An inter-ministerial data interoperability initiative has been taken to make the government’s routine immunization system more effective, integrated and sustainable. For this purpose, it has been decided to implement an integrated data exchange platform, where the vaccination system of the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) will be used as the primary use case.
This was announced by Secretary of the Information and Communication Technology Division, Sheesh Haider Chowdhury, and Secretary of the Reforms and Coordination Branch, Cabinet Division, Zaheda Parveen, at a high-level policy-making meeting held at a hotel in Dhaka today, Sunday (14 December 2025) under the leadership of the Cabinet Division, jointly organized by Aspire to Innovate (a2i), the ICT Division and UNDP Bangladesh.
It has been announced that a strategic committee comprising representatives of relevant ministries and departments and a technical committee comprising technical experts will be formed to implement this initiative. The experience and challenges gained during the implementation of the EPI system will be used as the basis for the formation of a national-level interoperable system in the future.
Shish Haider Chowdhury said, “Currently, various departments related to birth registration, civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS), EPI, education and identity cards have citizen information, but they are not connected to each other. As a result, the same information has to be submitted repeatedly, which wastes time and resources and affects the quality of services. Once the integrated data exchange platform is launched, the information collected once can be automatically used in all related systems. Through this, it will be possible to consistently use the information collected at birth in various services including vaccination, education admission, identity cards and passports. As a result of this data-based coordination, various departments will get accurate data to set their plans and goals. In addition, it will be easier to forecast vaccine demand, update real-time information and bring all eligible children and adolescents under the scope of vaccination. The hassle of providing information to citizens will be reduced and administrative activities will be more efficient.”
Zaheda Parveen said, “According to the National Data Management Ordinance 2025, the Cabinet Division is responsible for coordination in the field of interoperability. In that case, if the ICT Division takes the initiative and includes the Cabinet Division, the Cabinet Division will provide all kinds of cooperation. Coordination between the birth registration number and the NID system should be done so that the citizens’ unique ID can be ensured by storing the same type of information in both cases. In this case, there will be a committee headed by the Secretary, Coordination and Reforms, Cabinet and a committee headed by the Secretary, ICT Division. In the case of Bangladesh National Digital Architecture, the failure to implement it in each department due to the lack of specific laws can be eliminated through the National Data Management Ordinance 2025 and the Personal Data Protection Ordinance 2025. If this initiative is implemented, interoperability will be ensured in the exchange of government information in Bangladesh and a new standard will be set in citizen services.”
In the meeting, Director General of the Family Planning Department, Dr. Ashrafi Ahmed, Additional Secretary (Administration Wing) of the ICT Department Md. Mamunur Rashid Bhuiyan; Project Director (Joint Secretary) of a2i Md. Abdur Rafiq; Joint Project Director (Joint Secretary) Md. Kamrul Hasan and Joint Project Director (Joint Secretary) Md. Rashidul Mannaf Kabir; Joint Secretary (Digital Governance and Security Wing) of the ICT Department Md. Mujibur Rahman; Director (MIS) of the Directorate General of Health Services Dr. Abu Ahmed Al Mamun; Program Management Lead of a2i Abdullah Al Fahim, Data and Research Cluster Head Anwarul Arif Khan and International Project Manager Maha Abu Emier were present.
