NASSCOM Foundation,the leading Indian development organization that works towards galvanizing the corporate social responsibility (CSR) space in the IT industry in India; and the social development arm of NASSCOM, organized a Connect IT workshop for government officials on the 26th and 27th March, 2010 in Sangli. The 'ConnectIT' capacity building workshops are an initiative of NASSCOM Foundation as part of its efforts towards building IT capacity among government officers and managers from grassroot organizations.
"Technology today is helping us reach those who are unable to access government services. To ensure better and speedy delivery of services that affect citizens, especially those services that affect decision making at the village level, it is important to have a well structured technology based service delivery system and officers trained in technology to deliver such services" said Mr. Shyam Wardhane, Collector, Sangli at the NASSCOM Foundation 'ConnectIT' workshop for Government officers in Sangli, Maharashtra.
With the growing importance of e-Governance in India, capacity building of Government offices in using technology in the day-to-day operations in their work has become very important. With this mission of training local government officers, NASSCOM Foundation initiated the 'ConnectIT' programme in Sangli recently with support from District Collector's Office, Sangli and National Informatics Centre, Sangli. 'ConnectIT' is a national level programme of NASSCOM Foundation as part of its efforts towards building IT capacity among government officers and non-profits. The programme is supported by Microsoft and NASSCOM.
The inaugural session at Sangli was attended by over 60 government officers from 27 Government departments. Mr. Shyam Wardhane, District Collector, was the chief guest and was joined by Mr. D S Patil, Additional Collector, Mr. K MarIyadas, Chief Informatics Officer, National Informatics Centre (NIC), Sangli , Mr. NG Kamath of Suraj Foundation and Ms. Rufina Fernandes, CEO, NASSCOM Foundation. Mr Moiz Ali, Chief Informatics Officer, NIC, Maharashtra joined the inaugural session via video-conferencing. The Government officers represented various departments like District Information Centre, Labour, Central excise, office of Supdt. of Police, District Town Planner office, Indian Post, All India Radio, Welfare departments, Dist. Collectors Office, among others.
At the Inaugural session, Mr Wardhane, introduced the various new initiatives of the Sangli administration where technology is being extensively used to deliver better services to the citizens and villagers. He pointed out that there is a dire need for capacity building of officers and said "We are happy that NASSCOM Foundation has taken the initiative to organize this workshop to enhance the skills of our officers".
Ms. Rufina Fernandes (CEO, NASSCOM Foundation) further maintained that 'With the current spree of integration of IT in the working of the various government departments and through the e-governance process and beyond, it has become critical to upgrade the skills of the government officers to align them to this e-gov vision going forward. In this respect, NASSCOM Foundation would strive to facilitate more and more such workshops to support the Government in their vision of better governance'.
Mr Moiz Ali (Chief Information Officer, NIC) elaborating the leadership role played by NIC in eGovernance and in supporting states and local government in integrating IT in government functions emphasized the need to engage more officers in proactive use of technology. He also suggested the need to collaborate with organizations like NASSCOM Foundation to scale up such capacity building efforts across the country.
At the two day ConnectIT workshop, the government officers were introduced to various communications technologies such as video conferencing, email practices and social media tools including twitter, facebook and blogging. They were introduced to advanced applications in Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint and their usages. The workshop also included various interactive sessions on eGovernance where the participant officers were encouraged to share their experience in e governance projects. The officers shared various interesting initiatives of their departments; a lot of the applications were developed by the departments themselves. In the afternoon, Dr. M Moni (Deputy Director General of National Informatics Centre, New Delhi) interacted with the participants through video conference from Ranchi, Jharkhand.
Under the ConnectIT program, NASSCOM Foundation has previously conducted successful workshops for non-profits across Pune, Nagpur, Sangli and Mumbai in Maharasthra. This is a first of this kind of capacity building workshop for Government officers in Sangli and was very well received by all participants. NASSCOM Foundation is currently planning to hold similar workshops for government officers in Mumbai and Nagpur.
About NASSCOM Foundation
NASSCOM Foundation (NF) was established to leverage information and communication technologies (ICT) to empower and transform the lives of the undeserved. NASSCOM and its members are committed to social development through the application of ICT. NF today has the unique opportunity of leading the IT Industry towards changing the social development landscape of India.
NASSCOM Foundation is a charity registered under the Indian Trusts Act, 1882 and under Section 12A of Income Tax Act. NF is the social development arm of NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Service Companies), the internationally recognized trade body of the Indian IT industry. For more information, please visit www.nasscomfoundation.org
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