From 10 to 16 November 2025, Asia Centre, in collaboration with educational institutes, civil society organisations and media groups, conducted a series of Digital Security Trainings for End Beneficiaries (DST-EB) and Training-of-Trainer (DST-TOT) in Dhaka. The series of 14 training sessions were attended by a total of 570 participants where a total of 148 participants took part in the Train of Trainer (DST-TOT) sessions and 422 participants attended the DST-EB sessions. Of these, 8 sessions were conducted as End Beneficiary (EB) training and 6 sessions were held as Train of Trainer (TOT) training, all designed to equip participants with the knowledge and skills necessary to identify digital threats, enhance online safety, sharing of lived experiences on scams and frauds, and strengthen digital resilience by understanding the online safety, privacy and protective digital tools available by Google.
Starting on 10 November 2025, three inaugural DST-EB sessions were conducted. The first DST-EB session with the Department of Journalism Communication and Media Studies at the State University of Bangladesh (SUB) was attended by 50 youths and educators, while the second and third session with the General Education Department at the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) was attended by at total of 90 youths and educators during the two consecutive sessions held back-to-back. The fourth DST-EB session was held at the Bangladesh Supreme Court premises on 12 November, in partnership with Legalised Education Bangladesh Ltd. (LEBL), attended by 34 legal fraternity members from the Attorney General’s Office, Supreme Court of Bangladesh, High Court and other interested lawyers. On 14 November 2025, the fifth DST-EB session were conducted combined with Views Bangladesh (English & Bengali language media) and The Daily Times of Bangladesh (Bengali language media) – bringing together around 20 of their media participants.
Asia Centre’s Programme Manager was also interviewed by Views Bangladesh regarding online scams and frauds after delivering the digital security training at their venue. YouTube video link here.
The sixth and seventh DST-EB sessions were held on 15 November, with The Daily Kaler Kantho and Bangladesh Pratidin, both Bengali-lanuage media publications, belonging to the East-West Media Group – a media conglomerate. The session with The Daily Kaler Kantho was attended by 44 participants, while the session with Bangladesh Pratidin was joined by 38 participants. All of the participants were from print and online media backgrounds, with the group consisting of journalists, editors, reporters, photographers, and content creators.
Asia Centre’s Programme Manager was also given a brief tour of the premises and studio of Bangladesh Pratidin and News 24 Television.
The eighth DST-EB session was held on 16 November with the Department of Journalism, Media and Communication at Daffodil International University (DIU), attended by 64 youths and educators, including media practitioners who were studying at the university.
Asia Centre also conducted several DST-TOTs with other interested partners. On 11 November the first DST-TOT session was held with ActionAid Bangladesh with 24 participants working on information technology, child-safety and community development joining the training as a hybrid, with the majority joining from Dhaka and others from field offices. On 11 November, the second DST-TOT session was held with the Policy Analysis and Research Initiative (PARI), which was joined by 24 participants belonging to the student leaders, youths, civil society, researchers and media. On 12 November, the third DST-TOT session was held with Legalised Education Bangladesh Ltd. (LEBL), engaging representatives from the public, business and private sector, media and youths. On 13 November, the fourth and fifth DST-TOT sessions were held, the fourth with the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB), engaging 58 youths and educators. And the fifth with the Center for Peace and Justice at BRAC University, engaging 32 participants belonging to peace practitioners, civil society, educators, community leaders and youths. The sixth DST-TOT was held with the Department of Media and Mass Communication at the American International University Bangladesh (AIUB) where 58 youths, educators, multi-media and media practitioners joined the session.
The collaboration with many of the educational institutions in Dhaka was a result of the engagement and partnership between the Communication and Journalism Educators’ Networking (CJEN) Bangladesh of which University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) is part of, and CJEN was interested in conducting a series of onsite training workshops on digital security in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Across all the 14 DST sessions (EB and TOT), participants engaged in interactive discussions, group exercises, and simulations designed to build their capacity to identify and mitigate online threats. Through these initiatives, Asia Centre reaffirmed its commitment to promoting digital literacy, online safety, and freedom of expression for many of the high-risk users, while supporting the development of a more resilient and informed digital community.
