Activations and workshops of Bangladesh Robot Olympiad, World Robot Olympiad Bangladesh and International Junior Science Olympiad will be held at public libraries across the country this year. And with this arrangement, public libraries will become the center of new knowledge science. An agreement was signed between Bangladesh Open Source Network (BDOSN) and the British Council Library Unlimited Project at the World Literature Center in Dhaka on 2 March, 2020. Cortesy Crawford, project director of Library Unlimited and vice president of BDOSN, professor of Robotics and Mechatronics Engineering department of Dhaka University Dr. Lafifa Jamal signed the agreement on behalf of their organization.
Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Culture and Director General of the department of Public Library Md Abdul Mannan Elias, the chief guest of the program, pledged all kinds of support on behalf of the Public Library and said that the initiative will make the young and new generation again move to the library. He appreciated the volunteerism of the concerned volunteers and said that he himself would participate physically in the volunteer program. Special guest of the event, Deputy Director of the British Council Bangladesh Andrew Newton hopes that like the success of Cricket, Robot Olympiad will have success in other events in the future. Professor Dr. Lafifa Jamal thinks this initiative will make it easier for volunteer activities outside Dhaka.
It was informed at the event that BDOSN organizes various programs including Robot Olympiad, Junior Science Olympiad, and Programming Competition to make science and technology etc. for students across the country. Again, the British Council Libraries Unlimited Project is working to make the public library more popular across the country and to enhance quality services. The Bangladesh Open Source Network and the British Council have been working together for the past two years. Students use programming in all district libraries, and teach Kano computing and IoT based training. So far, the institute has trained 3818 students through 35 workshops in 33 districts. These programs will be spread in 64 districts of the country by 2020. Library Green Project Technical Officer Tim Green and ICT Coordinator Michal Islam gave a presentation on the issue.
Bangladesh Open Source Network hosts the World Robot Olympiad, the Bangladesh Episode of the International Robot Olympiad. Bangladesh formed the team and sent the team to the International Olympiad. From now on, BDOSN and the British Council will work together to organize these programs in collaboration with the Public Library. Besides, Bangladesh Junior Science Olympiad formed a team from Bangladesh to popularize the Science of Bangladesh. From now on, they will jointly host regional Olympiad events and activities.
Sajjadur Rahman Chowdhury Executive Director of Bangladesh Freedom Foundation, Mamluk Sabir Ahmed, CEO of Computer Services Limited, Munir Hasan, Head of Youth Lighting Program, Redwan Ferdous, Power Coordinator of Robot Olympiad, Kabbo Ahmed CEO of Power Station were also present on the occasion.