Goa unveils IT plans, IIIT coming up

Goa unveils IT plans, IIIT coming up
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

PANAJI, JAN 23: Goa too has decided to go the Andhra way. It is setting up a ``cyber city'', an information technology centre, and a council for its implementation under the leadership of Raghunath Mashelkar, chairman CSIR.

IT Minister Ramakant Khalap said this while unveiling an IT policy that promises to create a ``fully e-governed, information-rich state''. This project is going to be set up at Mandrem-Morjem plateau, Khalap's own constituency. This area is near the proposed Goa international airport, he said.

Khalap said the Vision Infotech Goa aims at helping the overall growth of the economy through use of IT and creating a fully e-governed, information-rich state with real time access to information, on-line commercial transactions, state-of-art communications and industrial infrastructure.

Khalap said a hi-tech habitat would be established at Dona Paula which will have integrated facilities, incubation centres and centralised common facilities. The policy was formulated by the state to catch up and rise beyond other states.

The state government has already directed the Goa Engineering College to gear up for IT education and added that Goa would have a special discipline of IT at the higher secondary level, which in turn would help in securing admission to the Bachelor of Technology degree at the varsity level. ``Agreement to set up an IIIT (Indian Institute of Information Technology) is at an advanced stage'', he said.

The second step would be to provide e-governance and all revenue generating departments would be fully computerised by December this year, within next two years the Government intends to computerise the full setup of the Government, Khalap informed and added that this is the Government's committee to a transparent and responsive administration, through on-line smooth e-governance.