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BRAC Bank ICT Awards 10th Edition Honors Bangladesh's Digital Trailblazers

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  Published in Business and Finance on Saturday, November 29th 2025 at 12:17 GMT by The Daily Star
      Locale: BANGLADESH

The 10th BRAC Bank ICT Awards: Celebrating Bangladesh’s Digital Trailblazers

On a star‑lit evening at the Bangabandhu International Convention Center, the 10th BRAC Bank ICT Awards—an annual showcase of excellence in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector—unveiled the seven pioneers who are reshaping Bangladesh’s digital landscape. The ceremony, held on April 28 2024 and broadcast live on the Daily Star’s YouTube channel, brought together government officials, industry leaders, and media representatives to honor the visionaries who have driven innovation, growth, and social impact across the country.

A Quick Recap of the Awards

The BRAC Bank ICT Awards were launched in 2014 as a joint initiative between the BRAC Bank Foundation and the Bangladesh Bank, in partnership with the Ministry of ICT. Over the past decade, the awards have grown in stature and breadth, celebrating achievements across multiple categories such as:

• ICT for Development
• Digital Financial Services
• Innovation & Start‑ups
• Cybersecurity & Data Protection
• ICT Infrastructure & Connectivity
• Women in Tech

The awards aim to inspire a new generation of innovators while spotlighting best practices that can be replicated nationwide.

The Seven Awardees

1. Dr. M. A. Hamid – ICT for Development Award
   Dr. Hamid, a former senior adviser to the Bangladesh Ministry of ICT, was honored for his work in expanding broadband access to rural communities. Through the “Digital Villages” program, his team built cost‑effective fiber‑optic networks that have now connected over 50,000 households in the Sylhet region. The award highlighted how sustained public‑private collaboration can bridge the digital divide.

2. Ms. Runa Chowdhury – Digital Financial Services Award
   The founder of fintech platform “PayPoint,” Ms. Chowdhury broke ground with a mobile‑first micro‑loan service that reaches underserved women entrepreneurs. Her system uses AI‑driven credit scoring to offer instant loans, and her platform now processes more than 5 million transactions monthly. Her contribution demonstrates the power of digital finance to spur inclusive growth.

3. Mr. Tanvir Rahman – Innovation & Start‑ups Award
   Tanvir, the CEO of AgroTech Solutions, created an AI‑powered precision‑agriculture app that helps smallholder farmers optimize fertilizer use and predict crop yields. The startup’s app has already saved farmers over BDT 200 million in input costs. The award spotlighted how tech‑driven agriculture can lift rural incomes and promote sustainability.

4. Dr. Shirin Begum – Cybersecurity & Data Protection Award
   A senior researcher at the Institute of Information and Communication Technology (IICT), Dr. Begum pioneered a national framework for cyber risk assessment. Her framework now underpins the “Digital Bangladesh” policy and has been adopted by more than 300 public and private sector organizations.

5. Mr. Faruk Karim – ICT Infrastructure & Connectivity Award
   Faruk was honored for spearheading the “Fiber to the Home” (FTTH) initiative in Chittagong. By collaborating with local telecom providers, his team laid over 500 km of fiber, delivering gigabit speeds to more than 100,000 households. His project exemplifies the role of infrastructure in enabling a knowledge‑based economy.

6. Ms. Saima Arafat – Women in Tech Award
   Ms. Arafat, the co‑founder of CodeHer, runs the country’s largest women‑in‑tech accelerator. Her organization has helped 120 women secure jobs in the global tech industry. The award recognized her advocacy for gender parity in STEM fields.

7. Mr. Abdul Bari – Lifetime Achievement Award
   A veteran telecom engineer who played a key role in Bangladesh’s 3G roll‑out, Mr. Bari was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award for his decades of service and mentorship to young engineers. His story serves as a testament to the foundational work that supports today’s digital economy.

The Ceremony in a Nutshell

The awards night began with a keynote address by Professor Khaleda Khan, Vice‑Chair of the BRAC Bank Foundation, who underscored the importance of a resilient, inclusive ICT ecosystem. She highlighted that the digital era presents unprecedented opportunities for economic diversification and social inclusion. The evening featured short videos showcasing each awardee’s impact, complete with interviews and testimonials from beneficiaries.

Following the awards, a panel discussion titled “ICT: Catalyst for Inclusive Growth” was moderated by Shakib A. Chowdhury, Editor‑in‑Chief of The Daily Star. The panel comprised the awardees themselves, a representative from the Ministry of ICT, and a senior analyst from the World Bank. Topics ranged from fintech regulation, data privacy, to government policies fostering innovation.

The awards were presented by Mr. M. Akhtar, President of the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS). The ceremony concluded with a photo‑op featuring all awardees, accompanied by a release of a video montage on the Daily Star’s official channel.

Why the Awards Matter

The BRAC Bank ICT Awards are more than a ceremonial event. They:

1. Benchmark Innovation: By spotlighting diverse categories, the awards provide a yardstick for what constitutes high‑impact ICT work in Bangladesh.
2. Encourage Public‑Private Synergy: Many recipients have been able to leverage partnerships with government agencies and multinational corporations, demonstrating the potential of collaborative models.
3. Fuel Policy Dialogue: Awardees often become key advisors to policy makers, shaping regulations that affect the ICT sector’s growth trajectory.
4. Inspire the Next Generation: The visibility of awardees serves as a role model for aspiring entrepreneurs, engineers, and technologists.

The 10th edition of the awards further underscored the sector’s shift towards data‑centric, AI‑enabled solutions and reinforced the government’s commitment to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure.

Looking Ahead

As Bangladesh strives to become a regional ICT hub, the BRAC Bank ICT Awards will continue to play a pivotal role in highlighting breakthroughs and setting aspirational standards. The 2025 awards, slated for September 2025, are expected to introduce new categories focusing on green tech, blockchain, and advanced analytics, reflecting the evolving digital ecosystem.

For those interested in learning more about the award categories, nomination process, or to view the complete list of past winners, the BRAC Bank ICT Awards official website provides a comprehensive archive. Additionally, the Daily Star’s coverage offers deeper dives into each winner’s journey, and their YouTube channel hosts full‑length award‑night recordings.

In sum, the 10th BRAC Bank ICT Awards celebrated not just individual achievements but the collective momentum of Bangladesh’s digital transformation—an inspiring testament to the power of technology in driving inclusive progress.