Digital Transformation

Manthan Awards come to Dhaka

Celebrating Bangladesh’s Digital Frontrunners

The Manthan Awards is a project with a regional South Asian reach aimed to inspire, educate and empower entrepreneurs and others using digital innovations. Spearheaded by our partners, the Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF), the prestigious award has now also reached Bangladesh. In partnership with BRAC, the world’s largest development organization, DEF and the Dhaka Office of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF Bangladesh) launched the BRAC Manthan Digital Innovation Award – or BMDIA.

The organizers received more than 100 nominations from all corners of the country and from various sectors. Of these, 90 proposals reached the evaluation process of the jury of ten eminent experts who assessed the applications on the quality of their content, social impact functionality and, lastly, the benefits for the people. The categories of the competition included e-business and financial inclusion, online education, e-governance to name but a few.

Extending the cooperation with the Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) to Bangladesh is in line with the Foundation’s strategic focus on enhancing projects in the field of digital transformation. Speaking at the award ceremony, DEF Founder and Director Osama Manzar said, “The Internet and technology are connecting tools if we do not use them, we will become the consumers of someone else.”

This cooperation is only the beginning: “We are looking forward to working with BRAC and others in future activities to empower digital innovations in Bangladesh”, said FNF Bangladesh's Country Representative Dr. Najmul Hossain.