Dhaka, 24 September 2026: A signing ceremony concerning e-book resources for the UGC Digital Library was held today at the University Grants Commission (UGC) in Dhaka, bringing together representatives from the World Bank, University Grants Commission (UGC), Higher Education Acceleration and Transformation (HEAT) Project, and Bangladesh Research and Education Network (BdREN).

Professor Dr. Mamun Ahmed, Chairman of the University Grants Commission of Bangladesh, attended the ceremony as the Chief Guest. Ms. Scherezad Monami Latif, Practice Manager, Education and Skills Global Practice, South Asia Region, World Bank, was present as the Guest of Honour, while T. M. Asaduzzaman, Senior Education Specialist and Task Team Leader (TTL), World Bank, attended as the Special Guest. Professor Dr. Asaduzzaman, Project Director of the HEAT Project, chaired the ceremony.

The programme was also attended by key officials from the HEAT Project, including DPD HEAT Professor Md. Asaduzzaman and Wing Manager Professor Dr. Mohammed Shafiul Alam Khan.

Representing BdREN, Mohammad Tawrit, Chief Executive Officer; Dr. Mohammad Farooq Ali Tarafder, FCMA, ACS, Chief Finance Officer; Ekhlas Uddin Ahmed, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO); and Assistant Manager Ahmed Al Hossain were present at the ceremony.

As part of its contribution to research and education in Bangladesh, BdREN facilitates access to scholarly resources from leading international publishers for universities across the country. The e-book collections currently offered through BdREN include 696 titles from SAGE Publications, 1,390 from Emerald Publishing, 10,916 from Taylor & Francis, 13,871 from Springer Nature, 1,076 from Elsevier, 2,522 from Wiley, and 245 from McGraw Hill. Together, these collections provide researchers, faculty members, and students with access to a broad range of academic literature and knowledge resources.

The event highlighted the continued collaboration among UGC, HEAT, the World Bank, and BdREN in strengthening digital resources and facilitating wider access to academic knowledge for Bangladesh's higher education community.

The initiative is expected to contribute to the development of digital learning resources and support higher education institutions through improved access to quality e-book collections via the UGC Digital Library. Through such initiatives, BdREN continues to contribute to building a stronger digital research and education ecosystem in Bangladesh.