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Public Administration Adviser Md. Ismail Zabiullah
Artificial intelligence (AI) adoption across the state apparatus must firmly ensure administrative efficiency, operational transparency, and citizen-friendly public services while rigorously safeguarding data privacy and explicit personal consent, stated Md. Ismail Zabiullah, Member of the BNP National Standing Committee and Adviser to the Prime Minister on Public Administration (holding ministerial rank).
Speaking as the chief guest at a seminar titled "AI and Governance: Global Technology Architecture, National Digital Public Infrastructure, and Policy Directives" held at the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) auditorium in Dhaka on Thursday, Zabiullah emphasized that AI has evolved far beyond a niche technological domain into a fundamental pillar of national capacity, governance, economic resilience, security, and global geopolitics.
The adviser stressed that public administration should serve as the initial testing ground and primary frontier for Bangladesh's AI transformation. By deploying AI assistants trained on verified official repositories, civil servants can instantly retrieve pertinent statutory rules, circulars, precedents, and reference documentation, drastically cutting bureaucratic delays and replacing cumbersome manual file searches. Drawing parallels with international initiatives, including civil service training programs in the United Kingdom, he urged swift domestic action to equip the civil bureaucracy with cutting-edge technological competencies.
Highlighting administrative sectors prime for algorithmic optimization, Zabiullah outlined how predictive computing can curtail waste and fiscal leaks across public procurement, project appraisal at the Planning Commission, expenditure rationale within the Finance Division, taxation, recruitment, social safety net distribution, and routine document management. At the citizen interface, automated processing can streamline core public services, including healthcare access, passport issuance, driving licenses, and district-level administrative deliveries.
Addressing cybersecurity and ethical imperatives, the adviser called for robust data classification frameworks, strong cybersecurity architectures, and comprehensive legal guidelines to prevent fraud, unauthorized profiling, and systemic data leaks. He noted that in the realm of national defense and defense diplomacy—exemplified by autonomous surveillance deployments along the Sino-Indian border—computational power, data ownership, and proprietary algorithms are decisively reshaping modern deterrence, intelligence gathering, precision operations, and the global strategic balance.
Drawing a vivid analogy, Zabiullah warned that AI resembles a matchstick that can either cook a meal or burn down a house, stressing that while workforce restructuring is inevitable, administrative inefficiency must not be preserved merely to protect redundant roles. He stated that the overarching goal must be an "AI-assisted government" rather than an impersonal, "humanless government."
The seminar opened with welcoming remarks from Major General ASM Ridwanur Rahman, Director General of BIISS. Dr. Syed Muntasir Mamun, Director General of the International Trade, Investment, Technology, and ICT Wing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, presented the keynote paper, alongside a paper from Ashfaq Zaman, Chief Strategist of the Dhaka Forum Initiative.
Presided over by Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) Chairman Major General Md. Emdad Ul Bari, the event concluded with an interactive plenary session bringing together senior ministry officials, regulatory executives, development partners, tech and financial leaders, academics, researchers, and students to examine the strategic interplay between artificial intelligence, public policy, and national security.
