|
Information Technology Department
POLICY NOTE - 2003 – 2004
Demand No. 30
INTRODUCTION
Tamil Nadu continues to remain as one of the top Information Technology (IT) States in the Country. With exports of more than One Billion US Dollars, over 900 Software export companies, more than 50,000 IT professionals employed, the State has again performed marvelously under the dynamic leadership of the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.
Business grew at the speed of thought and Tamil Nadu has maintained a double-digit growth in the Information Technology sector year after year. This is despite the fact that for the last two years globally the IT industry has passed through a period of worldwide recession.
Mr. Scott McNealy, President, Chairman and the Chief Executive Officer of Sun Microsystems visited Chennai and entered into a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) with the Government of Tamil Nadu and Anna University for Web services, e-Learning, e-Governance services in the presence of the Hon’ble Chief Minister. The world “Thought Leader” Douglas Holmes, an authority on e-Governance, called on the Hon’ble Chief Minister and then conducted a training seminar for Senior Government officials.
Tamil Nadu is now, very strongly emerging as the key hub for Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES) and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) in the country particularly in the Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) sector. Institutions like World Bank, ABN AMRO, Standard Chartered Bank, Citi Bank and other international banking and financial institutions are not only firmly established, but scaling up their operations from Chennai. Simultaneously Public and Private Communication Providers (PCPs) have provided an Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) network for more than 14000 Kms throughout the State, thus placing Tamil Nadu amongst the most connected States of India. Investor-friendly policies, a peaceful climate prevailing in the State and a pro-active and supportive Government makes Tamil Nadu an ideal destination for overseas entrepreneurs.
The Government has taken several e-Governance initiatives, which have now become role models for other States.
2. The Tamil Nadu Information Technology Council (TNITC) headed by the Honourable Chief Minister met in August 2002. Representatives from Government, Industry and Academia participated in the event and the Hon’ble Chief Minister released a brochure on the achievements of Tamil Nadu in IT Sector. The draft of the IT Policy was debated in this forum and suggestions and views of all participants were incorporated in the final IT Policy 2002 which was released by the Hon’ble Chief Minister with a vision to “put the smile of prosperity on the face of every citizen of Tamil Nadu by leveraging IT to create value and wealth for a knowledge-based State”.
3. The Government of Tamil Nadu has announced several incentives to support the IT industry. Government of Tamil Nadu participated in CEBIT 2003 at Hannover - the largest IT exhibition in the world - as a partner State along with Government of India to position Tamil Nadu as the Destination of Choice for investments. Participation in such International Trade shows will be continued to build a brand for Tamil Nadu as the Destination of Choice for IT and ITES investments.
4. Government is taking steps to put in an effective mechanism to deter infringement of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), software piracy and crimes associated with Internet and Information Technology. With the passage of Information Technology ACT 2000 by Government of India, steps are being taken to deal with cyber crimes. Training is being given to the law enforcing authorities to deter crimes associated with Internet and IT.
5. In the Budget Speech 2003-04, it has been announced that Knowledge Industry Townships (KITs) will be developed as part of the IT Corridor in partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). A world-class consultant firm has been engaged to prepare the detailed project report and the implementation of this project is being taken up this year.
6. A new ITES Policy will be announced to make Tamil Nadu, the Global ITES Capital. This will create immense employment opportunities and add value and wealth by leveraging the inherent strengths of the State. The Draft ITES Policy was launched by the Hon’ble Chief Minister on the website of Tamil Nadu Government for comments. Efforts will be taken to position Chennai as the world center in niche verticals like the BFSI, Health and the transportation segments of ITES.
7. Information Technology in Tamil Nadu is not single – town centric. Efforts are being taken and will be further intensified to make Tier II cities like Coimbatore, Trichy, Salem, Madurai and Tirunelveli and Tier III towns as destinations for BPO activities.
8. As announced in the Governor’s Address 2003 the unlimited possibilities of IT would be harnessed to provide clean, transparent and participatory governance. Touch Screen Kiosks would be provided in all Taluk offices throughout the State. Leading consultants and Institutions have been approached to assist the Government in E-Governance activities.
9. Information Technology will be deployed to improve the internal efficiencies of the Government. As announced on the Floor of the House a pilot for Electronic Delivery of Services (EDS) to the citizens has been started. This will be scaled up this year.
10. Under the directions of the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu the IT Policy of the Government, seeks “to promote use of Tamil in IT”. Accordingly, Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu Limited (ELCOT) and the Tamil Virtual University (TVU) have been working together for bilingual conversion of all Government Department’s websites. Certificate and Degree courses in Tamil have commenced with their inauguration by the Hon’ble Chief Minister. An Optical Character Reader (OCR) in Tamil was also launched. The establishment and operational expenses of the TVU will be supported by the IT Department for strengthening their Academic and Technical capabilities.
11. The Government will support the development and use of Tamil software and Digital Library by TVU for universal usage.
The Information Technology Department with its two wings of ELCOT and TVU is thus fully poised to take off towards the skies and realize the vision of the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu to make Tamil Nadu the number one State in Information Technology.
ELECTRONICS CORPORATION OF TAMIL NADU LIMITED (ELCOT)
Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu Limited (ELCOT) was incorporated in 1977 as a wholly owned enterprise of the Government of Tamil Nadu. Over the years ELCOT has re-engineered itself as the IT enabling company promoting institutions like TIDEL etc for creating specific infrastructure for IT and ITES investments. It is also acting as the Nodal Agency for implementing the IT Policy of the Government of Tamil Nadu. It has forged close linkages with academic institutions like Anna University and IIT Madras, Chennai as well as linkage with IT, ITES and Electronic companies thus acting as the ‘Channel of Connectivity’ between Government, Industry and Institutions. In March 2003, ELCOT completed 26 years of service to Tamil Nadu and is fully geared for many more years of service.
VISION AND MISSION:
Vision
“To be the Vendor of Choice for procurement of ICT Services and Products” for Government of Tamil Nadu.
Mission
“To enable the customer to add value through IT”
ACHIEVEMENTS:
The achievements of ELCOT under the various initiatives and projects being implemented can be grouped together under the following heads:
A. Promotional projects.
B. Communication projects.
C. E-Governance projects.
D. Hardware/Software procurement
A) PROMOTIONAL PROJECTS
1) Promotion of Tamil Nadu as the Destination Of Choice (DOC)
To promote Tamil Nadu as the Destination of Choice for IT investments ELCOT has organized conferences and exhibitions and participated in National and International events.
(i) Organising Conferences and Exhibitions
As part of the new strategic role as a “ Promotional Agency” of the Government of Tamil Nadu, ELCOT has been involved in organizing of the following events:
Connect 2002: The event was organized jointly by the Government of Tamil Nadu through ELCOT with Confederation of Indian Industry, during 19-22 September 2002 at Chennai. The event focused on “Emerging Trends and Opportunities in the fields of IT, Communication Technologies and Bio-informatics” and targeted at decision makers in India and abroad. More than 40,000 delegates/ visitors from India and abroad participated in the event showing a fourfold jump in participation over last year.
OECD Development Centre Conference: The Government of Tamil Nadu through ELCOT, the Government of India and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) - Development Centre, Paris organized a two-day international conference on “IT/Software Industries in Indian and Asian Development”. This conference was held during November 2002 at Chennai. More than 120 registered delegates from India and countries like USA, France, Switzerland, Philippines, Singapore etc. participated in the event.
Conference on E-Trade for Small and Medium Enterprise (SMEs) : A Two-day conference was organized by the India Trade Promotion Organization (ITPO) in collaboration with International Trade Centre (ITC), Geneva, Switzerland and ELCOT during December 2002 at New Delhi and Chennai. For the first time ELCOT was appointed as an International Consultant. The focus of the event was to (i) Create internationally competitive, e-competent business working through multiplier organizations in each country (ii) Create awareness among SMEs and to help them bridge the digital divide in the area of international trade (iii) Improve the E-readiness of SMEs for better competitiveness (iv) Assist enterprises, trade promotion organizations and Government institutions to understand the new internet based tools and services (v) Improve international competitiveness and trade prospect.
Following up this event, a core group is being formed to take forward these initiatives.
NASSCOM Outsource India 2003: An IT Outsourcing and BPO summit hosted by National Association for Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) was held during January 2003 at Chennai. Mr.Michael Corbett, USA and Dr.Nigel Roxbough, UK addressed the delegates on outsourcing issues related to US and European markets. The principal sponsors of the exhibition were Government of Tamil Nadu through ELCOT and NASSCOM.
(ii) Promotion of Secondary Cities
As announced in a policy statement by the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu to spread IT industries throughout the State, in order to promote the Tier II Cities like Coimbatore, Trichy, Madurai, Tirunelveli and Salem as ‘Destinations of Choice’ for IT investments the following events were organised by ELCOT in Public Private Partnership:
Coimbatore: A conference titled “Business Opportunities in IT” was organised on 10th December 2002 at Coimbatore in partnership with CII.
Trichy: A conference titled “ Business opportunities in ITES and BPO” was organised in partnership with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) at Trichy in October 2002
Madurai: A one day seminar titled “Regional Seminar on Opportunities in ITES” covering Madurai and Tirunelveli regions, was organised on 11th March 2003 at Madurai in partnership with Centre for Entrepreneurship Development, Madurai.
Salem: A Regional Seminar on “Opportunities in Information Technology Enabled Services” (ITES) was organised at Salem in partnership with Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), Chennai and Sona College of Engineering , Salem on 25th March 2003.
(iii) Participation in National and International events
GITEX Hyderabad 2003: The 2nd edition of Gitex Hyderabad 2003 - the IT & Telecom event held annually in association with Dubai World Trade Center and the Government of Andhra Pradesh - was held during January 2003 at Hyderabad. A 36 Sq.m stall was put up by ELCOT in the exhibition with a theme of “IT in Tamil Nadu”. Trade visitors from 19 countries visited the Tamil Nadu stall to discover the new trends and technologies available in the State.
India Soft 2003: International IT exhibition and conference titled India Soft 2003 was organized by Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC) during February 2003 at New Delhi. The exhibition attracted delegates from more than 32 countries. Speakers from India and abroad delivered presentations. A 12 Sq.m. stall was put up by ELCOT in the exhibition showing the progress of IT and showcasing Chennai and Tamil Nadu as ideal investment destinations.
GITEX at Dubai: The Government of Tamil Nadu for the first time participated in the third largest IT exhibition of the world at Dubai in October 2002. This IT exhibition gave an opportunity to the State being showcased before some of the most leading potential IT investment companies of the world.
CEBIT 2003: CEBIT 2003, the largest International Fair for IT and Telecom in the World, was held at Hannover, Germany from 12th to19th March 2003. Tamil Nadu has participated as the partner State with ESC. A 54 Sq.m. pavilion has been taken showcasing the IT powers of the State. Publicity materials of IT Department, ELCOT, TIDCO and SIPCOT were on display. Visitors from 30 countries visited the stall of the Government of Tamil Nadu.
2) Facilitating Industry - Academia Interactions
i) TIFAC – CORE : The Technology Information Forecasting Assessment Council (TIFAC) under Government of India has identified 7 Centres in the State to set up Center of Relevance and Excellence (CORE) in areas like Advanced computing, Networking , Industrial design etc. ELCOT has been interacting with various TIFAC-CORE activities in these Institutions.
ii) Media Lab Asia : Media Lab Asia, a collaborative effort of Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Government of India and Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT),USA is setting up its Regional Laboratory in Chennai. Government of Tamil Nadu will assist the Media Lab Asia – Regional Laboratory through direction settings, monitoring and deployment of successful models in the field. An international R&D Knowledge Park will be set up through IIT, Chennai. ELCOT will play the role of facilitator in setting up of this park.
3) Research and Development (R&D)
Society for Electronic Transaction and Security (SETS):
SETS - The brain child of His Excellency, the President of India Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, when he was Principal Scientific Advisor to the Prime Minister – deals with the issues of security requirements in electronic transactions at the source of creation, storage, warehousing, transmission and retrieval. Government of Tamil Nadu through ELCOT has taken pioneering efforts to establish the operational Head Quarters of SETS at Chennai.
Open Source Computing: The Government segment is expected to become a key implementer in the open source solution for e-Governance projects. Open Source Software (OSS) development is a paradigm shift and has enormous potential for addressing government needs. A committee of experts headed by the Vice Chancellor of Anna University and others with the Managing Director, ELCOT as the Member Secretary has been constituted. The committee will suggest the best option for the Government of Tamil Nadu.
4) Bridging the Digital Divide
The Sustainable Access in Rural India (SARI) Project which aims to bring internet access in rural areas by deploying Wireless in Local Loop (WiLL) technology is being scaled up as Rural Access to Services through Internet (RASI). The RASI project will be extended to cover all the districts in the entire State in the coming years. ELCOT is providing the technology advice to the project.
5) Promotion of IT Parks
ELCOT has promoted several IT Parks like TIDEL and Elnet Software City in Chennai and Texcity Software Park in Coimbatore. World-class companies like EDS, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Verizon, Computer Associates, etc., are occupants of these Parks.
Special efforts will be taken to promote Ambattur Industrial Estate as an IT Park in view of the infrastructure already available and the demographic profile of its hinterland that provides the human resource for IT and ITES. ELCOT will also take efforts to promote a centre for ITES and BPO at the Perungudi complex on the IT Corridor.
6) Software Projects: ELCOT has executed several projects like computerisation of Tamil Nadu Co-operative Housing Federation, Labour Department, Tamil Nadu Salt Corporation etc. Proposals have been sent for installation of “Security Management System” at Government Museum, Chennai and “Geographical Information System (GIS) based Facility Management System” at Madras Export Processing Zone (MEPZ), Chennai.
B) COMMUNICATION PROJECTS
1) Video Conferencing System
As a part of the Policy of Government of Tamil Nadu to introduce “IT in Governance” to tone up the Quality of Administration, a Video Conferencing Network for Government Officials had been installed by ELCOT. The Video Conferencing Network links the following:
-
A multi-conferencing system, having facility to view three simultaneous video conferencing calls, at the Hon’ble Chief Minister’s Press Conference Room;
-
The Hon’ble Ministers, Chief Secretary and Secretaries of Finance, Home and Public Department;
-
All 29 District Collectors;
-
52 Field Officers of Police Department.
This video conferencing facility is one of the most extensive in the country and was inaugurated by the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on 20th March 2003. ELCOT was the operational agency on behalf of the Departments of Information Technology, Public and Home.
2) Calamity Relief and Emergency Communication Network :
The Communication Division is implementing a wireless High Frequency (HF) / Very High Frequency (VHF) Calamity Relief and Emergency Communication Network in the thirteen coastal districts on behalf of the Revenue Department.
3) Tamil Nadu Virtual Private Network (TNVPN)
ELCOT plans to establish a Virtual Private Network linking all the government departments to provide Voice, Data and Video connectivity for improving the delivery of services to the citizens and for improving the response time and transparency. Connectivity will be established for the 29 District Head Quarters to Chennai and also to Taluks and Blocks using the free 2Mbps bandwidth available from Private Communication providers(PCPs).
C) E-GOVERNANCE PROJECTS
ELCOT is actively involved with the E-governance initiatives of the major departments like Registration, Revenue, Education, etc.
1. Electronic Delivery of Services (EDS) : Scheme for EDS to the citizens will be scaled up. Utility payment services of Tamil Nadu Electricity Board, Metro Water and Chennai Corporation can be undertaken anytime/anywhere at the EDS centre.
2.Call Centres: Call Centre is a concept offering services to clients quickly and efficiently. This will also reduce cost and increase profitability. Further this will add up to improved customer relations, faster deployment of people at right place and at right time. For delivering the Government services to citizens, IT Department will assist the setting up of Call Centres.
3.Data Warehouse: Several Government departments serve the same citizen. Each of them conducts periodic surveys and verifications to keep their databases updated. The efforts taken and the expenditure incurred by each department are enormous. One department cannot easily use the data of the other. Also any updating done by one department does not get automatically reflected in other’s database. Hence in order to serve its citizen better the Government of Tamil Nadu through ELCOT proposes to create and maintain a Data Warehouse that will provide access to different departments for the effective usage of data of various Departments.
4.Computer Education in Government High Schools: The Government of Tamil Nadu in nearly 1200 Higher Secondary schools operates the Computer Education program. This has become not only a National Model, but several countries are now implementing similar projects. ELCOT is the agency for implementation and inspection of this project on behalf of the School Education Department.
5.Touch Screen Kiosk : One Internet Kiosk (Kurai Theerpom) was installed at Andipatty constituency on a pilot basis. This is running very successfully and it is proposed to scale up this project in a phased manner.
6. Project STAR: As announced in the Budget Speech 2003-04 ELCOT will take up expansion of the Project STAR (Simplified and Transparent Administration of Registration) to all Sub-Registrar offices in other parts of the State. This e-governance initiative of the Government of Tamil Nadu besides being an All India model, has also been selected by the Government of India as an example of ‘Outstanding e-Governance Initiative’.
7. Taluk Computerisation: As announced in the Budget Speech 2003-04 efforts will be taken to provide online services to 206 Taluks in the coming years.
D) HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE PROCUREMENT
ELCOT has been nominated as Optional Procurement Agency, under the G.O.Ms.No.58 of Finance (BPE) Department, by State Government for procurement of IT related products required by various Government Departments and organizations. During the year 2002-03 ELCOT had successfully completed the procurement of IT Hardware and Software products for nearly 100 Departments and Public Sector Undertakings of the Government. The notable ones are Home, Revenue, Forest, Public and Commercial Taxes Department besides the Office of Commissioner of Survey and Settlement, Tamil Nadu Electricity Board, State Transport Corporations, Government Museum etc.,
TAMIL VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY
Inception:
The Tamil Nadu Government established the Tamil Virtual University with a vision to provide Internet based resources and opportunities for the Tamil communities living in different parts of the globe as well as others interested in learning Tamil and acquiring knowledge of the history, art, literature and culture of Tamil Nadu with the following Mission:
-
- To develop and deliver Internet based learning material in Tamil language, literature and culture to global Tamil Communities and others interested.
-
- To develop and deliver customized programmes to meet the cultural needs of the Tamil communities in different parts of the world and help them retain contact with their heritage.
-
- To initiate and continue necessary measures to coordinate and pool together knowledge resources, developed in Tamil in different parts of the world, for wider dissemination.
-
- To offer academic programmes in Tamil Language, literature and culture for audit or credit and to award appropriate Certificate/Diploma/Degree through Tamil University, Thanjavur on completion of prescribed requirements.
During the financial year 2002-03 the following were achieved:
Academic Programmes:
A Certificate Programme in Tamil covering Tamil skills offered upto VI standard in Schools was designed with 3 levels of lessons namely, Basic, Middle and Advanced. All the lessons of the Basic and Middle level were completed and uploaded in the web. The lessons for the Advanced level are under development.
Syllabus for the Degree programme in Tamil was finalized and got approved by the Tamil University, Thanjavur. 120 out of 696 lessons have been completed and are put in the web. The balance is under development.
The Certificate and Degree programmes were formally inaugurated by the Hon’ble Chief Minister in June 2002.
Till date 2,500 students from 40 countries have enrolled for the Certificate and Degree Programme offered by TVU.
Study centers have been opened in Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Mauritius and California. The first batch of the Certificate Programme students from California Tamil Academy would be completing the Basic level of the lessons and obtaining the certificate in June 2003. The first batch of the students of the Degree Programme would be graduating in June 2005.
Digital Library:
Tamil Virtual University has developed a large Digital Library with Literatures, Dictionaries, Video and Picture Gallery. 169 books having 76,192 pages have already been uploaded in the Digital Library. Web enabling of 180 books having 54,427 pages is under progress.
In addition to the Literatures, a Video and Picture Gallery for 126 temples in Tamil Nadu have been placed in the web.
Tamil in Information Technology
The following software products have been developed through Tamil Software Development Fund (TSDF):
1. Ponvizhi -a Tamil OCR
2. Tamil Search Engine
3. Tamil Web Browser
4. Localising Windows 95 & 98
5. Idham 2000 Tamil Interface
6. A PC based speech synthesis in Tamil
A Tamil OCR named as ‘Ponvizhi’ was launched by the Hon’ble Chief Minister in June 2002.
The following software products are under development:
1. Java based Tamil Text to Speech Synthesizer.
2. Machine Aided English-Tamil Translation
3. Tamil Database Management Package
4. Tamil Wordnet to enhance Machine Translation
5. A Tool for localizing MS Access in Tamil Virtual University
6. Tamil Linux
7. Tamil ‘Java’ & Tamil ‘C’
Tamil Software Certification:
During the financial year the following software products were certified for compatibility to TAM-TAB standards (Tamil Monolingual – Tamil Bilingual standards).
1. ‘Surabhi’ Tamil interface
2. ‘Sanga Palagai’ Tamil Keyboard
3. Tamil Word 2001
4. Ankur – Tamil99 Word Processor
5. Ponvizhi – Tamil OCR
6. Indoword – Tamil Word Processor
The following software products are under testing for certification:
1. Shakthi
2. ISM 2000
3. Windik
D.JAYAKUMAR
Minister for Law and Information Technology
[Policy Notes]
|
