M Humayun Kabir: Zunaid Ahmed Palak, state minister for ICT, has enlisted in the list of the ‘World’s 100 Most Influential People in Digital Government’.
The names of Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, founder of the World Wide Web Tim Berners-Lee, Indian Minister for Electronics and IT Ravi Shankar Prasad and Taiwanese Minister for Digital Affairs Audrey Tang appeared on the list, among others.
Apolitical, a global public policy think-tank, published the list on Thursday, the ICT Division said in a statement on Friday, reports bdnews24.com.
The state minister, in his reaction, said, “This is a global recognition of the successes achieved by Bangladesh in its journey towards realising a digital government as an integral part of establishing Digital Bangladesh under the visionary leadership of Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her ICT Affairs Adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy.”
State Minister Palak is placed on the inaugural list of top 100 people which has been formulated through nominations received from renowned international organisations including OECD, the Open Government Partnership, USAID and others and finalised through experts’ research, it said.
The people named on the list have demonstrated unprecedented success and visionary leadership in implementing digital government in their respective jurisdictions, said Apolitical.
They are significantly contributing to taking public services to people by harnessing digital technologies, said the statement.
The UK Foreign Office, the European Commission, the government of Canada and the World Economic Forum are among the patrons and partners of Apolitical, a UK-based organisation.
It also offers a free platform helping public servants and their partners in more than 120 countries across the globe.
“People working in digital governments often go unrecognised by the wider public, yet the work they do is vital as both the opportunities and risks of digital technologies increase. The people who are listed here are the incredible champions in their respective domains.”
In 2016, Palak was nominated Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, an international organisation for public-private cooperation.