Mohammad Ali Hazari Russell, Dhaka.
The much-awaited “International Blockchain Olympiad (IBCOL) 2021”, which is being held in Bangladesh on the golden jubilee of Bangladesh’s independence and Mujib year. The Inaugural Ceremony of the program was held at the BCC Auditorium of ICT Tower, Agargaon, Dhaka on Friday, October 8, 2021. The event is being jointly organized by the ICT Division of Bangladesh, Bangladesh Computer Council, Blockchain Olympiad Bangladesh and Technohaven Company Limited. Other collaborators include FBCCI, BASIS, IBA, ACI Ltd., BRAC University, Youth Policy Forum and Ekattar TV. The much-anticipated Olympiad, which started in Hong Kong, is going to be held in Bangladesh for the first time outside of Hong Kong.
Honorable Planning Minister of Bangladesh Mr. M. A. Mannan graced the program as the chief guest. The Hon’ble State Minister for ICT Division Mr. Zunaid Ahmed Palak also joined the program as the special guest. The Additional Secretary of ICT Division Dr. Khandoker Azizul Islam, The President of Hong Kong Blockchain Society Dr. Lawrence Ma, The CEO of the Global Blockchain Business Council Ms. Sandra Ro and The Convener of the BCOLBD & Distinguished Professor of CSE of BRAC University Dr. Mohammad Kaykobad. The Chairman of IBCOL 2021 Organizing Committee and the Founder & CEO of Technohaven Company Ltd. Mr. Habibibullah N Karim joined the Inaugural ceremony and gave his welcome speech at the program. The Program was presided over by The Executive Director and Additional Secretary of BCC Dr. Md Abdul Mannan.
Honorable Planning Minister of Bangladesh Mr. M A Mannan said for the young generation, “You can’t fight with history, you can’t fight with your past but you can build your future. And this issue is in the hands of the youth. You have to build your future not only by dreaming, but also through hard work.” He added that you also need to engage yourself in hard work as well as doing research, going out and taking risks etc. Finally, he thanked all the participants and organizers of this international event.
The Hon’ble State Minister for ICT Division Mr. Zunaid Ahmed Palak said, “We are proud and really happy to host such an international contest in Bangladesh.” He said that the 12 winning teams of “Blockchain Olympiad Bangladesh 2021” are participating in the international stage of the event which is a matter of pride for us. Palak said “The young minds are the torchbearers of future progress. I believe that more university students will take part in the 2022 International Blockchain Olympiad.”
The President of Hong Kong Blockchain Society Dr. Lawrence Ma said it was very difficult to organize such an international event in the Corona situation this year. Bangladesh has been able to do this job so successfully, which is really commendable. Finally, The CEO of the Global Blockchain Business Council Ms. Sandra Ro spoke as a key-note speaker.
Students from all over the world are participating in this global contest to become winners. Prizes figuring more than 40,000US dollars have been awarded to the winners. Total 12 countries are participating in this global competition: China, Hongkong, Vietnam, Philippines, UAE, Iran, Indonesia, Netherland, Nepal, Mongolia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are the participating countries with 50 teams in total. To know in details anyone can visit the following link- https://ibcol2021.com.
The 3-day Olympiad will run until Sunday, October 10, 2021. This year, besides other events, a total of 4 seminars are being organized.
The seminars will be on CBDC & Cryptocurrency, e-Governance, Identity & Privacy and FinTech. Mr. Charles d’Haussy, Managing Director, APAC, ConsenSys will be the keynote speaker of “CBDC & Cryptocurrency” seminar which will be held on 8 October, Friday at 6.00 pm. The seminar on “e-Governance” will be on 9 October, Saturday at 3.00 pm. The “Identity & Privacy seminar” will be on 9 October, Saturday at 6.00 pm. Mr. Tim Bouma, Senior Policy Analyst Identity Management, Treasury Board Secretariat, Government of Canada will be the keynote speaker of the seminar. The seminar on “FinTech” will be held on 10 October, Sunday at 12:00 pm. The Awards Ceremony will be on 10 October at 6.00 pm.
Seminars with programs will be open to all participants and visitors from around the world at IBCOL’s website https://ibcol2021.com. The theme of the program is “Inspiring Empowerment and Innovation”.