The inaugural ceremony of a two-day long international conference titled ‘Information and Communication Technology For Sustainable Development’ organized by the Department of Information and Communication Engineering of Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP) was held virtually on 27 February 2021. In order to fulfil the aspiration of Bangladesh Government of achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), the theme of the conference is ‘Shaping a Sustainable Future through Advancement in Information and Communication Technology’. This conference will be a platform for creating and sharing ideas among scientists, engineers, researchers, government officials, industry executives, and policymakers from both Bangladesh and rest of the world will build a strong foundation of networking and collaboration.

In the virtual inaugural ceremony, Hon’ble Minister for Education Dr. Dipu Moni, MP, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Ministry of Education attended as the chief guest while Hon’ble State Minister for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Mr. Zunaid Ahmed Palak, MP, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh attended the programme as the special guest. Moreover, BUP VC Major General Md Moshfequr Rahman, SGP, SUP, ndc, psc attended the programme as the chief patron and BUP Pro-VC Professor M Abul Kashem Mozumder, PhD. attended the programme as the patron.

On the other hand, Prof. Mike Hinchey, Software Engineering, University of Limerick, Ireland and Prof. SP Majumder, Vice Chancellor, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Bangladesh attended the virtual conference as the keynote speakers.

The conference attracted 310 research papers from 11 different countries in the field of scope of ICT in Healthcare, Education, Business, Agriculture, Industry, and Smart City, among which a total of 97 papers are selected through blind review for oral presentation in the conference and subsequently publication in the IEEE Xplore Digital Library.

The chief guest said in his speech that in order to meet the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, we need to build our young generation as skilled manpower. So that Bangladesh can benefit the most from this fourth industrial revolution. He also said that this government is working relentlessly to build a digital Bangladesh. At the same time, he mentioned that such a conference is time viable which will play a role in the ICT sector of Bangladesh.

Among others, BUP high officials, faculty members, students and invited guests from home and abroad also attended the conference.