nanak said, adding that web portal will be launched in all districts by December 16 under the A2I Project.

BBS opens ICT training labs

http://www.theindependent-bd.com/details.php?nid=151248

BBS opens ICT training labs
Economic reporter

Planning minister, Ministry of Planning, Air Vice Marshal (Retd.) A.K. Khandker (BU), MP, PSA inaugurated a modern ICT Training Labs of BBS Under the Project of “Strengthening ICT Training and System of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics” assisted by Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) on November 22.

Kim Chang Sup, Resident Representative of KOICA Bangladesh Office and Shahjahan Ali Mollah, Director General of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics were also present at the opening ceremony.

Planning minister in his speech as chief guest mentioned that the Republic of Korea is a great country and is a very good friend of Bangladesh. He expected that KOICA’s assistance for developing infrastructure for training, ICT and Statistical Data Management System will help BBS to play pioneering role in the years to come for achieving ‘Vision 2021′ set by the Government of Bangladesh.

He also hopes that the Government of Republic of Korea will extend their co-operation in achieving the target of our government.

While delivering the speech as special guest, resident representative of KOICA, Kim Chang Sup mentioned that KOICA puts much importance in developing the ICT sector of Bangladesh.

Netbook PCs make major inroads in local IT market

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Netbook PCs make major inroads in local IT market
Mehdi Musharraf Bhuiyan

Ultra portable subnotebooks or netbooks are rapidly gaining popularity in the country’s vibrant PC market as evident from the latest bout of the annual ICT fair currently being held in the city.

Despite lacking some basic features like a built in optical drive, these petite cousins of more familiar notebook PCs are drawing significant attention in this year’s BCS ICT World 2009; owing to their lower than conventional size and price.

Beginning from Tuesday last, the 16th edition of the flagship event of the country’s ICT world ends today (Saturday) at the Bangabandhu International Conference Center of the capital.

“A typical netbook- no matter of what brand, usually weighs less than a kg- which is almost half in mass than the lighter ranges of notebooks, while their screen size hardly cross the 10 inch mark”, explains an exhibitor at the fair.

Equally attractive are the price ranges of these ultra portable laptops; which, thanks to fair discounts, has been found to be as low as Tk. 23,500 for some brands.

Netbooks first came to fore in the local market back in 2008; when the Taiwanese high-tech giant duo Acer and Asus brought their groundbreaking Acer Aspire One and Asus EEE PC in the Dhaka outlets followed by their successful launch in international scene.

Other big names in the PC market followed soon and by the beginning of 2009, almost every laptop brand available in the market had their own version of netbooks to offer.

Never before however, these ultraportable subnotebooks have featured so numerously at any big event of ICT in Bangladesh; industry insiders said, which is a significant promotional boost for these emerging segments of PC market.

“I found these netbooks quite smart”, said a visitor after experimenting with one of them for a while, “these machines are so lightweight and handy”, while admitting that he has to get himself used to it before buying a PC without any optical drive.

From the more pricey brands like Apple or Sony Vaio and more popular HP, Dell, Toshiba or Lenovo to emerging names like BenQ, every brand have displayed at least one or two models of netbooks in their stalls. The typical price of these laptops is ranged between Tk. 35000 to Tk. 24000.

“Netbooks can be possibly a big deal in Bangladeshi market”, admits an industry insider, “they may not grab any bulk market share but even then, their cheaper price range is well suited with the emerging markets”. He added.

Apart from netbooks, another major attraction of this year’s fair was Qubee. Weeks after the formal launching of this high speed Internet service in the country, this WiMax provider has unveiled a revamped and less expensive price package for its service on the eve of the fair while offering the visitors free ride to the WiMax experience.

Like any other year, major dealers in the PC market have introduced a range of new models of various brands. These include Acer Aspire 4736Z and 4810Z, Lenovo G450 29492KQ and 294955Q, Intel i5-750 and i7-860 processors as well as Toshiba TECRA M10-P463.

Prices of notebooks can be as much varied as the number of brands and models, so that they range from Tk. 36000 to as high as Tk. 155,000. But an average laptop usually is priced between Tk. 50,000.00 to Tk. 70,000.00.

A number of stalls have been dedicated to selling locally produced multimedia CDs- which offers a wide variety of cartoons and educational software targeted at young children.

A range of computer accessories and digital equipments like USB flash drive, portable hard drive, memory module, flash card, digital multimedia player and photo frame also featured prominently in this year’s fair.

Local fingerprints on world stage

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=114184

Local fingerprints on world stage

Ziaur Rahman

Md Hasan

It may be hard to believe fingerprints, a traditional substitute for signatures, could craft business worth millions of dollars.

TigerIT BD.com, a local IT company, is bagging work worth millions from the global market by selling its Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS), an identity solution. It is a process of automatically matching one or more fingerprints against a database of known or unknown prints.

Local companies may also adopt the innovation after knowing the US Federal Bureau of Investigation intends to work with TigerIT for the ID solution.

Local software makers are neglected in regards to obtaining deals from the government and private entities for providing technology solutions. However, confidence rose after TigerIT successfully provided voter IDs for 80 million people with the help of the Bangladesh Army in 2007-08.

TigerIT provided software solutions to build the national database.

“Our success could be a positive example for local software makers who fail to convince local policymarkers,” said Ziaur Rahman, chairman and chief executive officer of TigerIT, in a recent interview with The Daily Star.

Local IT firms fail to tap international markets due to a lack of recognition, he said. “There is no other alternative to having local reference in getting work abroad.”

He said the size of Bangladesh’s IT (information technology) market will grow rapidly as the government announced a target to create a ‘Digital Bangladesh’ by 2021.

In Bangladesh, more than 300 firms are developing IT-based solutions, but most failed to compete in the local market despite performing smoothly in global markets.

Several local IT firms are providing IT solutions to multinationals across the globe. But the sector could strengthen in Bangladesh if the government patronises local IT firms, as in India, Rahman said.

He said local firms in India get priority over foreign companies. “We should change our traditional mindset that foreign solutions are always better than the local ones,” he said, adding that Bangladesh should go for foreign technology solutions that are not available here.

TigerIT is software maker specialising in ID and fingerprint-based solutions. The company’s AFIS fingerprint matching solution ranked number one in the Minutiae Interoperability Exchange (MINEX) test by the US based NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology).

The TigerID AFIS is a set of services that can reside on a single server, or be distributed across an array of servers, depending on the anticipated transaction volume.

With the close of a successful chapter in making voter IDs in Bangladesh, TigerIT ID solutions are now being used in the US, EU and African countries.

TigerIT also engaged in providing ID solutions to Indonesia, Nepal, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Africa, Canada, Columbia and some other parts of South America.

“Our software solution is being used by 22 states in the US under a government e-commerce project,” Rahman said.

TigerIT has developed an application by which the US government collects online reports from homes for disabled citizens on utilisation of government funds.

More than 100 Pizza Hut outlets in the US are also providing sales services by using TigerIT’s solution, said the company chief.

Besides, TigerIT also developed a cell phone browser, which has become popular in the US, Rahman said. It is now in talks to sell the cell phone browser to the EU.

“The Nigerian Army also selected us for their ID project,” said Rahman.

In regards to recognition from the US, Rahman said, “We are now the number one in fingerprint matching solutions. We see this success as a step towards being a global player.”

He said the FBI has also expressed interest to work with TigerIT after receiving the recognition.

TigerIT has recently submitted a bid for the machine-readable passport (MRP) project in Nepal.

“We want to become a global leader in ID solutions,” said Rahman. However, he said like other local IT firms, he also faces hurdles in exporting solutions to the global market.

Bangladesh produces more than 2,000 programmers a year. “We are even more advanced than India in making IT solutions, especially high-end products,” he said.

On company revenue, Rahman said: “We are doing business worth millions of dollars.”

hasan@thedailystar.net

IBBL opens branch at Borogola

http://www.theindependent-bd.com/details.php?nid=150124

IBBL opens branch at Borogola
Economic Reporter

Borogola Branch of Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL) was inaugurated at Jamil Building, Borogola, Bogra yesterday. Engr. Mustafa Anwar, vice chairman, board of directors of the bank inaugurated the branch as chief guest. Presided over by Md. Habibur Rahman, deputy managing director and head of International Banking Wing of the bank.

The programme was attended by Md. Ali Asgar Talukdar Hena, chairman, Sadar Upazila Parishad, Bogra as special guest and the programme was addressed by Dr. Monzoor-e-Elahi, member of Shari’ah Council of the bank and Assistant Professor of National University, Shafiqul Mawla, senior vice president and head of Bogra Zone of the bank and Mohammad Shahjahan, assistant vice president of the bank. Md. Abdul Matin, public prosecutor of Bogra Judge Court and Alhajj Fazlur Rahman Paikad, former president of Bogra Chamber of Commerce and Industry addressed the programme from among the local elites, says a prese release.

Engr. Mustafa Anwar in his speech as chief guest said, economic recession has been caused as a result of interest based economy. But there is no impact of the recession on Islamic financial institutions. For this reason there is a notable response for Islamic Banking all over the world.

Domestic market for ICT products may grow four times by 2014

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Domestic market for ICT products may grow four times by 2014
FE Report

The country’s domestic market for ICT and ICT-related products and services is likely to grow by a robust 400 per cent by the year 2014, industry insiders said Saturday.

However, the growth would largely depend on growing access to ICT services at the rural level and increased use of information technology in high school education, IT leaders said at a press conference in the city.

“Although a precise statistics about the overall ICT market is unavailable due to the wide ranges of products’ information technology cover, available data suggest that the import of microprocessor chips has posted an increase of 40 per cent during the last fiscal and the annual shipment now numbers around 250,000 units”, President of Bangladesh Computer Samity (BCS) Mostafa Jobbar told reporters.

“At the current pace, the local market for ICT may get expanded four times compared to its current size given the government policy of bringing the digital technology to the grassroots level is effectively implemented”, Jobbar added.

The view came at a press conference organised on the upcoming “BCS ICT World”- the annual mega showcasing of information and communication technology to be held in the city next week.

The national trade body of IT industries, BCS, would stage the event from November 17 to November 22 at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre. This year the event would also coincide with the first ever “Digital Bangladesh Summit” to be held on November 22.

Parliament Speaker Md. Abdul Hamid is expected to inaugurate the six-day long fair as the chief guest, the organisers said adding that Commerce Minister Faruk Khan, Foreign Minister Dipu Moni and State Minister for Science and ICT Yeafesh Osman would also be present.

President Md. Zillur Rahman, on the other hand, is expected to inaugurate the first ever “Digital Bangladesh Summit” on November 22. The day-long summit would be preceded by six pre-summit discussion meetings during the five days of the fair on various core issues about building of a Digital Bangladesh.

At the end of the summit, the organisers would come up with a set of recommendations for implementation of the National ICT Policy 2009.

A total of 65 brands and organisations are set to participate in this year’s ICT world fair through 83 stalls and 32 pavilions, the organisers disclosed. The entry fee for this year’s event has been fixed at Tk. 20.00 although the access will be free for the school students as usual.

The main theme of this year’s event will be “Way to Digital Bangladesh”.

Bangladesh Computer Samity has been organising the annual computer fair since 1993. Around 150,000 to 200,000 visitors are expected to visit this year’s event, organisers said.

ICT show kicks off Tuesday

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=114089

ICT show kicks off Tuesday
Star Business Report

A five-day information and communication technology (ICT) fair will begin on Tuesday at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in Dhaka.

Bangladesh Computer Samity (BCS), a national association of ICT companies, is organising the show styled BCS ICT World-2009.

BCS will also arrange the first-ever Digital Bangladesh Summit-2009 on November 22 at the same venue.

As many as 65 local and multinational companies will showcase their latest communication technology, including computer, laptop, software, hardware, telecom device and technology-based education services at the fair.

BCS President Mostafa Jabbar said these yesterday at a press briefing in Dhaka.

President Zillur Rahman is expected to inaugurate the summit, while Speaker Abdul Hamid is scheduled to open the fair.

The entry fee has been fixed at Tk 20. However, school students will be exempted from the fee at the show.

MTB starts SIT test with BB

http://www.newagebd.com/2009/nov/14/busi.html#5

MTB starts SIT test with BB
Business Desk

As part of implementation of Bangladesh Automated Clearing House project, Mutual Trust Bank Limited has started Systems Integration Testing this week with Bangladesh Bank.

The central bank is introducing automated clearing in Bangladesh to replace the existing manual cheque clearing process. MTB has been distributing magnetic image character recognition to its customers since June 2009.

MTB has already installed necessary IT connectivity links with Bangladesh Bank. The bank exchanged digital certificate key using security device HSM and electronic envelop file with Bangladesh Bank.

Tax payment goes online in January

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=113841

Tax payment goes online in January
Star Business Report

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) will complete the tasks for introducing an online tax payment system within next month to streamline the existing tax return submission procedure, said the chairman of the board yesterday.

“We have already signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to initiate the online tax payment system. In this process, taxpayers will be able to submit tax returns online from January,” said Nasiruddin Ahmed.

“We are trying hard to enhance the board’s transparency and accountability further by initiating ‘digital NBR’. Once the system is introduced, the tax collection strategy of the board will be strengthened,” he added.

He was speaking at a press briefing at the NBR office in Dhaka after signing the MoU.

The NBR and Bangladesh Investment Climate Fund (BICF) signed the MoU yesterday. The BICF is run by the IFC, the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the European Union.

The BICF will also provide technical assistance to the NBR initiative.

In line with the MoU, there are two other methodological tasks to be done within the period to introduce the online tax payment system.

One of the tasks is to ensure online business registration of all companies and single registration number for income tax, VAT, customs and Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms.

The other is introduction of an effective online system to resolve complexities and weaknesses related to ‘tax at source’.

The NBR chairman said they would set up a national data centre and ensure that paying tax is no more a hassle.

He said the number of taxpayers has exceeded 6.45 lakh until November 8. Out of around 2.4 million taxpayer identification number (TIN) holders, 7,40,906 submitted their returns last year.

The NBR chief said a move is underway to set up ‘dedicated benches’ in the Supreme Court to handle NBR-related cases and promptly collect the revenues in due.

He also said the government plans to introduce Alternative Dispute Resolution to settle cases outside the court.

Digital ICT Fair draws huge crowd

http://www.newagebd.com/2009/nov/12/busi.html#6

Digital ICT Fair draws huge crowd
Shop owners happy with sales
Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha . Dhaka

The Digital ICT Fair-2009, an annual gala exposition of computer and its accessories, is gaining momentum every day with a large number of visitors showing their keen interest to the latest brands of the most modern scientific apparatus.

Nearly 50,000 people, mostly students, have so far visited the fair since its inauguration on November 7 by information minister Abul Kalam Azad, organiser sources said.

Multiplan Centre Shop Owners Association is arranging the nine-day fair at Multiplan Centre in the city’s Elephant Road with the slogan ‘Let ICT be a Tool for Changing Days’.

Besides the capital, people from outside the city are visiting the ICT show, the biggest in Bangladesh, said Tawfique Ehsan, convener of the fair.

He said about 400 shops have been set up from the fourth floor to 10th floor on an area of about 100,000 sft, displaying different brands of computer and its accessories within the range of buyers’ capacity.

Both brand and cloned PCs, laptops, LCD monitor, mouse, keyboard, CD, speaker, DVD, CD ROM drive, calling card, internet card, mouse pad, pen drive, memory card, printer, scanner are available at cost-effective prices, Tawfique said.

Besides computer products, mobile phone and its accessories, MP3, MP4 and digital camera are being displayed at the show, he said.

Tawfique said people could buy a complete multimedia PC at a cost of Tk only 16,500 as the shops have given discounts on various computers and accessories.

Talking to the news agency, the shop owners have expressed their satisfaction over the sale of computers and other products in larger numbers.

‘Over the last four days, we sold computers and other accessories worth about Tk 50 lakh which is our beyond expectations,’ said Manoj Das, branch in-charge, System Palace Ltd.

He said the demand for laptop was more than that for desktop computers and most of the visitors, especially students, are opting for the lighter one. The price of each laptop ranges from Tk 24,000 to Tk 1,25,000, he added.

Visitors as well as buyers are happy with the overall congenial atmosphere ensured with safety and security in and around the fair.

Anika Islam, a third-year student of Eden Girls College, who came to the fair with her three friends, said, ‘We are very happy to see a very beautiful environment here.’

Nazrul Islam, a buying house official who came to buy a laptop at the fair, said, he would purchase a laptop after verifying its prices. He, however, made a comment that the prices of the laptop at the fair are somewhat cheaper compared to those in markets.

The organisers of the fair have taken strict security measures deploying about 50 smart volunteers and installing specialised metal detectors at each entrance of the fair venue.

Monwar Hossain Talukdar Shyamol, convener of the media sub-committee, said the organisers had arranged painting competition for children, debate, SMS and quiz competitions for students, seminar, symposium, free online ticket booking and internet browsing to give an otherwise look to the fair.

The fair open for all from 10:00am to 8:00pm every day will continue till November 15. The entry fee has been fixed at Tk 10 but the school students have free access to the fair, the organisers said.

DMP ‘goes digital’

http://www.theindependent-bd.com/details.php?nid=149560

DMP ‘goes digital’
bdnews24.com, Dhaka

Dhaka Metropolitan Police is being digitally equipped from this month, for becoming a more effective and modern crime fighting force, officials say.

WiMAX wireless technology is being installed at each of the city’s police stations for better communications to quash crime and terror in the capital.

Additional deputy commissioner (public relations) of DMP Walid Hassan told the news agency Tuesday the state-of-the-art wireless communication will empower the police to counter crime with a blitzkrieg.

“New digital technology will let two officers communicate one-to-one ensuring secrecy before a surprise raid,” he said.

The police control room or headquarters will be able to monitor the position of a specific case too, with the new wireless device, he added.

Besides, top officials at the headquarters would be able to conduct video conferencing and quiz any detained person at any of the police stations, he added.

Assistant commissioner (public relations) Shyamol Mukharjee said, “With the help of close circuit cameras being set up at some 155 spots around the city will allow police to supervise traffic jam and know the status of the traffic flows at specific areas.”

Each police station will have eight more CCTV cameras that should help them to monitor the situation under their jurisdiction, he said.

Hassan said, “A database will also be developed at each police station where information about crime and criminals will be readily available. As a result, all the background of a detained can be found instantly as soon as one is held.”

An internal network sight-board would also be set up at police stations displaying photographs, identity, details of crime and information gathered after quizzing when an accused is held, he added.

The new digital gadgets would help the police force a lot to come to grips rising crime, said Hossain, adding the facilities would start to be installed within this month.

Meanwhile, an eight-day training programme on WiMAX was conducted recently where 34 police officers were trained. There would be similar training for other officials in the next phase, Hossain added.

BTSS to produce low-cost phone-mobile sets, laptops

http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2009/11/09/news0007.htm

BTSS to produce low-cost phone-mobile sets, laptops

Rafiqul Islam Azad

The government has decided to produce low-cost land phone and mobile phone sets, laptop and different telephone tools and machinery in the country.

Under the imitative, Bangladesh Telephone Shilpa Sangstha (BTSS) has already floated an international tender to procure necessary technology and equipment from abroad, according to sources in the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications.

The state-run company would be the first in Bangladesh to manufacture and market cellular phones early next year and in the process reduce dependence on import in the fast growing telecom sector, a well placed official source said. He said the BTSS mobile phone was expected to be available in the market by February next.

“The price range of the hand-sets will be between Tk 1,500 and Tk 10,000, depending on their options and features,” said the official.

According to the official a tender in this regard has been floated on November 1 and tender documents will be scrutinised on November 15, the source said.

With the implementation of the project, huge foreign exchange will be saved and employment opportunity will be created, he said.

The BTSS would be able to produce modern land phone and mobile phone sets, laptop and different telephone accessories adding more technologies and equipment with the existing one as “There is trained manpower and necessary infrastructure with the BTSS,” the official said.

Earlier, following a meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Post and Telecommunication, Hasanul Haque Inu, chairman of the committee told journalists that the government is also planning to produce low-cost laptop at the BTSS factory in Tongi.

He said the government would try to reduce technological discrimination by providing tele-equipment to the people at affordable prices in line with the government’s Vision 2021 for Digital Bangladesh.

The production of the BTSS was stopped following change over of Ershad government due to mismanagements, lack of planning, indecision and corruption. Earlier, it produced different telecommunication machinery including telephone set, EMD switching, DP, pole, cabinet and joint materials.

Record shows that since establishment the BTSS supplied about 3,00,000 EMD switching, 5,00,000 telephone sets, 655 trunk exchanges, 403 analogue PABX, 7 digital exchanges, installed mobile exchange for important institutions in public and private sectors.

TigerIT ranks first in US competition

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=113293

TigerIT ranks first in US competition
Star Business Report

TigerIT Bangladesh Ltd, a local IT firm, ranked first in the minutiae interoperability exchange test by US-based National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

The purpose of the Minutiae Interoperability Exchange Test (MINEX) is to determine the feasibility of using minutiae data as an interchange medium for fingerprint information between different fingerprint matching systems.

This is recognition for Bangladesh for developing identity (ID) management, which may help local IT companies to get works from the global market, said Ziaur Rahman, chairman and chief executive officer of TigerIT Bangladesh.

“This recognition means we are the best in some sectors, such as making national ID cards and machine readable passports,” he said.

MINEX is designed to evaluate whether various populations and combinations of encoding schemes, probe templates, gallery templates and fingerprint matchers will produce successful matches.

The recently published NIST test results revealed that a combination of the Tiger’s AFIS (automated fingerprint identification system) enrolment template generator and the matcher showed false non-match rate of 0.06 percent at a fixed false match rate of 0.01 for two fingers.

It outperformed Japanese NEC’s 0.08 percent, US-based Cogent’s 0.11 percent and France’s Sagem 0.12 percent.

TigerIT was earlier ranked second by NIST for developing an automated fingerprint identification system with high accuracy.

BB’s Automated Clearing House begins trial run

http://www.newagebd.com/2009/nov/09/busi.html#2

BB’s Automated Clearing House begins trial run
United News of Bangladesh . Dhaka

Bangladesh Bank on Sunday launched the trial run of newly introduced Automated Clearing House, as part of its move to digitalise the country’s banking system.

Under the new automated system, banks will not need to send their cheques physically to the clearing house at the central bank for effecting fund transfer. Now the banks can do the job online from their own offices using machine readable cheques and the funds will be transferred electronically.

However, the banks can also drop their cheques at the ACH at Bangladesh Bank where the machine can take image and data of 300 cheques per minute.

The new magnetic ink character recognition encoded cheques have already been introduced by different banks to integrate with the new system. The encoded cheques will reduce the cheque clearance time to only two hours from the two days required so long.

Initially, the new ACH will run for about 1100 branches of different banks within the Dhaka city. Gradually all the branches across the country will come under the new system.

Bangladesh Bank is implementing the ACH with $8.5 million financial support of the DFID, UK.

Formally launching the trial run of the new ACH system, Bangladesh Bank governor Atiur Rahman said the new system would take few months to be fully operational.

On the first day, three banks — Dutch Bangla Bank, Janata Bank and Dhaka Bank — commenced their online cheque clearing.

The BB governor said the trial run of ACH would continue until all the banks were ready to be integrated into the new system.

He noted that so far 35 of the 39 banks, both private and state-owned, completed all preparations to introduce the new system.

The central bank governor hoped that the rest of the banks will complete their preparations within few months to get the new ACH system fully functional.

He said the main benefit of the new ACH system will go to the business firms and to the remittance earners as they will get their payments within a day instead of waiting for days.

This will facilitate the online banking as well.

‘ACH system is based on latest state-of-the art technology. It’s a most secured system,’ he said.

The BB governor also said the existing clearing system would also continue alongside the new one.

He said the new automated system will contribute one per cent to the GDP through expediting the business transactions.

The function at the central bank was also addressed by deputy governor Ziaul Hasan Siddiqui, ACH project director Chowdhury Mohidul Haque and DFID Bangladesh chief Chris Austin.

A BRAC Bank press release on Sunday said the bank today starts the systems integration testing with the central bank for the Bangladesh Automated Clearing House.

BRAC Bank has been short-listed by the Bangladesh Bank for the BACH project to go live as a pilot basis. BRAC bank has been keeping the pace of developments to meet up the deadline of Bangladesh Bank, the release said.