Jabbar wanted to overcome many of the limitations associated with the existing options by developing a new Bangla interface with a new layout. At the time, there were already at least two other Bangla keyboard layouts: the “Munir” keyboard, which was developed in 1969 for use in typewriters and the “ShahidLipi” which was the first complete Bangla font for computers. Jabbar faced was accommodating the hundreds of Bangla characters, including additional vowels and consonants and consonant conjuncts, within a standard Macintosh keyboard in a QWERTY layout.
Jabbar was appointed as Minister of the Ministry of Post, Telecommunication and Information Technology in Bangladesh. Jabbar’s pioneering role in the invention of the Bijoy Bangla Script Writing Interface System and promotion of information and communication technology (ICT) has been recognized by the Bangladeshi Government. In fact, the Bijoy Keyboard Layout (BDS 1738:2018) and Bijoy Coding System (BDS 1935:2018) were declared to be the national standard Bangla Script Writing in Bangladesh, making it the only standard for Bangla script writing in the world.ĭespite increasing competition from other Bangla writing systems, Mr.
He started by creating some Bangla fonts and subsequently developing the Bangla software and a Bangla keyboard layout known as “Bijoy.”īijoy has established itself as one of the top Bangla script writing interface systems among a community of 350 million Bangla-speaking people. Jabbar considered ways to overcome the technological limitations of the Bangla script writing system in these industries. He started a computer business in 1987, but technological limitations were particularly constraining for the printing and publishing industries in Bangladesh and other Bangla-speaking regions. He began his career as a journalist in 1972, while still a student. Jabbar is from a rural village in Bangladesh and would later attend the University of Dhaka, where he majored in Bangla Language & Literature. Jabbar has benefited from intellectual property (IP) protection for his widely-used Bangla script writing interface system. The Bijoy Bangla Software and Keyboard Layout grew popular among users, and Mr. Mustafa Jabbar, a Bangladeshi journalist, developed software and a keyboard layout, which greatly changed the printing and publishing industry in Bangladesh. Understanding the need for a feasible Bangla input software and script writing interface, Mr. Key success factors: understanding market demandĪlthough Bangla is the seventh most-spoken language in the world, there was no well-functioning, simple and easy-to-use software for typing in this language until the late 1980s.