Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday said it must be ensured that the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) tools are not used to hurt or undermine humanity.

"We must make sure that the 4IR tools are not put to use to hurt or undermine our humanity," she said.

The prime minister said this while responding to a question in a programme titled A talk at the event on New Economy and Society in Smart Bangladesh organised by the World Economic Forum at its office here.

PM's speech writer M Nazrul Islam briefed reporters after the programme.

The PM put emphasis on putting safeguards against cyber-attacks, disinformation and other vices.

"We have to collectively keep protection against cyber-attacks, disinformation and other vices," she said.

Hasina also called for ensuring that 4IR does not create further divides within the society.

"We want to make sure that 4IR does not create further divides within our society. We must build effective public-private partnership at the international level for this purpose," she said.

In this connection, she said that her government has started preparing the youth of the country for 4IR and the future of work.

"I am confident that our boys and girls will not just follow 4IR trends but will actually lead them," she said.

She said that she feels encouraged to see the kind of innovative work the country's students are doing in robotics.

"We have also seen great enthusiasm among them at the Innovation fairs we have been organising across the country," said the PM.

She said that Bangladesh would certainly welcome an independent 4IR Centre in partnership with WEF.

The prime minister said that the government is already working on having the right kind of legal, policy and institutional framework for 4IR in the country.

"We have developed individual national strategies on artificial intelligence, internet of things, nanotechnology" she said

In this connection, she said that the government is setting up specialised institutes for frontier technologies, nanotechnology and other issues in different parts of the country.

"We have also launched Smart Leadership Academy to develop future political leaders for smart governance," she added.

She said that Bangladesh, therefore, is taking keen interest in the UN's work on developing a Global Digital Compact.

"We hope that this Global Compact will have clear guidelines for the international community on responsible and productive use of digital and frontier technologies."