In a bid to reveal the basic ideas, Microsoft Bangladesh for the first time organised a seminar on interoperability on June 17. The seminar chiefly targeted different professional groups, such as public sector officials, industry leaders and academicians. Three delegates from Microsoft Asia Pacific enriched the session considerably.

Feroz Mahmud, country manager, Microsoft Bangladesh, formally inaugurated the seminar and highlighted different programs of Microsoft Bangladesh such as partnership learning and unlimited potential for developing skilled human resources in the country.

Tarique Mosaddique Barkatullah, senior systems analyst of Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC), provided an overview of the interoperability challenges in e-governance initiatives in Bangladesh and updated the audience on the ongoing efforts towards a national e-governance interoperability framework.

Oliver Bell, regional technology officer, Microsoft Asia Pacific, in his speech stressed the necessity for interoperability to connect people, data and diverse systems as well as optimising performance of the organizations. "In this complex IT environment, interoperability can add a new dimension to meet the uprising demand of customers", he said.

Steve Mutkoski, local community affairs, Microsoft Asia Pacific, gave a comprehensive overview of standard issues. He said, "Microsoft supports thousands of software and hardware interoperability standards in products. Responding to customer requests, particularly requests from government customers, Microsoft has undertaken to standardise the file format for Office 2007, making the specification available to the broader community without cost. The file format, Open XML, is now an international standard, having been published by Ecma International and is now before ISO/IEC JTC1 for ratification."

Jeff Paine, regional government engagement program manager, Microsoft Asia Pacific, elaborated security issues and IT policy strategies according to Microsoft's standpoint. He said, "Microsoft's vision is to help governments by providing innovate products, tools and sharing knowledge".

In a friendly conversation with StarTech, both Oliver Bell and Steve Mutkoski talked about interoperability in Bangladesh context. Bell said, "The recent advancement of ICT sector in Bangladesh is quite impressive and interoperability can give a competitive advantage in this regard". Mutkoski emphasised proper technical knowledge to implement interoperability in the country.

Edward Apurba Singha