Bangladesh University Grants Commission (UGC) member Professor Dr Md Sazzad Hossain urged the country's universities to lead new innovations through applied research to realize the goal of building a smart Bangladesh by 2041.
He suggested facilitating services and ensuring transparency and accountability in higher education institutions by ensuring the use of new technologies.
He gave this suggestion in the closing ceremony of the workshop regarding the review and feedback of the progress report on the implementation of the e-governance and innovation action plan 2023–24 of public universities held at the UGC recently.
Dr Ferdous Zaman, the commission secretary, spoke as a special guest during the program, which was chaired by Dr Md Fakhrul Islam, Director of the Research Support and Publication Department, UGC. Shaheen Siraj, Additional Director of the Research Support and Publication Department, gave a vote of gratitude on this special day.
According to Professor Sajjad Hossain, our universities need to learn how to make ends meet, just like those in developed nations. Because of this, he pushed academic institutions to take the lead in using research and the development of new technologies to address a range of issues, including those in business, industry, agriculture, and medicine.
Furthermore, he called on universities to take the necessary steps to improve industry-academia collaboration.
Bangladesh, he added, is not a mineral resource-rich nation. Our most precious resource is our population. The ability to convert the working population into competent human resources will determine the nation's future prosperity. He said that in this context, the role played by institutions of higher learning is crucial. Dr Ferdous Zaman, the UGC Secretary, made a call to action for everyone involved to raise the standard of instruction and research at the university in order to create a technologically advanced, modern, and humanitarian Bangladesh. He pleaded with all the families of college students to diligently carry out their individual duties.
Twenty public university Focal Points of Innovation Committees and concerned officers attended the workshop led by Dwijendra Chandra Das, IMCT Department senior assistant director and Focal Point of Innovation Committee.