Microsoft Presents Bangladesh Innovation Conclave In Association With The Daily Star, Beximco Pharmaceuticals Limited and, SSD-Tech and organized by Bangladesh Brand Forum (BBF), was held on the May 20, 2017 (Saturday) at the Grand Ballroom of Le Méridien Dhaka.
First of its kind, Bangladesh Innovation Conclave is launched with the idea to “Innovate, Challenge and Change” and, was designed to push the innovation agenda for Bangladesh. the Core objective of the platform is to Establish why Innovation is key for Bangladesh and its future, What does Innovation mean for Bangladesh in 4th Industrial space, How do we make innovation happen, How do we push the innovation led growth in 8 region, What skill sets are needed and What policy changes are needed.
The event’s opening ceremony was graced by Shariful Islam, Managing Director, Bangladesh Brand Forum and the Founder of Bangladesh Innovation Conclave gave his Opening Address and set the tone of the conclave stressing on the establishment of innovative ideas and actions for Bangladesh’s future. Raghu Das, CEO of IDTECHEx Cambridge, UK delivered the first Keynote Session on Why Innovation is the Future. Professor Michael Wang, Director of Internet of Things Practice, Thynk Different, Co-Founder and CEO of Sirl.io and, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering Columbia University conveyed a video message before the tea break and Networking session.
Concurrently with the Innovation in Action Presentation by HISHAB, a unique Breakout Session took place that essentially focused on Developing Innovation Roadmap for 4 Divisions (Chittagong, Sylhet, Khulna, Rajshahi). This session brought out divisional pathway for each region to develop in the most innovative way and focused on what is required for this change to take place.
A second Keynote Session was hosted on the topic: Starting Up an Innovative Company by Mohammad Foysol Chowdhury, Director of R&D, Cambridge CMOS Sensors Limited., Cambridge, UK. Right after the session, Sajid Rahman, CEO of Telenor Health, Telenor Group chaired the first panel on What Skills are needed for Innovation and the members were Syed Almas Kabir, CEO, MetroNet Bangladesh Limited.; M.A. Mubin Khan, MD, EATL; Raghu Das, CEO, IDTECHEx, Cambridge, UK; Yasir Azman, Deputy CEO and CMO of Grameenphone Limited; Kristin Low, Co-Founder, Brinc Plus at Brinc.io, Founder, Design Thinking Asia. Asif Iqbal, CEO of Gangchil as well conducted a session on Innovation In Practice: Music World.
Right after the Lunch and Prayer Break, Keynote Session 3, by Yi Chiao (Yitch) Cheng, Co-Founder CTO and CIO, Hishab, Ex Director, IBM on Artificial Intelligence and Deep Learning.
To add value on the topic: Structuring Innovation at Large Corporates, Kazi Monirul Kabir, Chief Innovation Officer, Spider Digital Innovations, Dubai delivered Keynote Session 4. Followed by this session, was Keynote Session 5 by Zunaid Ahmed Palak, Honorable State Minister, Ministry of ICT, Government of People’s Republic of Bangladesh, on Why Innovation will be key for future Bangladesh.
A second panel was hosted on the topic: Successful Innovation in Bangladesh. This panel was moderated by Ifty Islam, Chairman, Asian Tigers Capital Limited. Members of the panel were Tahsin Ifnoor Sayeed, Head of Business Intelligence, DNET; Mahboob Zaman, MD, DataSoft System Bangladesh Limited; Syed Farhad Ahmed, MD and CEO, Aamra Technologies Limited.; Kader Abdul, PhD, CEO, Viola Vitalis AB (Sweden) and, Sonia Bashir Kabir, MD, Microsoft Bangladesh Limited.
The 6th Keynote Session was delivered by Kristin Low Founder, Co-Founder, Brinc Plus at Brinc.io, Founder, Design Thinking Asia, on topic: Cross over of Human Centric Design & Emerging and to end the event, this was followed by the key takeaways and presentations of the breakout sessions on Regional Innovation Roadmap.
A short presentation was also shared by Mridul Chowdhury, CEO & Founder, M Power Social Enterprises on Innovation In Practice. After the presentation, the Conclave was brought to a close with the MC Thanking audience and the partners.
The event would not have been a successful one without the support of the partners and patrons who are: Microsoft Bangladesh Limited as Title Sponsor, the event is organized In Association With The Daily Star, Beximco Pharmaceuticals Limited and SSD-Tech. The Daily Samakal, Spider Digital Innovations, IBA Alumni Association and ICSB Bangladesh are Strategic Partners. Le Méridien Dhaka is the Event Partner, while Terracotta was the Branding Partner, Ekattor TV and Radio Today 89.6 FM as Media Partner, Masthead PR as the PR Partner and WebAble as the Social Media Partner.
