Dhaka, 22 July 2026 — The Bangladesh Research and Education Network (BdREN), in collaboration with Cambridge University Press (CUP), today organized a day-long programme titled “BdREN–CUP Collaboration: Pathway towards Global Knowledge” at Sheraton Dhaka, Banani. The programme brought together university leadership, financial administrators and library professionals from across the country to advance a shared agenda for research, publishing and digital knowledge access in Bangladesh.

Professor Dr. Mamun Ahmed, Honorable Chairman of the University Grants Commission of Bangladesh and Chairperson of the BdREN Trust, graced the programme as the Chief Guest. In his address, he underscored the importance of equitable and affordable access to world-class scholarly content for the country’s researchers, faculty members and students, and reaffirmed the UGC’s continued support for the national e-resource programme.

The programme drew 130 participants, including 110 delegates from 60 universities and institutions — 35 public and 25 private. The delegation included 20 Vice-Chancellors, 2 Pro-Vice-Chancellors, 12 Treasurers, 9 Finance Directors and Comptrollers, and 56 librarians and library professionals. The breadth of participation brought together, on a single platform, those who lead institutions, those who fund their resource budgets and those who deliver services to end users.

The day opened with a welcome address and context-setting session by Mr. Debottam Bhattacharjee, National Head, Cambridge University Press. Ms. Qudsiya Ahmed, Head of Publishing at Cambridge University Press, presented the Cambridge South Asia Publishing Programme, while BdREN shared the current status and future roadmap of its e-resource initiatives. The Project Director of the HEAT Project outlined the project’s vision for expanding access to e-resources, and the Director, ICT Division, UGC spoke on UGC–BdREN collaboration in promoting digital scholarly resources nationwide. The Chief Executive Officer of BdREN, Mohammad Tawrit presented on strengthening the Cambridge–BdREN collaboration.

In the afternoon, Ms. Debashree Basu, Regional Sales Manager, Cambridge University Press, presented Cambridge’s academic resources and solutions. Participants then joined thematic breakout discussions on six themes: the Bangladeshi scholar’s journey from research to publication; open access myths and realities; designing the university digital library of 2030; the quality textbook gap; making Bangladeshi research globally visible; and transformative agreements for institutions. Group takeaways were shared in a plenary session, followed by an open house for feedback and suggestions.

Closing the programme with a session on the road ahead, Cambridge University Press and BdREN reaffirmed their commitment to working together, alongside the UGC and the HEAT Project, to widen access to global scholarly content for the higher education community of Bangladesh.