Shamsuzzoha

 

Deputy Director

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory

Commission

Public Policy Program ( M.A.’14; Ph.D. ‘17)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please tell us about your career path so far. What is your area of specialization and how did you come to work in this area?

I joined the telecom regulator of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) after my graduation from the engineering university. My major was telecommunication and I was quite excited to work in this field. Though it was preferred and popular for my peers to work in the industry back then in 2008, I wanted to try something different. And I am very fortunate to have had the supervisors with whom I was working at that time. As a newly appointed public official, one is expected to perform routine tasks while learning

about policy through the process itself. But I was involved in the policy-making process from the very beginning. I learned about policy drafting every day through team work. Most importantly, I developed a personal interest in it and read and researched about every policy-related issue that came my way day and night. With my engineering background and a quick grasp of the policy formulation process, I started performing well very soon. In 2010, my personal contribution was recognized through the publication of two important policy documents. I never looked back, and it is the true reason why I applied to GRIPS to pursue higher studies in public policy.

 

You are currently serving as Deputy Director at the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC). Please tell us about your main roles and responsibilities.

 

I am leading a team of highly competent engineers in the Engineering & Operations Division of BTRC in the areas of:

・Technical policy recommendation.
・Quality of service assurance for voice and data networks.
・Telecom market analysis and regulatory monitoring.
・Standardization and benchmarking.
・Electromagnetic fields radiation & green telecom issues.
・Coordination with international bodies (ITU, APT) for standardization and statistics.
・Coordination with and reporting to the Prime Minister’s Office and the Telecom Ministry.

 

In your current capacity, what do you see as the main opportunities and challenges for Bangladesh over the course of the next five to ten years?

When it comes to opportunities, there are enormous possibilities in Bangladesh. With its large population, the country provides a huge subscriber base for telecom service providers. Moreover, the number of young graduates is high, and the country is rapidly advancing in the digitalization process. These factors promise bright prospects for the implementation of 5G and similar smart transformations across all sectors, powered by the telecom industry. Multinational corporations are increasingly focusing on expanding their businesses in Bangladesh as an alternative investment hub and the telecom sector is also attracting such interest. The success of the smartphone manufacturing, which dominates the local market compared to imported handsets, is one example of such prospect. In this digital age, creating digital content and innovative applications is driving the digital economy, and Bangladesh is expected to accelerate in this area in the coming years. The endless supply of young graduates and IT professionals will be the driving force to push Bangladesh to the next level in ICT and telecom.

 

However, these opportunities come with challenges. World-class infrastructure facilities must be developed to welcome all the investment interest. Although the country is a large telecom market in terms of subscriber numbers and turnover,

 

the manufacturing of telecom gadgets is not yet dominated by local industries, except for mobile handsets. To add value to this manufacturing process, research and development (R&D) centers must be established nationwide to produce state-of-the-art innovations. In this regard, we must focus more on developing skilled graduates and ICT professionals who will contribute to this sector. In brief, the main challenges will be to develop adequate infrastructure, create innovation hubs, and produce properly skilled manpower for the ICT and telecom sector.

 

What are some of the biggest challenges you face in your work? And what have been the most interesting or rewarding aspects of your career thus far?

In a governmental institution, sometimes it is very challenging to work the way you would prefer and I have faced a lot of challenges during my career. The biggest challenge in the early days of my career was to learn the policy drafting process and to practically do it. As a fresh graduate I was very quickly drawn into the policy-making team. I was quite knowledgeable about the technical aspects of telecommunication, but policy drafting is something totally different. And I was nowhere near to doing it. But I took the challenge and started extensive reading. I was doing my own research and reading hundreds of pages of policy documents every week. It was really an amazing amount of reading that is not typically expected of public officials. So, it helped creating a unique knowledge-base for me that everyone started to appreciate. This further encouraged me and within approximately two years, I had become a confident policy drafting official. Another major challenge is to maintain a mindset of innovation and continuously introducing new ideas. To be frank, I have faced challenges due to the lack of support in terms of personnel and process in governmental institutions. Bureaucracy and group interest often dominate over innovation and evidence-based policy-making. However, I have found a way out of this through self-motivation by always trying to do something different and new. I do it on a regular basis to avoid putting myself in the same type of status quo thinking of many other public officials.

 

The most rewarding experience in my career came from outside my office. During my initial years, I worked on policy issues in BTRC, which gave me an opportunity to work on technical collaborative projects with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). I prepared project proposals that were well recognized by ITU and were conducted successfully.

In 2010, when ITU undertook a project to conduct a study on broadband policy, emergency telecom, and cyber security for South Asian countries, they required a national expert to work with the ITU expert. Due to their experience with me in previous interactions, they directly proposed my name to my office. It was quite unusual and surprising. Normally you would expect a mid-level expert to work in such prestigious position. And it was an open position, which means it was open to any competent expert from the public or private sector. It was also the very first such offer to BTRC and they selected me when I was just around two years in BTRC! Definitely it was the most memorable and happy moment in my professional career.

 

As a whole, the rewarding factor in my career is that it progressed as I had hoped. Most importantly, I have been happy doing what I have to do as part of the job, and I could balance it with my family and personal commitments. This is one of the main reasons I have not switched my job even after completing my Ph.D. My job does not affect my quality time with family, even though I regularly work extra hours.

 

What led you to GRIPS? What is the most important thing you got out of your studies, and how has your experience at GRIPS prepared you for future endeavors?

As I mentioned earlier, my initial job responsibility quickly moved from being a pure technical job to policy-making and policy drafting. And I was really enjoying it. Though it was a very challenging and tough job and something I was not totally prepared for, I quickly adapted myself

to this and sensed an opportunity where I could really contribute and flourish. I was regularly and officially involved in the policy-making process and enjoying the application of my technical knowledge and personal knowledge acquisition to it. After a couple of years, I started thinking about pursuing higher studies in public policy. In 2011, when I started searching for internationally reputed universities in the public policy domain, GRIPS was one of the five universities to which I decided to apply. I was referred to GRIPS by a friend and I liked its focus on public policy. The first offer I received was from a Canadian university, but it was followed soon by an offer letter from GRIPS. I accepted it considering a number of factors, including the support for my family, the culture, faculties etc. And after completing a 2-years’ masters program, I needed to make another choice, between the Ph.D. position offer from GRIPS and several north American universities. My experience, the comfort of my family in the excellent city of Tokyo and my understanding with the possible supervisor led me to choose GRIPS again. I feel really happy with these decisions when I look back and I

thank GRIPS for an excellent experience.

 

The most important thing from my study in GRIPS is that it changed and reshaped my whole idea about public policy and policy-making. Previously, my idea was that public policy is mainly about vision, good planning and dependent largely on individual skills. But GRIPS, in the very first semester, taught me that it is about analysis, mathematical modeling, economics, understanding the market, welfare analysis etc. That is why I loved the economics and econometrics courses, even being from an engineering background, so much that I was the highest scorer in every economics-related course whether it was microeconomics or macroeconomics, and both in intermediate and advanced level courses. I learned every step of how to develop public policies, the 360-degree views and considerations required in each step, the economic and mathematical models that are required to analyze social phenomena and the history and experience of development. At the same time, I learned how to conduct modern research on social science and became aware of the importance operations research.

　

The academic knowledge and research I gained at GRIPS changed me as a policy-maker and transformed my approach to public policy, enabling me to perform policy-related tasks based on my acquired knowledge and educate others in the same. This experience opened my eyes to the policy-making cycle in my office and practically set my career course in this field. I cherish this experience and the recognition I received from my job, and much of it is thanks to GRIPS.

　

Have you had any involvement, professional or otherwise, with Japan since your graduation?

Yes, I have regular contact and I expect it to continue. Even after graduation, I continued working with my supervisor Professor Tanaka Makoto, and we have published two quality research papers in recognized journals. During my time in Japan, I was the founding member of an educational institute and am still attached to it. Most importantly, I consider the friends I made in Japan to be family, and we regularly interact just like other family members. They are an important part of my life.

　

How do you maintain a balance between your work and the rest of your life? And what is your favorite thing to do when you are not working?

I have very defined priorities in my life, and I follow them in everything I do. As a member of the regulatory body in the dynamic and everchanging telecom sector, I am

involved in policy-related issues that require me to work beyond office hours as you literally cannot produce drafts, analysis and reading within the set office hours. But I do it after ensuring all the time required for my family, my wife and my daughters. If I need to take extra time, I take it from my rest time and also ensure that I am spiritually strong and not affected. I am a family man, and as I mentioned earlier, I chose Tokyo for the comfort of my family, and I continued to prioritize that. Even in GRIPS when I was under pressure academically, I could not refuse if my daughter wanted me at home to play with her. I remember I played with her from the morning, started from GRIPS in the afternoon and stayed overnight to continue working. So, the priority is very clear for me.

　

After my business hours, I spend time with my family and play with my daughters, read books and spend time for my spiritual development. These are the three things I do in my leisure time.

　

What are some of your fondest memories of your time spent at GRIPS? And what do you miss about Japan?　

There are countless memories that keep coming back to me. During report submissions and exam nights, I used to sleep on the floor with a sleeping bag, sometimes staying for consecutive days. I would bring homemade curries to GRIPS and cook rice for lunch and dinner in the rice cooker there. However, one day, the rice cooker broke down, and I was in trouble as I couldn't take cooked rice for a couple of days. Then, based on the suggestion of one of my friends, I started cooking rice in a large glass bowl in the microwave oven. GRIPS taught me some innovation as well! I remember the countless nights when I had to rush to Roppongi station to catch the last train at 12:11 am. I cherish the happy moments when we performed our prayers together at the student lounge, a beloved place arranged by GRIPS!

　

Academically, I have very fond memories of the microeconomics courses taught by Kurosawa-sensei, the macroeconomics courses by Rhodes-sensei, and the courses offered by Tanaka-sensei and Sonobe-sensei. I loved those classes so much that in my master's program, I completed 16 credits beyond the requirement.

　

I miss Japanese rice! It's not a joke; I really miss it. I also miss my friends who didn't believe me at first when I told them I would be going back after five

years. I miss the Japanese people who taught me so much, and lastly, I miss my daughter running towards me on the streets of Nishi- Kameari when I came back from GRIPS every day. Actually, my mental attachment to Tokyo was a bit different than other students as I was practically settled there. Even three months before my departure, I didn't even think of coming back to Bangladesh. It was tough for me, and especially for my elder daughter, who grew up there.

　

If you could give one piece of advice to anyone considering studying at GRIPS what would it be?

Based on my five years of experience at GRIPS, I strongly recommend taking as many courses as possible in your field of interest. By doing so, you will not only acquire knowledge but also develop expertise that will be helpful in your research.

　

How would you like to maintain involved with the School? What do you expect from GRIPS as an alumnus and do you have any suggestions on how to further utilize the GRIPS alumni network?

Although I have not been able to devote much time to research recently, I am eager to continue my involvement through research work. I believe this is the most practical way to keep alumni engaged with GRIPS effectively. GRIPS could consider research projects in which capable and interested alumni would collaborate with professors and current students. Similar research initiatives can also be taken for alumni from the same country, in addition to current get-together initiatives. Not only would this increase alumni involvement, but it would also enhance the research footprint of GRIPS in the academic arena. Thank you for this excellent opportunity to reconnect with the GRIPS family. I look forward to every future opportunity for collaboration.