The ministry of electronics and information technology (IT) has started work on the next phase of Digital India plan, which will seek more participation from the private sector besides expanding into areas lacking digital penetration.
Called Digital India 2.0, the next phase of e-governance, this phase will focus on specific areas such as digital infrastructure, digital villages, Make in India, cyber security, e-Kranti and other niche technologies.
Under niche technologies, the government is working in application of Internet of things in agriculture, Swachh Bharat, Clean Ganga, Smart Cities and application of drones in monitoring of projects, land survey, agriculture spraying and forest survey.
In this regard, a meeting was held by the ministry which saw participation from minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, other senior officials and private sector experts including Microsoft’s Bhaskar Pramanik. the meeting was organised to reap benefits from the high knowledge capital of the country.
The National Democratic Alliance government’s Digital India programme focuses on providing broadband highways, universal access to mobile connectivity, public Internet access, e-governance through technology and electronic delivery of services, among others.
By Baishakhi Dutta