TV24 Desk: Technology-building of the fourth industrial revolution ready at the door. Technology and virtual media are bridging the gap in life and livelihood. The Bangladesh Digital Social Innovation Forum (BDSIF) continues to create a great friendship or ‘signature’ of youth between tech and sustainable as a powerful means of social development. In just three years of its establishment, it has already started spreading global glory beyond the borders of the country. Migration is adding a new dimension to careers through scholarships, fellowships and volunteering to engage young people in sustainable development. The organization is going to play a role in the employment of volunteers abroad.
The fourth cornerstone of sustainable development is volunteering to build one of the best careers for future generations. With the recent Bangabandhu Digital Social Innovation Summit and the Bangladesh Digital Social Innovation Award 2021, the organization has gifted a unique platform to meet the sustainable development goals in the power of technology.
BDSFI’s showcase was organized through various international channels across the country. UN SDG Platform, UN Official Event Platform Action Network, European Union Digital Social Innovation Platform dot u, Youth Opportunity, NGO Box Asia all participated with this event. Although 800 people directly participated in the first Bangladesh Digital Social Innovation Summit and Awards in 2019, more than 8 lakh remained connected online. From there, BDSIF introduced technological social initiatives like Ten Minute School, Pathao, Youth Club and Sadat Rahman to the international arena. This year too, a total of 15 initiatives, including two foreign ones in seven categories, have been included in the stream of sustainable development. Besides, BDSIF is taking district and country coordinators in each country. This time around, Canada and Portugal are going to add volunteer careers by gradually increasing the scope of the event. To this end, the Digital Social Innovation Forum (DSIF) has been formed to work in the international arena. New chapters are being opened in every country. Through this, the founder of the organization is expanding his technology-based volunteer career on a platform. Ali Akbar Asha. She is currently working as a Service Support Counselor (NOC Social Worker) at a non-profit organization in Ottawa, Canada. In the meantime, he is working to open a big door of hope for young volunteers by proving meaningful self-interest in his name. In addition to scholarships and fellowships to enhance the skills of university level students in their respective fields by involving them in social enterprises, Mr. Ali Akbar is opening the door to jobs in one of the voluntary organizations in the world. In fact, with his single effort, Bangladesh is going to open a new path of merit-based foreign exchange earnings. Asked how BDSFI’s globalization mission got started, Ali Akbar Asha said, “In the age of information and technology where people are using technology to pursue business and pleasure.” At the same time, some people are using this technology to carry out various social development activities, as a result of which these activities are playing a helpful role in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The BDSIF was originally set up to highlight the importance of achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the need to do so. BDSIF is not a personal organization, it is a universal platform. Where good deeds are preached to the world. And now we are working to spread this facility worldwide with the benefit of Global Village.
UN SDG is the first to partner with BDSIF in this unique initiative of a Bangladeshi to build a career for young people in volunteering through sustainable incorporation of technology around the world. Based on that energy, the organization brings forward the initiatives that are ahead in technology based social responsibility. And through this, BDSIF has proved that the biggest regulator in assessing growth is volunteering or playing a role in positive change in society. And this volunteer service is not just about eating at home and chasing forest buffaloes, it can be a turning point in your career.
BDSIF founding president Md. Is establishing this philosophy with his own life. Ali Akbar Asha. In his words, the individual and society are united. So, the development of the individual is incomplete without society. From that philosophy, I started working in the real estate sector at the beginning of my life and established myself in digital marketing, but I could not ignore the call for social development. That is why BDSIF was formed at the end of 2018. When I moved to Canada on a career call. Then this technology based social enterprise was brought to the embassy as the biggest qualification.
Although there is no academic education in technology, Ali Akbar, in answer to the question of how he succeeded in this journey, presented an epic of perfection from scratch. Let’s hear in his voice the whole Journey- ‘There was always a pull on the computer. From a young age, I was obsessed with computers in school life. But the main thing is, getting an education was my passion but testing it on my own, and that’s what brought me success. I was so addicted to the internet that I started a broadband service business in my area during college time with friends and younger siblings, although the business was not successful due to lack of skills. But a strong interest was born. Although interested in learning, there were few opportunities as a middle-class boy. The Internet removes that barrier. He completed 76 courses of Facebook Blueprint in 2 nights. He established himself in the field of technology with various trainings from Udemy, Udacity Digital Marketing Course, LinkedIn’s Digital Marketing Advertising and MBA from Marketing and Communication from IBMI, Google Edward Certification, Ekigai Hub, Aliens. Earlier, he stumbled upon his job before the birth of his first child after marriage.
In the words of Ali Akbar Asha ‘In my working life I was a senior executive of a private real estate company. I used to work in sales. Everybody was rushing for the client then, I had to go around a lot of babu shej, but I didn’t have money for lunch then, when it came to my mind because it was a good expense to run and babu sej client meeting which I can’t afford, because I do one thing. If everyone wants to have a smart phone, I can deliver my campaigns to everyone with a good banner, then Facebook did not officially launch their ad manager, so there was no option for paid promotion, relying on SMS and print. And that one thought shifted my career from salesman to branding. And I didn’t have to look back in my career.
In this way, with the benefit of digital marketing, he gets a bonus along with the suspended salary by sitting in the office and recording in the plot cell. Since then, he has realized that there is no alternative to technology to survive in the world ahead. But if technology is not involved in social development, then it will not be. Since then, the founder of BDSIF has tried to combine technology with sustainable development in growth. Now he is on a mission to build a career in the global youth community by achieving the 17 goals of sustainable development announced by the United Nations through the growth of socialization of this global technology. And in this mission, the immense possibility of establishing a voluntary profession was opened in front of the youth of Bangladesh.