those who believe in bangla keep the same right to contribute in developing it. we are expecting your active and constructive inputs so that we can set some standards for bangla fonts. we hope it’ll help the upcoming typographers to be more interested in developing new bangla fonts.

you can upload a scan copy of your handwritings here which may include the suggestions for how you want to see the alphabets. based on experts selections, we’ll create a font combining different handwritings of different alphabets.

the new free bangla font launched by amar bornomala is open to download since the 1st minute after it was inaugurated by the prime minister sheikh hasina. in last 22 hours it got around 3,000 downloads. if you yet to download it, please use this link.

it’ll ask your email or phone number before the download starts. we are taking this info so that we can notify you the next updates, as well as if other fonts are here to download.

so far we’ve got thousands of feedbacks via comments, direct contacts, facebook page, over phone etc which encouraging us to work harder. we are ensuring you that we are reading each of your feedbacks and working on it.

as there were no academic standardizations in creating bangla fonts, our aim is to establish this culture. also we want to create a platform from where people can get beautiful bangla fonts for free.

so your support is very important!

the beginning was back in 2010 when i first started thinking about an academic thesis entitled ‘amar bornomala o somosamoyik bangla typography‘ (my alphabets and contemporary bangla typography). those were some dots which needed to be connected.

in last two years i’ve tried to connect those dots. i’ve talked with several people, organizations, institutes to get supports. but i’ve never imagined that the honorable prime minister will inaugurate this initiative!

the primary goal of amar bornomala is to standardize the bangla fonts with academic principles. the honorable prime minister of peoples republic of bangladesh, sheikh hasina has inaugurated the first font at the very first moment of 21 february 2013 from the central shahid minar premises. other two fonts are coming within next couple of days. access to information (a2i) programme of prime minister’s office initiated this project in association with bangla academy and department of graphic design from university of dhaka. you can also download this font from this link.

well, it wasn’t an easy journey and at the same time was a long process of learning. you shouldn’t limit your dreams, ever! most of the times you won’t be able to imagine the solutions, but you can be sure that there must be a solution if you are able to create a constructive problem.

these slides were presented at Dhaka Startup Weekend, held in 10 – 12 January 2013. the learnings are real and you can ask for the details. we have the stories to tell you.

facebook is doing a really great business in Bangladesh though we don’t have a proper, easy or legal way to make international payments. i think the amount is bigger than many other countries who might have a better way to make payments! from my personal assessments i think very recently facebook is getting more orders than their capacity!

well, is this a good sign? i am sure very few of you will come with a straight answer. i am considering it as ‘growth of stupidity’.

i used to login to facebook to see these stupidities and i am paid for that. my friends (except business owners, spammers), once who were the reason of using facebook now hardly post anything there.

being social doesn’t mean ‘facebook’ and engagement doesn’t mean increasing the number of ‘likes’. if you really think that way – pity on you, you actually never have a balance social life or you have very boring friends.

i’ve started working with designing facebook apps since february 2012. it was a great feeling after completing the 1st one which was ‘my special valentine‘ launched by airtel. it was a great experience to see how people interact with the big brands.

in the later months airtel has given us the chance to create few more apps like bangladesh in my lens, ankbo amra dekhbe bishwa and monsoon in my lens. each of these apps have engaged the audiences in different ways and brought some wonderful returns for airtel.

with these huge experiences i’ve got more chances to work with other brands like 7up, pepsi, durex etc. the durex one worth some highlights as it was planned for a different kind of users engagement. the privacy was the biggest consideration as it’s a vital issue for any engagement with a brand like durex.

very recently i’ve got a chance to work with grameenphone which was a very new kind of experience for me. i got to plan, design and develop the app ‘bond of friendship‘ which should be considered as one of the biggest social engagement case studies from bangladesh.

well, it seems the journey is just began. most of marketers are now talking about these kind of social engagements. this is the easiest and cheapest way to count the direct public feedback.

for any Bangladeshi brand, suddenly it became very essential to have a facebook page. hundreds of companies are coming with a new kind of service – social media management which include facebook page management, facebook campaign management, application development etc.

last March on the occasion of independence day of Bangladesh, airtellbuzz, the social hub of airtel bangladesh, launched photo competition through their facebook page. it brought a tremendous return which later drive other brands to follow it.

the big brands are now counting the ‘likes’ as their return of investments. people are talking about how to increase the page like. as well as the experts are also telling about dos and don’ts in social engagements.

in last few months i’ve managed several facebook campaign for some big brands of bangladesh. i’ve also got the chance to manage some of country’s top facebook pages. facebook is the easiest platform to promote a message among the likers – this is the common reason why the big brands are so desperate to increase their page like.

The rapid growth of digital technology is fundamentally changing the world as we know it. Global internet penetration in 2010 stood at 1.9 billion people and is expected to grow to 5 billion by 2015. It is unsurprising that with this in mind, information in the world (videos, music, documents etc.) that is stored online is also projected to grow from 800 exabytes to 53 zetabytes (eMarketer, 2011).

To put this into context, Google recently announced that there is 60 hours of video (YouTube Blog, 2012) uploaded onto YouTube each and every minute.

Mobile adoption is another factor that is further accelerating access to the internet. The “Queen of the Net” Mary Meeker forecasts mobile internet usage to outstrip desktop/large screen by 2015.

So why is this relevant to us in Bangladesh?
In Bangladesh, with mobile subscribers just over 92 million and mobile internet access over 25 million users (BTRC, March 2012), it is fair to say, that these “pocket computers” will be the first entry point into the internet for many people in this country.

As access to internet explodes, the internet will increasingly become where people, of all ages and demographics, spend their time and as a result it will lead to significant changes in the way we go about our daily lives.

It is second nature for an individual in New York to purchase a flight via the internet and changes such as these are soon to take place here.

G&R Ad Network, a company that manages internet ad campaigns across over 150 local websites reaching over 90% of Bangladeshis online, has built-up unique insight into how users within the country and abroad browse the web.

G&R analysed millions of data points and put together 3 key trends that can help show where the internet in Bangladesh is going.

1. Internet consumption is accelerating
The internet subscriber base in Bangladesh (excluding mobile) currently stands at just over 1.5 million (BTRC, Feb 2012). However, total desktop internet users in Bangladesh is actually far greater than that number, likely driven by heavy usage in offices, internet cafes and multiple users accessing the internet from a single household. Local industry estimates suggest that in 2011 access to the web was closer to 8 million users, having grown 300% since 2010 and expected grow a further 500% by 2020 (BCG, 2010). This acceleration of internet consumption is undoubtedly fueled not only by the growth in access, such as through WIMAX modems, but also through the proliferation of increasingly affordable laptops, desktops and tablets.

2. Those with access browse a lot
Until now, it wasn’t clear how people in Bangladesh actually spend their time on the web on a daily basis. The data G&R gathered sheds some more light on consumer behaviour online.

The average user accesses the web on 3 separate occasions throughout the day, with usage peaking during the morning hours. In addition, a total of 4 different websites are typically visited during these sessions.

While usage of social networks and email services account for a considerable portion web activity, the data collected by the G&R indicates that Bangladeshis also spend a lot of time browsing the web. Such users are actively seeking information and content online and this is only going to grow further as more local websites and web applications start to enter the public domain.

3. Web usage varies considerably by day of week
Which days are Bangladeshis most online is a question that has been asked a lot at G&R. As visualised in the chart on left , web usage varies considerably based on the day of the week. Internet traffic among local Bangladeshis peaks on Mondays and is generally higher during the working days. Fridays represent substantially less traffic, but it is worth noting that internet consumption remains high for non-resident Bangladeshis visiting local Bangladeshi sites on Fridays.

Final thoughts
The rapid development of the online space in Bangladesh is very exciting and promising. The frenetic popularity of global platforms like Google, Facebook and Twitter as well as the innovation and growth of local websites, Bangla content, localised online tools and ecommerce which indicates that the internet will have an increasingly positive impact on the daily lives of people in this country.

-

Nazimuddaula Milon is COO, G&R Ad Network (milon@gandr.com.bd)
Nasheet Islam is director, G&R Ad Network, (nash@gandr.com.bd)

back in 2005 when i first came to know about the insights of internet technology. before that it was actually difficult for me to imagine how a website works!

in last few years i’ve spent most of time in learning. the same thing still going on and i am not sure how long i should keep learning. the best part is ‘i am loving it’!

the attached slides were presented at Digital Marketing Summit 2012, held in Dhaka. we’ve shown here few insights which is driving the growth of G&R.

it has a long story!

rongdhong was an idea which i heard first time in middle of a night – that was a pleasant story. later a long time passed which brought a bad story. after blending lot of good and bad stories, rongdhong became public at the middle of 2011.

rongdhong brings stories of life, the writers of rongdhong are you! it doesn’t need any expert opinion or any very thoughtful message. if any of your stories which you think will help other people, can be published here.

let us know what you think about it.

so, here i am!

last month i’ve started another website www.201loves202.com. there is a long story behind the name. 201 was my class role and 202 was her. this website is totally focused on our works. so we are adding all our academic and professional works there. as well as we are running there a microblog to let you know about our new ideas.

please give us a visit!

it's the season of 'rongon', a flower which is truly red. you can find it in another colors too.

so, it’s going on.

you can’t say yourself happy unless you are happy. life isn’t so easy at all – at least here in dhaka which is declared by economist as 2nd worst city in the world… you’ll never know how long you have to wait under the burning sun for a transportation. so the definition of happiness is a term which we have to consider just at home. so, have a look to the picture above. it’s from my balcony. i do water it everyday.

few updates of my work: well, things around me has changed too fast in last couple of months. this is a site i’ve designed few months ago which was selected as a best site… that was a great honor for me. right now i am working with building an ad network which is quit a new experience for me. i’ll tell you more about it later. yesterday i’ve launched another ‘sleepless night’ idea which you may have a look too.

we call this tree 'krishnochura'. this tree wait all through the year to be praised just for once, only for few days. this is the time of krishnochura blooming.

‘the terminal’ is my most favorite movie for all the time. life is waiting. we wait, we have to wait. sometime waiting makes us feeling good, often its painful. but we have to wait.

i can hear a music very unfamiliar… i never heard this tune. someone playing a guitar in a very wonderful way. i hear music when i wait. but this time waiting isn’t waisting of time. that day when i was waiting under the open sky, a rain drop touched me. i’d love to wait my whole life for being touched by such a rain drop.

waiting makes you a human being, a philosopher or anything you want to be.

i didn’t write here for last few weeks though these were most memorable times of my life. a new life began with new things, new responsibilities and new experiences. the most important part is i am enjoying my time. soon this site is going to be more rich. because a new writer is going to be added.

well, life is beautiful and i am posting my beautiful stories in different places. i’ve created pages at blogspot, tumblr and today at odopod. you can have a look to there. i am sure you’ll like it.

the illustration is done by tirana khan - the bride; compose and design is by me

well, this is a new beginning, an unknown stage of life. i am never afraid of responsibilities but this is something which actually i can’t measure the load. i believe it’d be fine. life is beautiful.

And of His signs is that He created for you from yourselves mates that you may find tranquillity in them; and He placed between you affection and mercy. Indeed in that are signs for a people who give thought.

Al Quran 30:21

wish me good luck!