The government has launched a two-month long lab programme to develop Artificial Intelligence (AI) based 10 products including tools to monitor mask wearing and maintain social distance during Covid-19 pandemic. State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak today launched the Lab programme under Bangladesh Computer Council’s (BCC) Center of Excellence (CoE) via zoom online, said a press release. The Leveraging ICT for Employment and Growth of the IT-ITES Industry (LICT) Project of BCC under the ICT Division initiated the AI-based two-month long lab programme to develop AI-based 10 products and tools through 10 IT companies. The government has engaged National University of Singapore (NSU) as a knowledge partner of this programme to ensure quality of the products and tools to be developed by the companies. Speaking at the online function, Palak said the government has been using frontier technologies like AI, blockchain and data analytics with an aim to resolve various problems including distribution of money of social safety net. “Covid-19 pandemic has expedited the use of frontier technologies like AI, Blockchain and data analytics and these technologies would be used largely in the post Covid period,” he said. Palak said frontier tech-based services are being developed to monitor wearing of face mask and maintain social distance to face the Covid-19 pandemic. The government has put its best endeavour to use the frontier technologies of fourth industrial revolution to develop digital economy, he added. BCC Executive Director Parthapratim Deb, LICT project director Md Rezaul Karim and IT-ITES Policy Adviser Sami Ahmed, Chief of International programme of NSU Ashok Kumar Seetharaman and Director Dr Leong Mun Kew addressed the function. Sami Ahmed presented a power point on the 10 products to be developed at AI-2 lab. Rezaul Karim said during the two-month long lab programme, the 10 IT companies will develop AI-based products and tools including monitoring mask wearing and social distance maintaining and car accident averting.
