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The partnership between the Ministry of Communications and IT (MoCIT), Government of India and Intel India has been a continuing one. The partnership between the two sides commenced in August 2002 which has witnessed the successful execution.
The joint statement of partnership, signed here today , outlines the next phase of collaboration and aligns with Minister of Communications & Information Technology, Shri Dayanidhi Maran’s Ten point agenda, under the broad areas of reaching IT to the Masses, investing for Technology Competitiveness and Education PC proliferation in the rural areas and also reduce the digital divide between the rural and urban areas.
The statement was signed here today by Shri M. Madhavan Nambiar, Joint Secretary on behalf of Department of Information Technology and Shri Ketan Sampat, President, Intel Technology India Private Limited on behalf of Intel, in the presence of Minister of Communications & Information Technology, Shri Dayanidhi Maran and Mr. Craig R. Barret, Chief Executive Officer, Intel Corporation. Earlier in the day, Mr. Barret called on Shri Dayanidhi Maran and held wide-ranging discussions on IT Sector.
In order to empower and enable rural citizens participate in the information revolution, Intel will work with MoCIT to develop appropriate Computing Platforms to address issues of affordability, local infrastructure conditions and community usage models.
The MoCIT and Intel will work jointly to make broadband wireless technologies (WiMAX) an affordable and viable last mile option for rural service delivery. To encourage adoption of PCs by the general population the partners will work on a special PC ownership program. Modalities of the scheme would be worked out to ensure that citizens get the benefit of superior technology at competitive prices and financing options.
MoCIT and Intel will establish an Open Source Resource Centre to provide technical assistance and support to Govt projects on Open Source platforms.
In order to maintain the country’s edge in spawning a world-class talent pool and provide an R&D thrust, Intel will work on curriculum design, especially in the area of Very Large Scale Integrated Circuits (VLSI), faculty development workshops and research collaborations.
Intel has already trained 3,30,00 teachers in India under the Teach to the Future program and has a plan to continue to scale it up further. MoCIT will help scale the Intel Learn Program through State govts and other appropriate organisations. To ensure interoperability and a coordinated and systematic approach in reaching ICT to schools, MoCIT will help evolve a Policy for Internet & ICT enhancement in Education.
Intel has been deeply impressed by the strong educational heritage of India and its engineering and design capabilities. Intel indicated that they are in the process of evaluating potential sites in some countries including India for setting up of an Assembly Test Manufacture (ATM) plant.
A joint Partnership review team will be set up to monitor progress periodically, against an agreed implementation schedule.
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