DataSoft Bangladesh to create 10,000 smart homes in Tokyo

DataSoft Systems Bangladesh will develop concept and provide next generation Internet of Things or IoT solutions for 10,000 smart homes in Tokyo.

The Bagnladeshi firm signed two memorandums of articulation to turn the apartments into smart homes with Japanese company Smart Life.

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed witnessed the signing in Dhaka on Sunday.

“This is a breakthrough for the ICT industry as well as the whole country,” a media release from DataSoft quoted its Managing Director Mahboob Zaman as saying.

“In the next phase of technology, all objects, whether automobile or home appliance, will be connected with the internet like living things,” he added.

The IoT solutions include controlling and minimising power usage, preventing gas leakage, minimising water wastage, controlling room temperature, and ensuring security, Sami Al Islam, Project Coordinator, DataSoft, said in the release.

The project is set to fetch DataSoft about $8,000 from each of the apartments and a service fee of $10-15 from every unit each month, according to the media release.

It will create jobs for 300 IT professionals in Bangladesh and 30 in Japan, the release said.

Bunta Mabuchi, Director of Smart Life, showcased the smart apartments and how they stand as cost-efficient solutions.

The investment in a smart house is more than justified as the solution nearly halves the operational and management cost of an apartment complex, said Manjur Mahmud, Chief Operating Officer of DataSoft. "And as a result, the rent of apartments goes down by 18-20 percent."

Mabuchi said Tokyo is hosting the 2020 Olympics, due to which a huge number of people will descend upon the Japanese capital. There will be a need for cheap apartments then and the smart apartments will come in handy.

Minister Tofail said the tie-up proves the government’s vision of a ‘Digital Bangladesh’. “It is a matter of prestige for us,” he added.

Mustafa Jabbar, President of the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services, Banamali Bhowmick, Director General of the ICT Division, Daisuke Arai, Country Representative of Japan External Trade Organization, among others, were also present.

DataSoft is the first software company in Bangladesh to be documented as a CMMI Level 5 Software Development company, the release said.