BSS-38 It’s time to focus on ‘Bangladesh model’ from miracle: Radwan

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BSS-38

RADWAN-BANGLADESH-DEVELOPMENT

It’s time to focus on ‘Bangladesh model’ from miracle: Radwan

DHAKA, June 19, 2021 (BSS) – As Bangladesh looks to consolidate its position as a middle-income country, it’s time to focus on “Bangladesh model” from “Bangladesh miracle”, said Bangabandhu’s grandson Radwan Mujib Siddiq.

“As Bangladesh looks to consolidate its position as a middle-income country, it’s time to move on from referring to the Bangladesh Miracle and start focusing on the Bangladesh Model,” Siddiq said in his editorial note of the 4th issue of WhiteBoard, country’s first-ever policy-based magazine.

Embodied in Vision 2021 and Digital Bangladesh, he said, this model is anchored on people-centric policies that ensures the much-needed trickle-down effect to produce distributive justice.

Siddiq simultaneously stressed digital equality as well as focusing on innovation and technology to achieve all round growth.

WhiteBoard is published by the think-tank Centre for Research and Information to generate ideas for a comprehensive debate on critical national issues.

The fourth quarter issue of this magazine was released on 17th June (Thursday) , marking one year of its existence.

Pointing to the inclusion and introduction of Digital Bangladesh as an ambitious plan to leverage the country-wide usage of ICT expansion, Siddiq said “Digital Bangladesh” was more than just hardware, software and connectivity.

“It embodied the very spirit of Vision 2021 – innovation, resilience and resourcefulness. Most significantly, both Vision 2021 and Digital Bangladesh were models of people-centric development,” he said.

“They were developed with an intricate understanding of the needs, capacity and characteristics of the population they were designed to benefit,” reads the editorial note from Siddiq.

Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s grandson Radwan Siddiq is also a strategy consultant and youth advocate.

Siddiq said “Digital Bangladesh” was neither top down nor bottom up; it was top to bottom. “It was everywhere at once, and the whole country was the target user group,” he said in the editorial note.

“The plan was: lay the infrastructure, ensure access and see what happens. The rapid rate of digitalisation in the country over the last decade or so shows that policymakers were right to gamble on innovation,” he said.

The ‘Whiteboard’ editorial note said the people of the country proved to be enthusiastic adopters of technology and quickly grasped how to apply it in their daily lives.

‘WhiteBoard’ has made an impact amongst policy makers in Bangladesh and attracted attention of researchers in Bangladesh and abroad, specially the West.

Radwan Siddiq is also the driving force behind path -breaking political history projects such as the graphic novel ‘Mujib’ and ‘Hasina: A Daughter’s Tale’, a docu-film.
During the launch of the first issue, WhiteBoard’s Editor Radwan Siddiq had declared that “nothing is off the table” and that the magazine would promote evidence-based analysis and incisive debate.

His inaugural editorial had pitched for a diverse group of thinkers to kick-start the mission.

Siddiq says the magazine has tried providing a space where old and new voices continue debating the most pressing policy choices facing Bangladesh.

Indeed, WhiteBoard’s contributor profile looks more diverse than any other policy magazine in Bangladesh.

So far ‘WhiteBoard’ issues have focused on policy issues of Mujib-era, corona-related challenges and lesson from Bangladesh’s journey since independence.

The fourth issue focuses on innovation and financial inclusion gaps in Bangladesh.

In this issue, internationally-acclaimed ‘blockchain regulation guru’ and Harvard faculty Primavera de Philippi along with upcoming Bangladeshi academic Morshed Mannan wrote an in-depth article on legal framework for blockchain implementation which Bangladesh has totally missed.

Policymaker Anir Chowdhury of the Prime Minister’s Office also contributed an idea-driven article on the possible contours of Digital Bangladesh 2.0.

Another young development entrepreneur Fahad Ifat, founder of an agro-startup iFarmers, did a detailed analysis on why Bangladesh is drifting away from agriculture.

Fahad, an Acumen Fellow, writes, “It is absolutely critical to mobilise investment in the future of farming with smart farming and precision-agriculture.”

BSS/MKD/SH/1943hrs