Shahadat Sumon, JU correspondent: A group of students of Jahangirnagar University (JU) on Wednesday obtained the runner up award at the grand finale of Digital Khichuri Challenge (DKC)-2019 competition.
On December 11, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) partnering with Facebook and Bangladesh ICT Division has initiated this competition for Bangladeshi young change-makers for formulating solutions to make the digital space safer and more tolerant which has been taken place at the BCC Auditorium, ICT Division.
At the competition two teams from Jahangirnagar University got the prestige to represent the university. Musfiqul Islam Pranto, Rahman Masuk Orpon, Fahim Alam Nirzhar and Sakib Ayon got the ‘Runner-Up’ prize holding the team ‘Choukos’ in student category and got $2500 USD as 1st stage funding.
Dhaka University (Team Edsight) became the winner in this particular competition. Team “We workers” and “Probash Kotha” were awarded as the winner and runner-up respectively in the start-up category.
Mentionable, UNDP has initiated this youth-centric platform “Digital Khichuri Challenge” in 2016 in order to uphold the cultural diversity, pluralism and tolerance. The overarching objective of this initiative has been to facilitate the youth to develop positive alternatives to exclusionary appeals that underpin violence.
This year, DKC addressed an issue providing digital literacy to the migrant workers of Bangladesh as the migrant workers have inherently been subject to a lot of obstacles and struggles.
Many of them often find themselves in places distant from their Bangladeshi migrant community, leading a life of isolation and social exclusion. They only find solace and some companionship using social media heavily to spend their time and keep in touch with their family, increasing their social media usage compared to when they were in Bangladesh.
However, they lack awareness of the risks posed by social media, making them vulnerable to cybercrime, cyberbullying, disinformation and propaganda. The selected teams and start-ups at DKC formulated solutions to provide digital literacy to the migrant workers and protect them against the perils of the cyberspace.
Later, they presented their solutions at the closing ceremony in the presence of the jury, fellow participants, UNDP representatives and other esteemed guests.
