Goa logs on to hi-speed broadband

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Goa logged on to high-speed broadband when prime minister Manmohan Singh launched the Goa Broadband Network at Porvorim, Goa on Thursday.

The first-of-its kind network in the country will ensure delivery of citizen-centric service at the doorsteps of the people in the state.

It will provide high-speed connectivity to the taluks, citizens and CSCs. In his address, Singh called the Goa Broadband Network as a pioneering project and an important milestone in the use of modern telecommunications and IT capabilities for improving public services.

The first phase will connect all state government offices up to the taluk level. In the next, the network will connect every village and household thus bridging the digital divide.

Initially, the network will enable delivery of a large number of government service functions to be delivered on-line, making the government citizen-friendly. By end-2008, as all houses are connected, the network will also provide tremendous service opportunities in new fields such as healthcare, education and employment.

The state can then provide long distance computer based education and emergency and diagnostic healthcare facilities. People would be able to work from their homes and the state could see an explosion of knowledge-based employment in call centers, BPO centers and online services.

The entire state could benefit from low cost access to Internet telephony and video-conferencing facilities. The project, implemented through the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode by the state government and 3i Infotech, is based on a viable business model. Currently the network has 10 citizen service centers (CSCs), which are to be scaled to 200 by end-2008.

At that point of time, the network will be self-funding and sustaining by generating its own revenues. “I hope that as the project rolls out, its benefits will be felt by all sections of Goan society. It will then truly become a harbinger of change and modernity into the Goan way of life,” he said.

The prime minister also promised all support from the central government to improve Goa’s knowledge sector and its infrastructure. He added that rapid improvement in technology in all fields, particularly in telecommunications and IT is driving change.

“If we are to utilize the potential of technology for improving our standards of living, we need to invest in technology and its related tools,” he said calling for investments in knowledge capabilities.

“The other driver of change – and possibly the most important one – is the gradual rise in the relative importance of knowledge based work in most areas of human endeavor. As manufacturing processes become more automated and as technology changes rapidly through innovation, the highest returns go to those who generate ‘knowledge’ and who know how to use ‘knowledge’.

The knowledge worker will be the most valuable worker in the evolving knowledge economy,” said the prime minister. Stating that knowledge as the common strand in all the forces of change, Singh reiterated the need for investment in knowledge and in knowledge tools. He said that the investments will pave the way for success of individuals or regions or nations.

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