Spotlight

ICCIT 2008
Redefining ICT Future in Bangladesh

Jamil-ur-Rob
Photos: Mohammed Shaheed

The 11th International Conference on Computer and Information Technology (ICCIT 2008) has been successfully staged in the campus of Khulna University of Engineering & Technology (KUET) . With 101 acres of campus and with its nice green landscape blended with beautiful architectural maneuvers, KUET- one of the top technological universities in Bangladesh, took the challenge to host the 11th ICCIT 2008. This is the first time ICCIT is held outside capital city Dhaka.

The conference was scheduled for three days (25-27 December, 2008). That included the inauguration ceremony, presentations on 138 technical papers, 6 keynote sessions addressed by 6 prominent researchers around the world, a session on BdREN, a gala dinner and a cultural show. Workshops organized by two prominent universities of Australia also took place in conjunction with the conference.

Initially 538 papers were submitted from 24 different countries. However, 158 papers were finally selected for the event. The selection panel consisted of 83 reviewers from all around the world. The paper acceptance rate of 29.4% indicates the acceptability of the conference. Out of these 158 papers, 138 papers finally took their places in the conference proceedings. Out of these papers, 42.4% have originated from authors outside of Bangladesh.

The conference was technically co-sponsored by IEEE Bangladesh Section and the papers in the proceedings would be included in the IEEEXplore digital library.

For the first time, some of the selected papers would have the chance to be extended and to be included in six distinguished journals- Journal of Computers, Journal of Communications, Journal of Multimedia, Journal of Networks, and Journal of Software published by Academy Publisher and International Technology Management Review published from Australia.

On 25th December the session began at early morning with registration & kit distribution. The formal opening of IICIT 2008 kicked off with a great style at 4.30 pm as there was a delay in the flight schedule of the chief guest. Before that there were two keynote sessions on the following topics: “How may research crank-up economic engine” by Mohammad A. Karim, PhD, Vice President for research, Old Dominion University, Virginia, USA and “Utility Oriented Grid Computing and the Gridbus Middleware” by Rajkumar Buyya, PhD, Director of GRIDS Lab, University Of Melbourne& CEO, Manjrasoft pty Ltd, Australia. In his lecture Prof. Karim addressed the major re-engineering milestones and the transformational context that has evolved research universities into what are now primary drivers of regional economic engines.

The chairman of the university grants commissions of Bangladesh Prof. Nazrul Islam was the chief guest at the opening ceremony. Other special guests at the occasion included Prof. Dr. Nawsher Ali, VC, KUET, Chair, advisory committee, Iccit2008, Prof. Dr. Basudev Chandra Ghos, Co-chair, advisory committee, Iccit2008, Mohammad A. Karim, Chair, international programming committee, Iccit2008, Prof. Dr. M.M.A Hasem, Chair, organizing committee Iccit2008, and Prof. Dr. MD. Rafiqul Islam, Secretary of organizing committee Iccit2008. Among other distinguished guests, Dr. Jafar Iqbal, Shahjalal University Of Science & technology, Prof. Dr. Saifuddin Ahmed, VC, Khulna University, faculty members from different universities, authors and researchers were also present. 'The recent rapid development in information and communication Technology has urged scholars, scientists, researchers, academicians, theorists, professionals, technologists and entrepreneurs to share the improvement they are inducing. Conference like ICCIT is one of the strong and prestigious platforms for them to sustain the newer technologies they are inventing ' the chief guest was quoted saying.

He also added that the newer technologies should be used for the mankind and the political leaders of our country should also be aware of this ICT revolution. Prof. A. Karim said that this type of conferences energizes a large number of unusual young and talented people by providing them a world-class platform. 'The true measure of success of this major international conference will be judged by the newer ideas and techniques disseminated by it. It would help nurture a technological climate in Bangladesh,' Prof. A. Karim also addressed.

Over the next two days the research papers in the field of algorithms, information system and software engineering, bio-informatics, wireless communication, artificial intelligence and various other topics related to the respective field were presented. Some of these papers are very lucrative if implemented in Bangladesh. The four other keynote speakers of the conference were Abdul Sattar, PhD, Professor and Director, Institute for integrated intelligent systems, Griffith University, Australia and Research leader, National ICT Australia University, Ramamoharano Kotagiri, PhD, Professor, Department of Computer Science and software Engineering, The University Of Melbourne, Australia, Mohammad Atiquzzaman, PhD Professor, School Of Computer Science, University Of Okalhoma, USA, Alamgir Hossain, PhD, MOSAIC Research centre, Department Of Computing, school of informatics, University Of Bradford, UK.

When asked for his feedback Prof. Dr. Jafar Iqbal said, 'Unless we generate knowledge the education is not complete. So we need to have conferences where our researches will be able to contribute.

When I see that around 500 research papers were generated just because of this conference- I feel encouraged.' Mr. Abdul Sattar, PhD also shared his optimism. He said, ' In my view this conference was very well organized. I am particularly impressed by the enthusiasm shown by young academic staff and students; and the energy they employed in this event. For me it was the first visit to Bangladesh and I found people very warm, welcoming, respectful, polite and sincere in their jobs. I would like to thank the organizers and wish them all the best in future.' In the last day an invited session called 'A New era in Bangladesh higher education: joining the global alliance of emerging high performance research and education network' was conducted by Jabed. I. Khan, Ph.D, Professor, Department of Computer science, Kent University, USA. Professor Dr. Ehsanul Haque, member of UGC Bangladesh was also present with him as a supplementary speaker. Also for the first time in the history of ICCIT two international workshops on 'Internet and distributed computer system (IDCS2008)' organized by The University Of Melbourne, Australia and 'Data mining and artificial intelligence' were also held on 24th December in conjunction with ICCIT2008. The bandwagon came to an end by gala dinner and exclusive cultural show.

Mechanical, Kuet