Bangladesh launches its maiden sovereign govt cloud

Bangladesh has launched its first sovereign government cloud, spearheaded by the Bangladesh Data Center Company Ltd (BDCCL), a state-owned provider of data storage and disaster recovery services, in collaboration with the global cloud services leader, Oracle.

The cloud system, Oracle Dedicated Region Cloud at Customer, being hosted from the Oracle-set servers at BDCCL's facility in Gazipur's Kaliakoir, would enable the country to keep all the nationally critical data within its own territory which is critical for controlling its cloud infrastructure and data for the sake of meeting digital sovereignty requirements, said officials at the launching event held at a city hotel yesterday.

US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter D Haas and Oracle Country Managing Director Rubaba Dowla were among the speakers at the launching event.

The project eyes critical national security, e-governance, and e-filing systems as well as health and social services to be run from within the borders of Bangladesh with high levels of security.

"According to a December 2021 contract, we will pay Oracle a total of $18 million in the next three years against its investments in hardware, software and all other relevant services," BDCCL Managing Director Md Ataur Rahman Khan told TBS.

"Around three dozen government entities that already became BDCCL clients would start using the government cloud and more to join gradually," he said, adding that a full integration with the cloud might take three months.

BDCCL Chairman and the Secretary for Information and Communication Technology Division Md Shamsul Arefin said, "Bangladesh's sovereign government cloud will make it easier for government entities in the country to securely move to the next stage of their cloud-enabled transformation journey towards Smart Bangladesh."

State Minister for Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak at the launching event said "Data is the new currency and is key to scaling sustainable digital and smart solutions that all citizens can benefit from."

Prime Minister's Private Industry and Investment Adviser Salman F Rahman, while speaking as the chief guest at the event, said this is the first big leap to embrace what is coming — artificial intelligence as it would drastically change the world.

"A cloud-first approach has become pivotal for governments to enhance efficiency, scalability, and cost-effectiveness in a secure manner," said Garrett Ilg, executive vice president and general manager for Japan and Asia Pacific of Oracle.

"With cloud computing, governments can unlock innovation and enable civil servants to better serve the communities. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) Dedicated Region offers the government of Bangladesh a complete cloud solution within their own data centre. This creates an agile, efficient, secure, and cost-effective platform that allows the government to modernise applications, accelerate innovation, and address data sovereignty needs," he added.