Under the initiative of IEEE PES Global Workshop Committee, the first global PES workshop “Smart City Initiatives- Bangladesh” was successfully held at IEB, Dhaka, Bangladesh during 24-25 September 2019. IEEE Bangladesh Section in association with their PES chapter, PES student branch chapters and the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh (IEB) organized the event. During the two days of the workshop there were four different sessions covering major areas of power and other engineering domains of Smart Cities. The workshop was actively participated by over 120 delegates. There were speakers, key personnel and representatives from more than 40 government and non-government organizations, institutions, and industries. Five keynote talks were delivered on diversified topics ranging from smart energy, health care, education, water purification, and traffic management. The keynote speakers were:

  • Saifur Rahman, Professor, Department of ECE, Virginia Tech, USA and IEEE PES President
  • Vincenzo Piuri, Professor, Department of Informatics, Universita’ DegliStudi di Milano, Milano, Italy
  • Ramakrishna Kappagantu, IEEE PES Governing Board Member at Large Global Workshop, IEEE MGA Board Member, and IEEE Smart Cities Steering Committee Member
  • C N Raghupathi, Sr. Vice President cum India Business Head of Infosys
  • R. Nagaraja, MD-PRDC and IEEE PES India Council Chair
Inaugural Ceremony
Inaugural Ceremony

The “Campaign for Smart City in Bangladesh” is an ongoing initiative which was launched by IEEE Bangladesh Section at the beginning of 2019. The slogan for the campaign is: “Smart thinking and smart technology for achieving a smart city for Bangladesh.” Following three notable guests from the topmost level of government were present in the workshop at different sessions:

  • Md. Atiqul Islam, Honorable Mayor of Dhaka North City Corporation graced the event as the Chief Guest of the Inaugural Ceremony.
  • Honorable Deputy Minister of Education, People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Mr. Mohibul Hassan Chowdhoury, M.P. was present as the Chief Guest of Closing Ceremony of the first day.
  • Honorable State Minister, Ministry of Information, People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Dr. Md. Murad Hassan, M.P. was present as the Chief Guest of the Closing Ceremony of the second day.

Dr. Shaikh Fattah, Professor, Department of EEE and Director, Institute of Nuclear Power Engineering (INPE), BUET and Dr. Celia Shahnaz, Chair, IEEE Bangladesh Section, and Professor, Department of EEE, BUET presented the road map for the campaign. Team Leads, Ambassadors and Team-Members from IEEE Bangladesh Section gathered from all over the country presented their updates on major areas of the Smart City Concept, for instance, Electricity and Power, Transportation, Education, Information, Communication, Security, Healthcare, Industry & Housing and Environment. Top level policy makers stressed that the outcome of this workshop is very important to their Government. Power sector engineers and organizations evinced keen interest in partnering with IEEE PES.

Inaugural Ceremony. Prof. Shaikh Fattah is delivering the roadmap.
Inaugural Ceremony. Prof. Shaikh Fattah is delivering the roadmap.

The event was inaugurated by a very insightful speech from Honorable Mayor, Mr. Md. Atiqul Islam. In his speech, he expressed the necessity of smart people to create a smart Dhaka city (which was later a main heading in the leading Bangla Newspaper “Prothom Alo”). He also conveyed his expectation about the effective solutions to many problems of Dhaka city. IEEE PES President Professor Saifur Rahman presented the importance of smart city initiative with some exciting experience in the inaugural ceremony. Later right after the inaugural ceremony he delivered his keynote talk which helped the participants to understand various critical issues in the implementation of smart city initiatives. Other speakers in the inaugural ceremony shared their visions about the implementation of smart city in Bangladesh. Engr. Md. Abdus Sabur, President of IEB conveyed his video message. Apart from the keynote speakers and guests, the invited speakers on the first day were:

Azadul Haq, CEO, MAX Group (Power); Rabi-ul-Alam, CEO, EnergyPac Engineering Ltd.; S. M. Noor Uddin, Officer and Director, Summit Bibiyana Power Co. Ltd.; Mahmud Hossain, Chief Business Officer, Grameenphone; Reduan Hasan Khan, Head of IoT, Grameenphone; Engr. A K M. Mostafa Kamal, Executive Director (Procurement), DESCO; A S M Mahbubul Alam, Former Secretary, BD Advisor, SDG Financing and Localization, UNDP; Engr. Md. Ramiz Uddin Sarker Executive Director (Engineering), Dhaka Power Distribution Company Ltd. (DPDC) and Bazlul Munir, Chief Engineer, Power Grid Corporation of Bangladesh (PGCB).

Participants during the workshop.
Participants during the workshop.
Closing ceremony of the first day.
Closing ceremony of the first day.

The 1st day of the event was concluded by the Honorable Deputy Minister of Education, People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Mr. Mohibul Hassan Chowdhoury, M.P. The 2nd day of the program was equally consequential and informative. The guest speakers presented on this day were Ekhlas Uddin Ahmed, Head of End to End Service Assurance, Akash DTH, Beximco Communication Ltd.; Dr. Md. Sabbir Mostafa Khan, Professor, Dept. of Water Engineering, BUET; Dr. Tanvir Ahmed, Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, BUET; Hosene Ara NDC, Managing Director (Secretary), Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority; Md. Rezwan Al Islam, Vice President, Robi Axiata Ltd.; Rashedul Islam, Additional Secretary, ICT Division Bangladesh; Md. Farrukh Imtiaz, Senior General Manager, Technology, Summit Communications Limited; Engr. Md. Harunor Rashid, COO, Cross-world Power Ltd.; Maruf Ahmed, General Manager, SCM, Cross-world Power Ltd; Dr. Shamsuzzoha, Deputy Director, Engineering & Operations Division, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC); Mohammed Enayetur Rahman, President, Ulkasemi; Quazi Zaman, CEO, Crickpoint; Kazi Absar Uddin Ahmed, Director, Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDP); Md. Shahab Uddin, Managing Director, Teletalk Bangladesh Ltd. and Nazmul Islam, ADC, Cyber Crime, Dhaka Metropolitan Police.

Closing Ceremony of the 2nd day.
Closing Ceremony of the 2nd day.

Several members of IEB EE Division and CSE Division were present, in particular, EE Division Chair and Secretary, Md. Ramiz Uddin Sarker and Md. Abdur Razzaque, respectively, and CSE Division Chair and Secretary, Professor Dr. M. Mahfuzul Islam and Md. Ranak Ahsan, respectively contributed significantly in organizing the event. IEB Vice-President (Admin and finance) Engr. Md. Nuruzzaman and IEB Vice-President (HRD) Dr. M. M. Siddique, PEng were also present during the workshop.

The two-day-long program came to an end with a very perceptive speech from the Honorable State Minister, Ministry of Information, People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Dr. Md. Murad Hassan, M.P. He stated the importance of implementing smart technology through utilizing Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, Machine Learning and Deep Learning. Honorable Minister emphasized the significance of smart technology in medical and genetic engineering field as well. Lastly, he expressed his gratitude towards IEEE Bangladesh Section and IEB for organizing such a campaign which will take Dhaka city a step closer to become an exemplar of a smart city.

Keynote speakers with organizing committee members.
Keynote speakers with organizing committee members.

Dr. Ramakrishna Kappagantu, PES Governing Board Member at Large (Global Workshops)
Dr. Celia Shahnaz, Chair, IEEE Bangladesh Section