Google eyes Bengal digital space
Internet search and software giant Google has evinced interest in West Bengal for digitisation of the State Government’s projects. Google India MD Rajan Anandan has also expressed his desire to meet new state IT minister Bratya Basu next week.
A delegation comprising representatives from Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industries (BCC&I), Oracle, Capgemini, IBM, Vodafone and Presidency University had also met the minister on Tuesday to discuss the development of IT-based businesses in the State.
A BCC&I official has informed the state IT minister about Google’s intention to carry out all the digitisation work related to the State Government’s projects. It may be noted that during the first Mamata Banerjee government, West Bengal had scored big on the e-governance front.
Google India, in collaboration with Tata Trusts, had recently announced the launch of the ‘Internet Saathi’ programme in West Bengal, Assam, Uttar Pradesh and Tripura to overcome the digital gender disparity in rural India and empower rural women and communities in the field of digital literacy.
Since the launch of this initiative, Google has directly trained over 1.5 million women on the basics of internet. In order to drive a broader access and continuity in usage after the training, internet-enabled devices like tablets and smartphones are placed the school premises, community centres, meeting places for self-help groups, agriculture centres, public health centres (PHCs), etc. for optimum exposure and learning amongst communities.
BCC&I has also invited Bratya Basu to its Annual Business IT Conclave.
