TECH BITS

Chinese electronics company TCL unveils its first BlackBerry-licensed smartphone which brings back the device's signature physical keyboard as it seeks to revive the once mighty brand.

With the internet becoming faster, we can now have access to course materials and other academic resources online from the top universities in the world.

Seeking to escape a cycle of falling prices and tight regulation, big telecom operators from Vimpelcom (VIP.O) to Telefonica (TEF.MC) are set to reinvent themselves as internet players to escape the industry's straight-jacket of low growth.

The impact of education or lack of it, is felt throughout a person's life. Education was declared a basic human right for all and protected in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights in 1948.

That there has been a revolution of growth, expansion, and reach of higher education in Bangladesh is a reality. This is no longer a matter of debate, but a matter to reckon with.

With every new discovery, we enter a new realm of knowledge that quickly reveals our inadequacies and how much more we need to know.

Today, around 40 percent of the population aged between 15 and 24 years in Bangladesh are classified as “not in education, employment or training (NEET)”, according to a recent ILO report. The actual number adds up to 11.6 million youth or about one-fifth of the total working age population.

Of the 30 million youth between the ages of 18 and 25 in Bangladesh, roughly three million go on to pursue higher education.

Over the past decade, Bangladesh has experienced a sudden rise in startups. There are people who may not have completed their tertiary education, but are now in a position to hire 10-15 people with ease.

In the last few decades, South Asian and Southeast Asian countries have experienced high rates of labour force growth associated with high population growth. The growing youth labour force can provide an important input for accelerating economic growth.

We are living in both exciting and dispiriting times. On one hand, we are witnessing extraordinary advancements in technology that are connecting us in ways that were once unimaginable.

“A large donor office once told me that these (innovations) are for Western universities to build, we are here to only implement solutions,” said Anindita. “There's no future here, I can't pursue it,” she added with a sigh.

For developing nations around the world, one of the models of economic development that seems to have mostly worked was that of creating an ecosystem for the growth of startups.

Throughout the world, in any development undertaking of a nation, women's empowerment is an inevitable part of economic development discourse.

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the most important segment of any economy in the world. SMEs are getting the highest priority from policymakers due to their already proven multidimensional contribution to the socioeconomic environment of a country.

The present market economy in the era of globalisation is based on knowledge, innovation and technological development. The ideas and innovations behind new technologies and inventions are manifestations of human imagination, creativity and ingenuity.

Drop the term startup in any conversation and ask the audience what they picture. You will notice that the majority of the audience

For a relatively new country, Bangladesh has made some remarkable developmental achievements. There has been great progress towards the Millennium Development Goals, particularly in reducing child mortality and halving poverty. It is an experience on which other countries will no doubt draw.

The Dhaka Summit on Skills, Employability, and Decent Work, inaugurated by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, was held near the end of 2016.