The Digital North-East Vision 2022 was released in Guwahati, Assam in August this year. This follows through on the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Digital India programme launched on July 1, 2015. The vision document essentially lays emphasis upon the need to leverage digital technologies to transform the lives of the people and facilitate ease of living in the North East of India. This translates into connecting remote villages with high-speed broadband facilities to increase people’s digital literacy, make governance easier and proliferate the availability of mobile healthcare (e-hospitals) in otherwise inaccessible locations.
With the underlying goal of digital inclusion and the motto to “reform, perform and transform,” the 8 key areas of focus include digital services, digital infrastructure, digital empowerment, digital payments, manufacturing, innovation, promotion of electronics and BPOs, cyber security and start-ups. Initiatives under these will boost existing research as well as broaden the scope of employment generation. Moreover, digitalization will also immensely benefit the tourism industry.
Under Digital North East, the Central government plans to invest INR 10,000 crores approximately over the next 4 years for the implementation of more than 400 projects in the North-Eastern region. The states have been mandated to prepare a comprehensive digital plan, digital profiles of all the states that highlight respective strengths and weaknesses as well as state-wise roadmaps for the implementation of digital initiatives. 10,000 BPOs supported by a network of common service centres will cover all the villages and a cloud hub will be set up in Guwahati. The capacity building in terms of using digital technologies of over 50,000 government officials will be undertaken.
Hinged upon the faith in the power of Information Technology (IT) as an enabler of efficiency, equity and empowerment, the aim is to bridge the digital and geographical divide between the North East and the rest of India. This Vision holds immense financial and logistical promise in terms of consolidating the individual identity of states that are often lumped together as one unit by the rest of the country, thereby critically leapfrogging its overall development and realizing its full potential.
India Outbound
October 17,2018
source https://indiaoutbound.org/digital-north-east-vision-2022-prospects/
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