Special Assistant to the Chief Advisor in charge of the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology Faiz Ahmed Tayyab said this in his speech as the chief guest at the international conference titled “Building Trust and Sustainability through Data Governance” held at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Center in Dhaka on Wednesday (December 17, 2025) in collaboration with the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh (ICMAB), the Information and Communication Technology Department (EDGE Project) and the Government of Bangladesh.
Faiz Ahmed Tayyab said that the country’s digital transformation can no longer be limited to fragmented projects or app-based initiatives. This is a long-term and fundamental state transformation, which will focus on data governance, cybersecurity and citizen rights.
The Special Assistant said that although there are many digital systems in the country, the lack of interoperability has become a major obstacle. As a result, there are problems in making the right decisions and artificial intelligence is not being used effectively.
He also said that the government has already started working on building three legal foundations – cyber safety, personal data protection and national data governance, which will be the main pillars of the future Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI).
Regarding telecommunications and device access, Faiz Ahmed Tayyab said, “Digital services will be effective only when secure devices and equal networks reach the hands of citizens – regardless of city or village.”
In the future, every citizen will have a digital data wallet, where information from birth to death will be protected and data can be used for a specific period with the consent of the citizen. Digital transformation without a legal and infrastructural foundation is just an illusion – the Special Assistant also commented that we have moved away from that wrong path and started working on the right foundation.
Secretary of the Information and Communication Technology Department, Sheesh Haider Chowdhury NDC said, “Effective data governance is not limited to policy formulation; it requires strong institutional capacity, inter-sectoral coordination and clear accountability frameworks. As the scope of digital services in the government and private sectors increases, ensuring responsible data use, security and compliance is crucial for gaining public trust and sustainable digital transformation.”
The issues of data protection, management and responsible use in the digital age were the main focus of discussions at the conference.
The conference discussed the practical implementation of data protection policies, comparing Bangladesh’s data management with international standards and the role of professional accountants in data management in three separate sessions. Representatives from government institutions, international organizations such as the World Bank and UNDP, private institutions and the law and technology sectors participated in these discussions.
Speakers at the conference said that if the government, regulatory agencies, professional organizations and the private sector work together, it is possible to build a strong and reliable data governance system, which will increase trust and help in the sustainable development of the country.
The conference was attended by Secretary of the Information and Communication Technology Department, Shish Haider Chowdhury, NDC, President of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), Jean Bocque, and Division Director of the World Bank for Bangladesh and Bhutan, Jean Pesme, along with government policymakers, international organizations, professional accountants, experts from the law and technology sectors.
