Network to help set up national information infrastructure, says experts panel
An experts group has suggested massive investments by the government to set up a reliable high-speed Internet backbone network as the first step towards harnessing information technology (IT) for administration.
Such a backbone network, the group said, would help in the establishment of national information infrastructure (NII) which was critical for ensuring an adequate capacity to cope with the exponential growth in data/ information traffic.
The experts committee, under N Vittal, chairman of the Public Enterprises Selection Board, has also called for the enactment of a series of cyber laws and changes in some of the existing legislation so that the advantages of technology are not negated by the obsoleteness of laws.
The Committee has further suggested that each ministry/department allocate two to three percent of its budget for information technology-related expenditure to ensure an increase in the availability of funds for training in IT and acquisition of both hardware and software as well as development of software and maintenance.
The experts noted that, at present, there was no structured inter-ministerial co-ordination in the IT arena. To overcome this, the Committee has suggested a high-powered committee under the chairmanship of the Cabinet secretary to improve administrative efficiency by using information technology.
The Committee was set up in December last year as a follow up to the Conference of Chief Secretaries on an effective and responsive government. It was asked to spell out measures to enable immediate computerisation which, in turn, could ensure availability of information on various public services for the average citizen.
The report was released here yesterday at a conference of representatives of state government officials on information technology.
The long term objective, the Committee said, should be to provide an electronic one-stop shop for government services available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Government services provided to the public should be billed from the very beginning as introducing charges later may create difficulties, said the Committee, adding that such charges were being levied in Singapore and Malaysia. In the latter country, it was seen that the rural population was more willing to pay for services than their urban counterparts.
The Committee identified several options for the creation of the Internet backbone network. The options included the VSNL Jalamala a fibre-optic cable along railway lines or along electricity transmission lines, or between the metros.
The private sector could be enlisted to provide technology solutions to create such a backbone. A Build-Operate-Transfer mode could be used and interactive terminals/ information kiosks could also be built by the private IT industry to ensure universal access to the information available.
The Committee has laid considerable emphasis on the establishment of the NII and has cautioned that the absence of such an integrated information infrastructure would adversely affect socio-economic development, and increase the gap between societies and people both within the country and with those in other countries. In short, India may lose its competitiveness and miss vital opportunities to globalise its economy.
Underlining the need for a shared vision in the information fraternity, an integrated strategy to harness technological advancements and an urgent action plan to create an information infrastructure within the country, the Committee said that the proposed NII would integrate six basic elements:
Computers and appliances;
Software and applications;
Network communication and broadcasting;
Multimedia information;
Providers; and
Users.
Describing the NII as a vision for India, the experts said it would be a catalytic factor for economic prosperity, competitiveness and the security of the nation. The NII should be priortised based on the following factors: consonance with national objectives, highest impact on living standards, ease of implementation and probability of success.
The Committee has priortised the thrust areas of the NII based on two types of applications: applications that need to be invested in; and applications that bring in revenue that would sustain these investments.
The investment areas were identified as promoting literacy, education and life-long learning and healthcare applications while the revenue generation areas were identified as commerce and banking; interactive entertainment and improving public services.
The Committee said that information technology by itself would not help to improve the quality of government-citizen interface. Committed changes were necessary in the administrative culture to exploit the full potential of IT.
