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Minutes of the Annual
General Meeting 2001 of ISOC Bangladesh chapter Date: December 27, 2001 Venue: National Press Club Conference Room The Annual General Meeting 2001 (AGM2001) was held under the Chairship of Dr. M. Hakikur Rahman, the Chair of ISOC Bangladesh Chapter. The following members of the Advisory Board attended the meeting: 1. Prof. Dr. Jamilur Reza Chowdhury 2. Prof. Dr. M. Aminul Islam 3. Dr. M. Asaduzzaman and 4. Abdur Rahman Khan The following members of the Executive Committee
and General Members attended the meeting: 1. Md. Abdul Hakim 2. Dr. AHM Mustain Billah 3. Touhid Uz Zaman 4. M. Rubaiyat Islam 5. Md. Golam Mostafa 6. Farhad Nizam 7. Md. Mamun Murtuza Sheriff 8. Asaduzzaman 9. Nikhil Chandra Halder 10. Asif 11. Md. Altaf Hossain 12. Md. Selim Reza 13. Mousumi Hassan 14. Salim Ahmed 15. Ahsan Uddin 16. Md. Farid Hossain 17. Md. Humayun Kabir Miah 18. Abu Zafar Khandaker 19. Md. Moniruzzaman 20. Priolal Mandal and 21. Md. Shah Iqbal The AGM2001 was started with welcome address by the Chairperson of the Advisory Board and then the Secretary read out the Annual Report 2001. By the invitation of the Chapter Chair, a discussion session was held under the patronage of the Advisory Board. In the session, the following agenda and discussions were done: Agenda 1: Dissemination of ISOC Bangladesh Chapter's activities at grass root level. Decisions: a) Programmes can be taken in collaboration with SDNP/BIDS, BRAC, Rainbow Partnership Programme (RPO) and other to reach out the rural communities. Universities, Forum of journalists, Community libraries, Lawyer's societies, etc. can be included in this programme for development related activities to promote more public participation. b) Initially the programme can be restricted to Divisional HQs. c) In relation with local ISPs a national program can be carried out in 2002. d) Subsidized training program can be taken to impart IT-literacy to low income group in IT field. e) In collaboration with Ekushe TV a programme similar to "Radio Browsing" in Sri Lanka (where listeners send in their queries through post and the results ontained from Internet are broadcast over radio) can be introduced. It can be called "TV Browsing". f) ISOCBD can utilize existing infrastructures of 12 Regional Resource Centres of Bangladesh Open University and establish Internet Centre. In phases, 50 study centres can be covered through similar network and ultimately all 900 community schools can be converted to Community Information Centres. g) There can be a separate search engine of its own type in ISOCBD web site. Agenda 2: School Programme Decisions: · Effort should be given to collaborate with FED and partners (BRAC, WBL, etc.) including all partners of SDNP Bangladesh (UNDP, ISOC BD, ICMS) to make a 40' container shipment. · If the FED can not raise the necessary funds by February 2002, ISOC BD should initiate to make a separate shipment of 20' container from WCE, USA. UNDP BD should be the consignee. Agenda 2: Membership drive. Decisions: a) "Objective for membership" should be amended after consultation with the ISOC HQ to initiate beneficial programs for students and offering free e-mail accounts in collaboration with SDNP Bangladesh. b) Advertisement can be posted in the newspaper on different occasions focussing ICT initiatives in Bangladesh through sponsorship. c) City Chapters can be formed (specially in Mymensingh, Khulna, Rajshahi and Sylhet, where SDNP regional nodes would be established). City Chapters can be given free PCs and connectivity from SDNP School Programme. d) Project type of activities can be taken at hand. Agenda 3: Role of ISOC Bangladesh Chapter in national ICT policies Decisions: a) Organize a national seminar at the end of October 2002 with a theme "Role of Internet in Developing Countries" and effort should be given to invite Dr. Vinton G. Cerf of ISOC and other dignitaries of global Internet community. b) Expert comment can be made on ICT policy initiatives in Bangladesh and submit it to the Chairperson of ISOC Advisory Board. c) ISOC BD can contact different academics and resource person to held Internet resource seminars and workshops. Agenda 4: Sponsorship and Fund raising Decisions: a) ISOCBD can contact UNESCO for financial assistance or any sort of sponsorship. b) They can also contact other donor agencies, like UNDP, World Bank and others, including private entrepreneurs for sponsorship. c) Can publish newsletter containing the different themes submitted to SDNBD egroups and sell them to different libraries. BRAC university library can be approached. d) Chambers of Commerce and Industries can be contacted for sponsorship of different occasions related to Internet in Bangladesh. e) Need Assessment Survey and similar types of survey can be conducted with sponsorship and then they can be sold to potential clients after printing in booklet form. Agenda 5: Annual Membership Fee Decisions: As per the guideline of ISOC HQ, effort should be given for free membership. But, a formal fee for different categories should remain, if the members can afford. As there were no other issues for discussion, the Chairperson thanked everyone attended the AGM2001 and concluded the meetting.
Touhid Uz Zaman |