Time Ticking: North-East India still paving its way digitally

GUWAHATI, INDIA: North East Development Foundation, an NGO in Assam organized e-Assam 2015 on `10th April 2015, a summit to discuss and share ideas on Digital Innovations for Development. When the entire country is going digital, a part of the country is still at the nascent stages of being digital.

The event showcased a number of case study presentations in e-governance, citizen services delivery and Last Mile Access, ICT and Digital innovations in education learning, in health and environment, e-Youth and Social Media for empowerment, ICT for livelihood, skill and enterprise.

A number of case studies were presented from across the country and Northeast states of how the tech innovators are taking endeavours in bringing digital progress in North East region.

Professor Gautam Barua, IIIT Guwahati recommended, to leverage digital innovation North East should develop content i local language and empower people, build roman keyboard in mobile devices and achieve connectivity the ' last mile connection'.

Dr. K M Baharul Islam, Professor of Communications, Chair, Centre for Public Policy and Government, Program director, The World Bnak Project, IIM, Kashipur, said, "Digital innovation always fails the poor. There is a huge gap between the research being done, the innovation and ultimately reaching the poor. NRC taking place in Assam right now is a perfect example of that where citizens are not just able to connect the dots."

Rajiv Kumar Bora, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary, Assam, said: " Innovation is synonymous with development. Technogy is available, affordable, upto us how we use it. Capacity building is a priority and so we are building smart classrooms, incubation centres. The government of Assam has also signed an MOU with Curtain University of Australia to improve our curriculum, set up labs etc. "

Dell, the technology partner on this occasion explored the opportunities and scope in this region and also the challenges that needs to be overcome so as to maximize the reach.

Raman Bountra, Public Business Leader, Dell India, said, "Technology adoption in India will see a trickle-down effect from the center to state governments, and Northeast will play a large role in India’s transition as a technology driven knowledge economy. It entirely depends on the speed of development and IT acceptance in this part of the country. Building awareness about the role of technology towards better e-governance initiatives will be critical of the execution of the governments technology vision for the region."

"Dell is trying to bring the best possible solution catering to the needs of the region. We are excited about the opportunities and developments taking place in this area. With our end-to-end technology expertise, we can bring in more innovation for small to large enterprises and Government departments. Our local partners are our guide in understanding this market, topologies and the local consumer behavior, which is helping us to move forward in the right ways and invest significantly in the development process in North-East."

Assam currently shows less than 10pc (5lakh) computer penetration and an Internet penetration of 1 percent. Osama Manzar, founder, director, Digital Empowerment Foundation, Ministry of Communication and IT, Government of India, said "If things have to change, they need to change within next 5 years otherwise Northeast will just miss the bus.

Piyush Pushkal – Segment Marketing Lead – Government, Dell India said, "Being a technology player, we do understand the potential and the associated challenges of this market. We would like to bring in the relevant solutions for an all-inclusive development of the north east region to achieve the overarching vision of Digital India. This has been an ideal platform for us to have a contextual discussion on various aspects of using technology in an effective way."