C-DAC: Press Kit - Archives(Press Releases) - India Pilots Innovative Research on Bridging the Digital Divide

The Government of India today made an important contribution to advancing the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) for development, launching the first Research and Training Center of the Development Gateway Foundation at the National Centre for Software Technology (NCST) in Bangalore by Shri. Pramod Mahajan, Hon'ble Union Minister of Communications & Information Technology and Parliamentary Affairs. With NCST as the implementing institution and Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-Mumbai) as its first collaborating partner, the Center will support and develop practical ICT-based solutions for bridging the digital divide. Potential areas of research include Internet technologies to facilitate information sharing and management, language technologies that allow the retrieval of information in multiple languages, and technologies that address the information needs of specific sectors such as Agriculture, Health care and Education.

"It is well known that India brings to bear both innovative approaches and technical expertise in applying ICT for development", said Foundation Board member and World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn on the occasion of the launch of the Center. "We expect that the research that will be undertaken by the Center will be an important contribution to bridging the digital divide throughout the world", he further added.

Expressing his happiness on this occasion with NCST and C-DAC, the two key institutions of the Ministry of Communications & Information Technology, in implementing the projects, Shri. Pramod Mahajan said, "Our Government wants the IT revolution to flow from the West to the East and from the South to the North of our country. The Government shall achieve Digital Unity by bridging the Digital Divide through the universal access to ICT". He also thanked the World Bank and the Development Gateway Foundation for reposing their confidence in India to achieve these objectives.

India is a Founding Member of the Development Gateway Foundation, an independent, non-profit organization built on public-private partnerships, which fosters the use of ICT for sustainable development and poverty reduction. Other Founding Members on the Board of the Foundation are governments of Australia, China, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mali (sponsored by the Netherlands), Pakistan, and Rwanda, as well as the World Bank Group. Additional commitments are from Michael Bloomberg, the Government of Luxembourg, Mac Holdings America, Inc., Mphasis, Transnational Computer Technology, and UNDP.

The establishment of a Network of Research and Training Centers is one of four key programs of the Development Gateway Foundation, and the Indian Research and Training Center is part of India's US$ 5 million commitment to the Foundation. As the first center in this network, the Indian Research and Training Center will play a key role in shaping the agenda of how ICT can be effective in the fight against poverty and promote sustainable development.

Government of India also launched "India Country Gateway," as an initiative of the Department of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India and funded by the World Bank under its InfoDev program. India Country Gateway portal is aimed at involvement of Government, Private, Public, Public & International Organizations sharing information on various aspects on development in India and how use of ICT can be leveraged for socio-economic development. The prototype portal launched today, has been implemented by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing
(C-DAC) along with its partners.

India Country Gateway when fully implemented would act as a window of information from India and would play the role of a catalyst to the introduction of best practices towards eDevelopment, eGovernance and eEmpowerment etc. through collaboration among various stake holders.

The launch was presided over by Dr. Sanjay Paswan, Union Minister of State for Communications & Information Technology. Shri. Rajeeva Ratna Shah, Secretary, Department of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India and Dr. Carlos Braga, Director, Global Development Gateway Initiative, World Bank, also spoke at the occasion.