Internet literacy a must for future

Anybody can develop mobile applications just in seconds by learning computer programming codes available on the internet, said Mark Surman, executive director of Mozilla Foundation.

The simple methods to make an app are available on Mozilla's website, Surman said at a session at the CTO Forum that ended in the capital on Wednesday.

People must have internet literacy, because digital systems will run the world in future, he said in his presentation on the role of skills in unlocking the opportunity of mobile internet.

The event was organised by the Common-wealth Telecommunication Organisation (CTO) and hosted by the government and Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, at Radisson Hotel in Dhaka.

The Mozilla Foundation is a non-profit organisation that promotes openness, innovation and participation on the internet.

Surman said any person in the world can have access to the internet with a smartphone, which is becoming cheap by the day.

The company best known for its Firefox browser has already developed low-priced smartphones run by the Mozilla operating system in partnership with some top mobile handset makers.

Mozilla has recently launched $25 smartphone, which is equivalent to Tk 2,000, in the Indian market. A Bangladeshi brand mobile handset maker has already tied up with Mozilla to offer the new product.

The Mozilla smartphone will be available in Bangladesh soon, Surman said.

There were only 1.3 crore internet users in the world in 1998, which increased manifold to 240 crore in 2013, and the number is predicted to reach 600 crore in 2025, he said.

“Internet will become a part of everyone's everyday life. It is a very different world, and people can work from anywhere with the blessing of internet.”