A 3-day boot camp of the Bangabandhu Innovation Grant (BIG) 2023 organized by the Innovation Design and Entrepreneurship Academy (iDEA) Project of the Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC) under the ICT Division of the Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh has started.
This boot camp is running at the Sheikh Hasina Software Technology Park, Jashore, with 105 promising startups selected from the primary screening and online pitching of BIG 2023. In light of this, the boot camp's opening ceremony was held in Jashore on Friday, June 9, 2023, the first day of BIG boot camp, reads a press release.
On Saturday, June 10, 2023, the Hon'ble State Minister for the ICT Division, Mr. Zunaid Ahmed Palak MP, congratulated the startups participating in the boot camp in a video message on day 2 of the BIG boot camp. He said that our goal was to create a startup and innovation ecosystem in Bangladesh as well as a startup culture, and we are moving towards that goal.
State Minister Mr. Palak expressed his opinion that about 7 thousand applications were registered in this year's BIG 2023, which is very positive. He said that seven to eight years ago, the term startup was completely new and unknown to us, but it is now well known. In the last six to seven years, the quality of young entrepreneurs has increased a lot, which is a matter of great pride, he remarked. Mr. Palak expressed hope that new entrepreneurs or startups will do better if they get appropriate mentoring, coaching, training, etc. support. Finally, he said that we want our startups to solve problems around the world and move Bangladesh's economy towards a smart economy with technology.
Earlier, in the opening ceremony of the boot camp, iDEA project director and joint secretary Md. Altaf Hossain said in the chief guest speech that one of the purposes of the country's economic transformation and making the country a smart Bangladesh by 2041 is investing in new and potential startups, which is one of the government's objectives. He motivated the hundreds of startups who participated in the boot camp and said that as a developing country, startups need to have a slightly different role in our country, that is, they have to be proactive. As startups enrich themselves, they also enrich their countries.
iDEA Project Deputy Project director and deputy secretary Dr. Md. Mizanur Rahman, the Senior Consultant of iDEA project and BIG 2023 Chief Coordinator Mr. Siddhartho Goshwami, iDEA Project Consultant and BIG 2023 Technology Associate Coordinator Mr. Abul Kalam Ahsanul Azad, Consultant of IT and Support Md. Mominul Islam, the Research Engineer Md. Ashiqul Islam and other project officials are present in the said boot camp.
Startups participating in the boot camp will receive mentoring in more than 10 sessions including startup concept, feasibility, business strategy, technology, and team management from experienced and skilled mentors, said the Communications Consultant for the iDEA Project & Associate Coordinator of BIG 2023 Mr. Shohag Chandra Das. Besides, through these special sessions, popular and experienced corporate professionals of the country will present their different experiences to budding startups or entrepreneurs which will help them to establish themselves as successful companies in the future.
