DHAKA, Oct 11, 2021 (BSS) - Bangladesh has won four awards, including 
one silver award, in the 'International Blockchain Olympiad Award (IBCOL) 
2021' competition.

     The awards were handed over on Sunday night at the concluding function 
of the three-day IBCOL 2021 at ICT Tower in the city, said a press release 
today. 

     Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi was present at the function as chief guest 
while State Minister for ICT Division Zunaid Ahmed Palak attended the program 
as special guest.

     The Executive Director and Additional Secretary of Bangladesh Computer 
Council (BCC) Dr Md Abdul Mannan presided over the program while Senior 
Secretary of ICT Division N M Zeaul Alam PAA and the Chairman of Bangladesh 
Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) Professor Shibli Rubayat Ul Islam 
were present as guests of honor.

     The event was jointly organized by the ICT Division of Bangladesh, 
Bangladesh Computer Council, Blockchain Olympiad Bangladesh and Technohaven 
Company Limited.

     Speaking as the chief guest, Tipu Munshi said, "IBCOL 2021" is a truly 
remarkable event with the participation of all, including government, 
industry and academia, and everyone has worked together.

     He said that it has been possible to organize this event very 
beautifully and successfully which will serve as an experience for the 
future. 

     "Blockchain is a kind of database technology that is a necessity in 
daily life," he added. 

     The commerce minister said, "I believe that the International Blockchain 
Olympiad will take the research and development of such technology by the 
youth further. The government of Bangladesh will always support the talents 
and efforts of the youth."

     Zunaid Ahmed Palak mentioned the multi-dimensional use of blockchain and 
said that this technology is a new type of technology. 

     Palak said it is making a huge difference in every case and Fintech, 
Agrotech, Healthtech, Edutech - this blockchain will be used today, tomorrow, 
or the day after tomorrow.

     "So, we have to embrace this technology," he added. 

     Drawing attention to the youth, Palak said, "In the long run, the 
industry will be able to transform this blockchain in the operating model. 
The blockchain will be used to verify value exchanges, transfer of ownership 
and transactions, just as we exchange information across the Internet. This 
shows the importance of blockchain technology." 

     Bangladesh successfully concluded the 3-day "International Blockchain 
Olympiad 2021 (IBCOL 2021)". In the end, the guests officially handed over 
the prizes among the winners of "IBCOL 2021". Prizes figuring more than 
US$40,000 were awarded to the winners. Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards were 
given as thematic prizes along with 8 categories of prizes. In the Identity 
and Privacy category, Hong Kong's "HelpProof" Gold Medal winner won $10,000. 

     In addition, Bangladesh's "Hopefully Hypothetically Theoretically" in 
the FinTech category received $7,500 in the Silver Medal Award and Vietnam's 
"VifaChain" in the Supply chain category received $5,000 in the Bronze Medal 
Award.

     Other categories include Rocket of Bangladesh in e-Governance, 
Brogrammers of Bangladesh in Document Authentication, Fidello of Hong Kong in 
FinTech, LifeLink of Vietnam in HealthTech, KidKat of Vietnam in Identity & 
Privacy, Adarna of Philippines in EduTech, 2Lux of Hong Kong in Supply Chain 
and DU Nimbus of Bangladesh in the Prototype at FinTech category the name is 
announced. Each of these 8 category-based projects will receive a prize of 
$2,500.

     The Olympiad started its journey with an inaugural ceremony on 8 October 
and continued till 10 October 2021. This year, among other events, a total of 
4 seminars on CBDC and Cryptocurrency, e-Governance, Identity and Privacy and 
Fintech were organized. A total of 12 countries participated in this global 
competition. Over the last 3 days, many national and international blockchain 
experts have joined the event as judges and speakers. Finally, the 
International Blockchain Olympiad 2021 concluded with an excellent musical 
performance by the popular Bangladeshi band "Miles".