Gulshan attack upends major ICT event

The telecom and ICT sectors face a setback following the Gulshan terror attack as a major international event which was scheduled to take place in Dhaka will now be held in Bangkok or Colombo, organisers said.

Telecom operators and international technology vendors also issued safety directives to their foreign employees and allowed them to work online from home, officials said.

On July 1, a militant attack on a Dhaka restaurant killed 20 hostages, mostly foreigners, sending shocks across the country and beyond.

Fear spread further after four people -- two policemen, a woman and a suspected assailant -- died in a second attack in a week, in Kishoreganj where hundreds of thousands gathered for the nation's largest Eid congregation on Thursday.

Asia-Pacific Networking Information Centre, a regional internet registry that allocates IP addresses and autonomous system numbers for internet users in the Asia-Pacific region, was supposed to hold its 42nd executive meeting in Dhaka from September 29 to October 6.

But amid fears and tension in Dhaka, the programme will now be organised in Bangkok or Colombo.

Had the meeting taken place in Dhaka, it would have benefitted the internet industry of Bangladesh, said MA Hakim, president of Internet Service Providers Association Bangladesh.

Around 450 foreign analysts, including a team of cyber security experts from the US, and another 500 local analysts and entrepreneurs were scheduled to attend the event, said Hakim.

“This is a massive loss for the country.”

Ahmadul Hoq Bobby, president of Bangladesh Association of Call Centre and Outsourcing, which is organising the BPO Summit on July 28-29 in partnership with the ICT Division of the government, said they have requested the foreign analysts to take part in the event.

“We have told the foreign participants that if they come and attend the event, the BPO sector of Bangladesh will get a boost; employment opportunities will be created for youths, which will eventually ease the current crisis in Bangladesh.”

A team from a Japanese tech firm was scheduled to come to Bangladesh after Eid-ul-Fitr, but they cancelled the trip.

A technology vendor operating in Bangladesh issued security directives to their foreign employees, asking them to avoid public gatherings and social events.

A mobile phone operator asked its foreign employees not to come to office and instead work online if they feel insecure. Foreign employees can even work from abroad, the operator said.

Shahjahan Mahmood, chairman of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, said he will sit with operators this week to talk about the security issues of their foreign staffers.