Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina opened the National Data Centre that appears to be the world's seventh largest such ICT facility saying it was a step forward towards building the Digital Bangladesh.
"We elevated our status one step ahead towards Digital Bangladesh," she said while inaugurating the four-tier National Data Centre at Bangabandhu High Tech City, Gazipur through video conference at her official residence Ganabhaban on Friday.
The premier said data preservation was of crucial importance for a country’s advancement while the centre was built as part of her ruling Awami League’s election manifesto to build Digital Bangladesh, reports BSS.
She said Bangladesh so far was dependent on foreign ICT facilities requiring the countray to spend a huge sum of money from the national exchequer.
"But with the introduction of our own data centre, we will be able to save that money and simultaneously generate income from it," she added.
The construction of the National Data Centre began in 2016 on seven acres of land with a space of 2,00,000 square feet with Chinese financial and technical assistance.
The centre by now has obtained a certificate from the USA’s Uptime Institute, an organization best known for its Tier standard and the associated certification of data centre compliance with standards.
The opening of the centre came at a ceremony which simultaneously saw installation of solar panels in parts of Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), commissioning of five new ships of Bangladesh Shipping Corporation and a research vessel with a particular goal to promote fisheries.
The ship was built at the initiative of Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University to operate in Kaptai Lake in Rangamati.