Prime Minister’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Adviser Sajib Wazed Joy has been leading Bangladesh towards a knowledge-based economy through digital transformation, policymakers and economists have said.

On the eve of his birthday to be celebrated today, the Daily Sun talked to Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar and former Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Dr Atiur Rahman who are familiar with the young leader for decades.

Joy was born to nuclear scientist MA Wazed Miah and Bangabandhu’s eldest daughter Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka on July 27, 1971 during the Liberation War.

He studied at St Joseph’s College, India. He enrolled in Computer Science at the University of Bangalore, and then moved to the University of Texas at Arlington and received BSc degree in Computer Engineering. He later completed master’s degree in Public Administration from Harvard University.

Joy is the chairman of Centre for Research and Information (CRI) and has shared ideas with youths at the CRI’s ‘Let’s Talk’ show on several occasions.

He was listed by the World Economic Forum as one of its Young Global Leaders in 2007.

Mentioning that the concept of ‘Digital Bangladesh’ is the brainchild of the prime minister’s ICT adviser, Mustafa Jabbar said Joy conceptualised the idea for implementation of tech-driven governance under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. “There’s no doubt that she (PM) has got the concept of technology-driven governance from Sajib Wazed Joy. The Prime Minister always endorses two facts clearly that she learns computer from Joy and Bangla from Mustafa Jabbar,” he said.

“Bangladesh missed some opportunities of global connectivity in the early nineties for lack of knowledge of the then government. When the Awami League-led government took office in 1996, Joy introduced technology services to his mother to help make policies. Awami League is the first party which used technology in electoral campaign,” the minister said.

He claimed that he has been having interaction with Joy since his boyhood. “When I introduced Macintosh computer to Bangladesh, Joy was a 17-year-old boy. He used to frequent my office at Segunbagicha to know about the operating system of Mac computer,” he said, going down the memory lane.

Mustafa Jabbar further said Joy has brought many new things in the front at the policy level and provides guidelines for implementing those. “All the transformations are happening under the leadership of the visionary young leader.”

“Sajib Wazed Joy plays a leading role in introducing modern technological services in Bangladesh. There’s no question about his role,” he said.

Former BB Governor Dr Atiur Rahman said Joy represents the youthful Bangladesh which believes in digital transformation. “He was the driving force behind the ‘Digital Bangladesh’ concept which Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina launched in 2009 after formation of the new government. This was the main slogan of the Election Manifesto of the 2008 election which resolved to go for fundamental changes in the style of administration and inclusive development by optimisation of the digital technologies,” he told the Daily Sun.

The eminent economist described Joy as the ‘architect of this modern policy shift’.

He said the PM’s adviser has been advising the government and the ICT Division to adopt digital technology in transforming the government right up to grassroots and modernisation of the financial sector.

“He (Joy) has also been encouraging the startups for which the ICT Division has already set IDEA project and startup hubs in addition to helping many organisations to go digital, including telemedicine, police hotline and enhancing the ecology of interoperability in the financial sector,” Dr Atiur said.

He believes Bangladesh has been reaping the benefits of this digital transformation, thanks to the PM’s ICT adviser for pushing the nation to ‘dream more and become more’.

The noted economist said Bangladesh can withstand the pressure of the current global financial crisis if it continues to remain focused on digital transformation which focuses more on implementation than simply planning. “The young digital entrepreneurs can easily relate with his modern and tech-savvy digital transformational policies that are destined to take Bangladesh far enough,” he said.