Technology
Task force on IT policy
The Government has set up a national task force on information technology and software development, which will prepare and submit a draft national Informatics Policy, to the Prime Minister within three months.
The Planning commission Deputy Chairperson, Mr. Jaswant Singh, has been appointed the chairperson of the 16 member national task force while the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr. Chandrababu Naidu, and the former Union Minister for Science and Technology, Dr. M.G.K. Menon, have been named co-chairpersons.
Significantly, Mr. Naidu presented a "Submission paper" to the Prime Minister on a national informatics policy. The paper, among other things, recommended constitution of a high-level committee for formulation of the policy. The task force is expected to recommend to the government, within a month, immediate steps needed to be taken to remove bottlenecks and give the IT industry a boost. With the new policy focussing on development on world-class software products and brands, the Government is optimistic about a 20-fold increase in Indian software and other IT service exports in the next 10 years.
Along with drafting of the policy, the task force will also recommend an appropriate empowered institutional mechanism for its imp0lementation as a national mission with the participation of Central and State Governments, industry, academic institution and the society.
The decision is a "millennium initiative" which, if given the right stimulus, would help the country to emerge as a software superpower. The new policy would look into how India can leverage its global competitiveness in Infotech to play a prominent role in the development of information technology in other countries.
The decision is in accordance with the BJP's national agenda, which pledges to make India a software superpower. Aimed at dramatically increasing the PC density in the country by facilitating the availability of computer hardware, software and connectivity in every household and commercial establishment at the lowest possible cost, the task force will also be required to develop a strategic plan to raise necessary financial resources to realise the objectives of the policy.
The task force will be guided by an "IT vision group" consisting of eminent IT professionals both from within and outside the country, academics, civil servants (retired and serving), businessmen and political leaders. It is hoped that IT would be extensively used in all areas of national economy - agriculture, industry, trade and services - as a critical input in making India a global economic power.
The 16 member task force consist of the Direct-General of National Informatics Centre, Dr. N. Seshagiri, as member-convener; the chairman of Public Enterprises Selection Board, Mr. N. Vittal; the Telecom Commission chairman, Mr. A.V. Gokak; the Secretary (Electronics), Mr. R. Gupta; the Secretary (Information and Broadcasting), Mr. P.G. Mankad; the foremer chairman-cum-managing Director of VSNL, Mr. T.H. Chowdary; the former Director, IIT Chennai, Dr. P.V. Indiresan; the Executive Director, National Association of Software Companies, Mr. Dewang Mehta; Infosys CMD, Mr. N.R.Narayana Murthy; President, WIPRO computers, Mr. Ashok Soota; Vice-chairman and MD, NIIT, Mr. Rajendra Pawar; Senior Advisor (Technology), CII Dr. Y.S. Rajan; MD, Infrastructure Leasing & finance Services, Mr. Ravi Parthasarathi; Mr. Anil Bakht, IT professional and ; Director (Communications & Research), PMO, Mr. Sudheendra Kulkarni.
Freedom of Information?
The Government is planning to bring in legislation on freedom of information and also announce a national policy on data dissemination. The Minister for Planning and Programme Implementation, Mr. Ram Nayak, has announced that these measures are aimed at opening up Government functioning and making available to users all possible information except that of sensitive nature regarding national security.
Any information collected at public cost must be made available to the public unless it was tool sensitive. There is no sense in statistics remaining behind the veil of secrecy. The Vajpayee Government is committed to an open society, hopefully the bill on Freedom of Information Act and national policy on data dissemination would become a reality soon. The statisticians should find out how to make statistics more relevant and sensitive to the needs of the users.