17th Bangladesh Internet Governance Forum (BIGF 2022) — In-Depth Report: Minutes Digest & 3-Line Summary

The 3-Line Summary

On 10–12 November 2022 the 17th Bangladesh IGF met at CIRDAP Millennium Hall in Dhaka under the theme 'Resilient Internet for Sustainable Development and Smart Bangladesh'.
Telecoms minister Mustafa Jabbar hailed the 'One Country One Rate' fixed-broadband tariff as a milestone against the digital divide, while three packed days covered data protection, the .bd domain and universal acceptance — plus dedicated Kids, Youth and Women IGF tracks.
Billed as the 'Road to Addis Ababa' three weeks before the UN IGF, it showcased a layered national forum — down to a Kids IGF, still rare worldwide — and how a national IGF coexists with government and regulator.

Welcome — this is the Japan IGF Support Organization. This in-depth report on 17th Bangladesh Internet Governance Forum (BIGF 2022) draws on official outputs, session records and on-site reporting. In a hurry? The three lines above and the diagrams carry the gist.

Conference at a Glance (from official records)

Item	Detail
Official name	17th Bangladesh Internet Governance Forum (BIGF 2022)
Dates	10–12 November 2022
Venue	CIRDAP Millennium Hall, Topkhana Road, Dhaka
Theme	Resilient Internet for Sustainable Development and Smart Bangladesh (The programme was built around 15 constituent themes aligned with the UN Secretary-General's envisioned Global Digital Compact)
Host	Bangladesh Internet Governance Forum (BIGF); chaired by Hasanul Haq Inu MP, with Secretary General Mohammad Abdul Haque Anu

(See the source list at the end of this article.)

Discussion Digest — from the Session Records

Key exchanges extracted from session records and transcripts.

1. Opening — 'One Country One Rate', Smart Bangladesh, and the Road to Addis Ababa

Sessions: Opening session 'Resilient Internet for Sustainable Development and Smart Bangladesh; Road to Addis Ababa' (10 November, 16:15)

"Implementation of the 'One Country One Rate' initiative for fixed internet is a historic milestone in removing the country's digital divide (translated from Bengali)"
— Mustafa Jabbar (Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, chief guest) [1][2]

"A sustainable internet is essential for establishing a happy and prosperous Bangladesh (translated from Bengali)"
— Hasanul Haq Inu MP (BIGF Chairperson) [1][2]

Minister Jabbar also called the internet's contribution to national growth 'immeasurable' and said work was under way on fair mobile data pricing (BSS report) [1][2]
BTRC chairman Shyam Sunder Sikder, the ISPAB president and the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce president shared the stage — regulator, industry and commerce in one line-up [1][2]
As the session title 'Road to Addis Ababa' signalled, the forum was framed as national input to the UN IGF 2022 held three weeks later in Ethiopia [1][2]

2. Data Governance and Privacy — From the Supreme Court to the Central Bank

Sessions: 'Governing Data and Protecting Privacy' (11 November, 15:45) and 'Data Privacy & Emerging Technologies in Financial Ecosystem' (12 November, 14:00)

The data-governance panel seated a Supreme Court barrister, an Assistant Attorney General, the University of Dhaka's IIT, the software industry body BASIS and the state satellite company's CEO — law and industry at one table [1]
The finance session brought in Bangladesh Bank officials, commercial banks and Grameenphone, making 'data privacy in the financial ecosystem' a standalone theme fitting a mobile-finance powerhouse [1]
With the country's draft Data Protection Act under debate at the time, the sessions served as an issue-mapping exercise on the eve of legislation [1]

3. .bd and Universal Acceptance — With ICANN and DotAsia at the Table

Sessions: 'Policy Dialogue on Dot Bd and Universal Acceptance' (12 November, 11:15)

ICANN's Ajay Data and Sarmad Hussain joined DotAsia's Edmon Chung (Hong Kong) for a policy dialogue on the .bd country domain, the Bangla-script .বাংলা domain and universal acceptance [1]
A BTRC brigadier general and executives of the state carrier BTCL sat in for government and operations, testing domain-management practicalities against international expertise [1]
It deepened a signature theme running since the 2020 TLD session — a thread that later grew into a national 'Bangladesh UA Day' in 2025 [1]

4. Inclusion Across Three Generations — Kids, Youth and Women IGF Tracks

Sessions: Kids IGF on digital rights (11 November); Women IGF on meaningful, affordable access (12 November); youth session (10 November)

In the Kids IGF, school students themselves debated children's rights in the digital environment, complete with their own closing ceremony — a standing kids' track remains rare among national IGFs worldwide [1]
The Women IGF (BWIGF) tackled 'meaningful access and affordable Internet for women', with sitting MP Naheed Ezaher Khan, an ICT Division director and Oracle's country lead on stage [1]
Day one's youth session, 'Empowering Youth for Smart Bangladesh onwards to IG Process', had the Youth IGF, the government's a2i programme and DotAsia mapping pathways for young participants [1]

Three-Minute Short Talk — Your Questions Answered

Q. What was the biggest news?

A. Minister Jabbar's 'One Country One Rate' — a single nationwide fixed-broadband tariff presented as a milestone against the digital divide, with mobile data pricing next in line.

Q. What made this edition distinctive?

A. Three parallel inclusion tracks — Kids, Youth and Women IGFs. A kids' track where school students debate their own digital rights is still a global rarity.

Q. Why should I care?

A. Universal acceptance — making domains work in local scripts — is every non-Latin language's problem, and vetting telecom pricing policy inside an IGF is a model other countries' policy dialogues can borrow.

What Is Bangladesh IGF? (for first-time readers)

Bangladesh IGF is a National or Regional IGF Initiative (NRI), aligning local internet governance discussion with global IGF principles.

Why It Matters to You

What was discussed here becomes the baseline for national digital policy, platform rules and AI regulation worldwide within a few years. The principles confirmed at the 2022 meeting are the foundation of the "next rules" for the phones, social platforms and AI services you use every day.