The successful Orientation Workshop, by INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY SKILL COUNCIL (ICT-ISC) along with NSDC, BTEB, STEP Project of The World Bank, was conducted recently at The Daily Star.
Mr. Mokhlesur Rahman of the World Bank and Dr. Mostafizur Rahman, Chairman of BTEB were present as Special Guests. The program was presided by the Chairman of the ICT-ISC, Mr.Shafquat Haider.
Amongst the guests and participants were the ICT_ISC Board members and representatives of STEP,BTEB and the top management of ICT companies – who are part of the three Technical Sub-Committees.
This orientation program is part of the ICT-ISC’s capacity building of the industry by developing Competency Standards for three priority occupations for ICT industry at the moment. This project is supported by the STEP project of the World Bank, NSDC and BTEB.
ICT sector plays a key role in Bangladeshi Economy because ICT skills have become a fundamental requirement for service and industry sectors. However, the demand and supply projections from various informal surveys of the ICT Workforce reveal some significant gaps. This is due to in one part, lack of proper educational materials and on the other part lack of assessment tools to educate and judge the right persons for proper Occupational Competency Standards. Therefore it is essential to identify the occupations clearly which have short and mid-term demand and also develop standards so that these standards can be integrated with the Technical and Vocational training authorities in Bangladesh.
ICT-ISC is mandated not only to find out new occupations but also develop competency standards for each of the occupations. This will help address the present and future needs of ICT education and training in a timely manner and improve employment. All this is being done in collaboration with NSDC,BTEB and different donor agencies.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr.Mokhlesur Rahman praised the activities of ICT-ISC and shared his views on the various skills development initiatives being supported by World Bank in different parts of the world.
Chairman of BTEB, Dr.Mostafizur Rahman also expressed his appreciation of the work being carried out by ICT-ISC.