iDEA project signs 4 MoUs for startup welfare

The lnnovation Design and Entrepreneurship Academy (iDEA) project of the Information and Communication Technology Division signed four seprate memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with four organisations on Tuesday to enhance the skills of startups and overall development.

The MoUs were signed with the Bangladesh Institute of ICT in Development (BIID), Coders Trust Bangladesh, Nijer Bolar Moto Ekta Golpo and The Innovation, and the Creativity and Entrepreneurship (ICT) Centre at the iDEA Project meeting room. The senior secretary of the ICT Division, NM Zeaul Alam, was present on the occasion.

According to the MoU, BIID will organise a programme for women entrepreneurs where the iDEA project will be a collaborating partner and the programme will play a supportive role for women entrepreneurs, reads a press release.

The Coders Trust Bangladesh and iDEA projects will assist each other in research on software development and frontier technologies as well as organise various development programmes. Coders Trust Bangladesh will provide various IT training that will help startups develop themselves.

The Nijer Bolar Moto Ekta Golpo Foundation has a state-of-the-art e-lab that the iDEA project will use. At the same time, the two organisations will jointly provide grooming, mentoring and training to enhance the skills and knowledge of startups.

The Innovation, Creativity, and Entrepreneurship (ICE) Centre will work closely with the iDEA project through a variety of initiatives for research, development, and the development of an entrepreneurial culture.

Kazi Hosne Ara, deputy project director (deputy secretary) of iDEA Project, signed the MoU with BIID and Syed Mojibul Haque, additional secretary and iDEA Project director signed the agreement with other three organisations along with representatives of the respective organisations.

It may be mentioned that pre-seed grants have been given to 158 entrepreneurs from iDEA project so far. Providing mentoring, training, and ongoing advice to financially funded start-ups to help transform their innovative ideas into sustainable business models are also going on.

Many employment opportunities have already been created in these startups. As this employment is productive, it is contributing to the economy as well as creating more successful entrepreneurs. Successful startups have also been able to bring in large amounts of foreign investment in their companies, contributing to the enrichment of the country's foreign exchange reserves.

In recognition of its work, the iDEA project was awarded the Asocio-Pikom Digital Summit 2019 International in Malaysia on 12 November 2019 in the ICT Education category by the Asian-Oceanian Computing Industry Organisation (Asocio), one of the largest organisations in Asia in information technology.

Also, the iDEA project received international recognition at the Witsa Global ICT Excellence Awards-2020 as runner-up in the Public-Private Partnership category.