7 pioneers honoured at 10th BRAC Bank-The Daily Star ICT Awards

Four companies and three individuals were honoured this evening at the 10th BRAC Bank-The Daily Star ICT Awards for their contributions to Bangladesh's technology sector.

The annual event, marking a decade of celebrating excellence in ICT, highlighted achievements in digital finance, e-commerce, entrepreneurship, health-tech, and innovation.

Kamal Quadir, founder and CEO of bKash Limited, received the ICT Business Person of the Year award; Ambareen Reza, managing director and co-founder of foodpanda Bangladesh, won the ICT Woman of the Year award; Fahim Mashroor, co-founder of Bdjobs.com, was awarded the ICT Pioneer; Daraz Bangladesh Limited, a concern of Alibaba Group, won the Digital Commerce Award; TallyKhata (Progoti Systems Limited) received the ICT Start-up Award; Pathao received the Special Recognition Award; and Augmedix Bangladesh won the ICT Solution Provider award.

Planning Adviser Dr Wahiduddin Mahmud handed over the awards to the winners at Sheraton Dhaka.

Photo: Prabir Das/Star

AHM Hasinul Quddus Rusho, received the award on behalf of Daraz; Shahadat Khan on behalf of TallyKhata; Rashed Mujib Noman for Augmedix; and Fahim Ahmed for Pathao.

Dr Wahiduddin, addressing the event as chief guest, said Bangladesh has a strong entrepreneurial capacity. He noted that although the country has many skilled ICT experts, the government is not engaging them effectively. 

"That is why we have now made it a requirement that ICT experts from outside the government must be engaged in relevant projects," he said.

The ICT market in Bangladesh is expanding rapidly and the next decade will be dominated by AI, big data experts and computer scientists, said Dr Wahiduddin.

According to him, the ICT policy was formulated with the goal of ensuring quality service and eliminating middlemen through remote service delivery.

Mahfuz Anam, editor and publisher of The Daily Star, said it was in the world of technology and more specifically in the world of IT, internet, and digital technology where the world was changing.

"We have so much talent within us to be a part of that process. But the question is, why are we not a part of the process? This is something we have to ask ourselves," he said.

"So please, let us build our dreams on realism. Let us build our aspirations on facts. Let us build the future path on the basis of what is possible. And if we do that, I think, each step we take will be sustainable and each sustainable step will encourage us, strengthen us from within so that we can move forward," he added.

He said Bangladesh must take decisive, concrete steps to enter the information‑technology era, and urged stakeholders to agree on and implement the critical measures that will take the country to the digital future, warning that any delay would leave Bangladesh sidelined, excluded from global progress, and unable to keep up with rapid technological change.