Increase use of ICT for skilled manpower

The use of information and communication technology (ICT) has to be increased to create skilled human resources to address the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, according to speakers at a webinar held yesterday.

The event, styled "Possibilities and Challenges of the 4th Industrial Revolution: SME Perspective", was organised by the the Small & Medium Enterprise (SME) Foundation.

The opportunity to trade will not be confined to any particular geographical location as the Fourth Industrial Revolution is an intellectual matter.

So instead, it will spread all over the world, they said, adding that improving the country's human resources, productivity, and quality of life will create more opportunities for trade.

Md Masudur Rahman, chairman of the SME Foundation, said entrepreneurs need to be aware of ICT products in order to seize the opportunities of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Making backward and marginalised people, including women, skilled in various technologies, including the internet, would increase employment opportunities.

"With the discovery of newer technology, the cost of production and distribution of goods and services will be reduced at an unprecedented rate as machines will help people," he added.

About 70 SME entrepreneurs from different parts of the country took part in the two-hour webinar.

Md Mafizur Rahman, managing director of the SME Foundation, presided over the event, where Tanvir Faisal, deputy manager of the organisation, presented the keynote paper.

Habibur Rahman, program assistant of the a2i Programme, Shamim Ahmed Deowan, chairman of the department of robotics and mechatronics engineering at the University of Dhaka, and Sajal Chandra Banik, professor of the department of mechanical engineering at the Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology, attended the event.