Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has inaugurated the Digital Training Bus project for Sustainable Women Development through ICT.
The hon’ble PM inaugurated the project right after inaugurating the three day long ICT event Digital World 2016 at the International Convention City, Basundhara on Thursday.
ICT Division of the Ministry of Posts & Telecommunications & Information Technology (MoPT&IT), the country’s second largest telecom operator Robi Axiata Limited and globally leading ICT solution provider Huawei Technologies (Bangladesh) Limited are going to jointly execute this project, says a press release.
Abul Maal Abdul Muhith MP, Finance Minister; Imran Ahmed MP, Chairman, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology 
(MoPT&IT); Zunaid Ahmed Palak MP, State Minister, ICT Division; Kabir Bin Anwar, Project Director for A2i programme; Annisul Huq, Mayor of Dhaka North City Corporation; Mohammad Sayeed Khokon, Mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation; Shyam Sunder Sikder, Secretary, ICT Division; Mustafa Jabbar, President, BASIS; Mahtab Uddin Ahmed, Deputy CEO of Robi Axiata Limited and Zhao Haofu, CEO of Huawei Technologies (Bangladesh) Limited were present on the occasion.
The project will be executed over a three (3) years period. Six (6) buses, fully equipped with modern ICT training facilities, will be deployed to offer ICT training specifically designed to reach out to the women who find it inconvenient to venture out of their homes/ localities due to various social restrictions.
ICT Division, Robi Axiata and Huawei will provide two buses each. These buses will be maintained by Robi and Huawei in collaboration with ICT Division.
Under this 3-year long project, six (6) buses will be used to provide basic ICT training to 240,000 young and talented women across 64 districts of the country. The project is expected to generate massive interest among the women (Especially in the rural area) to pursue entrepreneurship through ICT.
Roadshows at rural areas will also be conducted under this project to popularize ICT education not only among women but also among other school and college students.
These special purpose buses will be air-conditioned, soundproof, and will be equipped with 25 workstations in each vehicle. Training facility infrastructure will include one (1) laptop per trainee, large format LED screens, sound system, Wi-Fi data facility, customized training modules, learning software, and stand by generator.
Training materials will be provided free of cost and the training modules and trainers will be facilitated and supervised by ICT Division.
This will be first of its kind initiative in Bangladesh to empower rural women through ICT in line with the Vision 2021. To facilitate our journey towards Digital Bangladesh, this project will play a vital role to include young rural women. In the long-run, this project will help build a strong network of talented women, who can contribute through ICT as much as their male counterparts.
About Robi
Robi Axiata Limited is a joint venture between Axiata Group Berhad, of Malaysia and NTT DoCoMo Inc., of Japan. Robi is the second largest mobile phone operator in Bangladesh in terms of revenue, with 27.4 million active subscribers. Robi network provides nationwide coverage to 99% of the population with 13,496 BTS and over 4,600 3.5G sites. Robi proudly claims to have the widest international roaming service in the market, connecting 385 operators across more than 140 countries. It is also the first operator to introduce GPRS and 3.5G services in Bangladesh. The Company has introduced many first of its kind digital services in the country and has invested heavily in taking mobile financial services to the underserved communities in the rural and semi-urban areas.
About Huawei
Huawei is a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider. Our aim is to enrich life and improve efficiency through a better connected world, acting as a responsible corporate citizen, innovative enabler for the information society, and collaborative contributor to the industry. Driven by customer-centric innovation and open partnerships, Huawei has established an end-to-end ICT solutions portfolio that gives customers competitive advantages in telecom and enterprise networks, devices and cloud computing. Huawei’s 170,000 employees worldwide are committed to creating maximum value for telecom operators, enterprises and consumers. Our innovative ICT solutions, products and services are used in more than 170 countries and regions, serving over one-third of the world’s population. Founded in 1987, Huawei is a private company fully owned by its employees.
