Private Industry and Investment Adviser to Prime Minister Salman Fazlur Rahman urged all to use the Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) for creating a complete digital ecosystem in the country. “While Bangladesh’s success is significant as far as digital transformation is concerned, the use of PKI in the public and the private sector remains to be the ‘missing link’ in accomplishing the kind of result the government wants, he said, reports BSS.
The private industry and investment adviser to prime minister said this while speaking at a symposium titled ‘Digital Transformation: Role of PKI’ organised on Saturday by Bangladesh PKI Forum at the Radisson Blu hotel in the city, said a press release on Sunday. The PKI refers to the foundation that enables the use of digital signatures and encryption across large user populations, delivering the elements required for a secure and trusted business environment for e-commerce and Internet of Things.
Salman said “If this link can be put into place, all the work that we have already done will become hold, and only then I think the achievement that we have in mind will be achieved.” He said that the PKI is extremely relevant to the idea of ‘Digital Bangladesh’ that the current government has promoted since its ascent to power in 2008.
“The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has recently said that Bangladesh is the fastest growing economy in the entire Asian region, and will remain so for the next two years. And why this is more relevant to the discussion about PKI is that one of the key components of this growth strategy which the Prime Minister put into place has been Digital Bangladesh, which is being implemented under the leadership and guidance of ICT Adviser to Prime Minister Sajeeb Wazed Joy,” he said.
Referring to a Thai delegate who earlier described how the government in Thailand took initiatives to spread the internet in the rural region, he said, “Similar to Thailand’s case, Bangladesh has also taken initiatives to digitalize villages. We have now the fiber optic backbone which is connecting all our villages at the union level. In cities, even the last mile is now digital.”
“We have submarine cable connectivity for high-speed internet. Our own satellite-Bangabandhu 1-is now operational and we are on the process of sending the next one, Bangabandhu 2, in a couple of years,” he added. While Bangladesh has built the necessary digital infrastructure and enacted regulatory frameworks to enable the use of PKI, he argued, the use of PKI has to be intensified to create a complete digital ecosystem in the country.
The adviser identified three major areas-the customs, the taxation system and the company formation-in which the implementation of PKI, especially the increased use of digital signatures, will bring about tremendous improvement. Citing the example of India and Thailand, Salman stressed that introducing and allowing electronic or digital signature in these areas will make the process more efficient because there wouldn’t be any confusion or uncertainty about the authenticity of the signature.
The event was also attended by Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister M Nojibur Rahman as the special guest. Nojibur Rahman said Bangladesh needed to ‘catch up’ with other countries in terms of implementing PKI. He emphasized on learning from experience of other countries that implemented PKI in their respective public and private sectors. “That is why events in which countries share their experiences with each other, like this one, is extremely helpful,” he concluded.
Chaired by Chairman of the Bangladesh PKI Forum AKM Shamsuddoha, the event hosted more than a dozen of signatories from other national chapters of PKI Forum, an international non-profit organisation that promotes the adoption of PKI worldwide, and foreign experts and government officials.
