50th Golden Jubilee Annual Convention of Computer Society of India brought forward expert views on the Digital India initiative

Creating Infrastructure a Major Challenge for Digital India:

50th Golden Jubilee Annual Convention of Computer Society of India brought forward expert views on the ‘Digital India initiative

  • Experts like Dr. Kamaljeet Singh Anand (Executive Director – IMS Noida), Professor Pritam Babu Sharma (Vice Chancellor of Amity University, Gurgaon) and others discussed the benefits of the Digital India program

 

  • The AAP MLA from Greater Kailash Constituency Saurabh Bharadwaj ,of the Delhi State Legislature was also present in the event

Dr. KJS Anand with other panelist

New Delhi, 2015: Indian government’s Digital India campaign aims to revolutionize services and fast track delivery by digitizing government processes across the nation. However, with a current penetration of less than 30% of Internet services, the accomplishment of this objective is easier said than done. At 50th Golden Jubilee Annual Convention of Computer Society of India, leading experts from the field of IT and education came together to discuss the challenges and opportunities presented by the Digital India initiative.

The panel consisted of intellectuals like Dr. Kamaljeet Singh (K.S.) Anand, Professor, Pritam Babu (P.B.) Sharma, Retired Lieutenant Mr. Aggarwal amongst others at the Bharati Vidyapeeth Educational Complex, Delhi.

With nearly a billion mobile users, the country has witnessed a revolution in the telecom sector. However, internet penetration remains abysmal, and concentrated in urban areas. Digital India is a program which is capable of transforming the country to a modern, knowledge driven society and universal access of broadband is necessary for this to happen.

As per experts, presently, only 30% of Indians have access to broadband and internet services. These 30% reside in the urban areas while the vast populace residing in rural areas is bereft of such services.

“When discussing digital revolution, we need to pay attention to various revolutions which have occurred in the world and have left a lasting effect on mankind. Industrial revolution was a very important revolution which changed the face of the world when industrial discoveries started helping many industries to grow. In the Indian context, the green revolution comes to people’s minds. As far as digital revolution is concerned, the common masses are an important part of it. Both the users who are utilizing internet services and the producers who produce these services will play a vital role in making the concept of ‘Digital India’ a success. A major question which arises is – Will our economic growth be able to intertwine with the digital revolution like it intertwined with the green revolution and benefited the economy? A major issue which needs to be discussed is empowerment, which is necessary for digitization. In this case empowerment comes through training. Once we are able to achieve that, it would be a great boost to digital empowerment”, says Dr. Kamaljeet Singh Anand.

Dr. Anand also discussed the need of transparency as far as empowering people are concerned. As long as both the users and facilitators aren’t empowered, digital empowerment won’t be complete in the country.

“The objective of digital India is to have innovative and practical solutions. We need strong infrastructure as the country has to provide internet services to approx. 2,50,000 Gram Panchayats. It’s a very sad situation that in the present era only 3,384 Gram Panchayats are connected with Optical Fiber Network. Prime Minister Mr. Narender Modi says that cities with more than a million people should have Wi-Fi hotspots. It’s necessary to create proper technology, proper means and an ecosystem to achieve this objective. Digital empowerment of citizens will only be possible when they will have access to information, access to online purchasing and other similar services. These services are a part of Govt. to citizen services. Internet growth in the country will also fuel demand of better services and generate employment for the masses,” says retired Lt. Mr. Aggarwal.

The Golden Jubilee Annual convention of CSI facilitated various experts and also witnessed the release of two books on technology – ‘Assurance, Testing and Metrics – Anirban Basu and Digital Logic Design – Mr. Mansaf Alam and Bashir Alam.