Government plans to launch ‘Saathi’, a Bangladeshi version of Siri

The government is planning to launch 'Saathi', a Bangladeshi virtual AI assistant app, according to an official press release. 

As per the press release by Bangladesh Posts and Telecommunications Division, 'Saathi' can be used for mobile airtime-based government service fee payment, smart article collection (letters, documents, parcels), smart mobile post office, and smart postbox. 

The AI assistant app 'Saathi' is expected to share similarities with Apple's Siri or Amazon's Alexa. It will be able to deliver essential information to users via voice activation services and seamlessly integrate the functionalities of various apps, adds the press release.

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) and the Department of Posts have collaborated to introduce smart services for enhanced citizen access. The a2i program under the ICT division is offering technical support for this initiative.

It is estimated that the app will be available on Google Play Store and on Apple App Store within this month.