Sh. Jainder Singh, Secretary (Department of Information Technology, Govt. of India) talks to Informatics on how he perceives the present status and future of e-Governance in our Country... The Department of Information Technology has always been aiming to make India a Global IT Super Power and a front-runner in the age of Information revolution. What would you say about the substantial role played by DIT in paving a way for the overall progress of the IT sector in our Country? Over the years DIT has been a significant catalyst in policy making and supporting the IT led economic growth in the Country at various levels. It is our ultimate objective to ensure that the benefits of the advancements made by India in the area of Information and Communication Technologies reach their true intended beneficiaries i.e the common citizens in the Country. One of the most important initiatives with respect to e-Governance in the country is the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP). Is the Plan in line with the expectations? What would you say about the overall performance and progress of the Plan? Looking at the past few years, I personally feel that the e-Governance initiatives taken by DIT are genuinely noteworthy and this can be seen by the progress made with respect to the National e-Governance Plan of our Hon'ble Prime Minister. Ever since the launch of NeGP, the Department of IT is executing a comprehensive agenda to make e-Governance effective at all spheres to ensure efficiency, transparency, and accountability at the Government- Citizen interface. Nudging the creation of fair governance and institutional machinery is the principle objective of NeGP, thus fortifying the correlation between the Government and the citizens. NEGP symbolizes an attempt at presenting the Country as a formidable contender in the field of Information Technology at the global level and I am quite satisfied with the progress made by us so far in this direction. NeGP has many feathers in its cap; MCA21, National Portal of India, SWAN, CSCs etc. Would you like to highlight these and some other key initiatives under NeGP? NeGP comprises of several Mission Mode Projects both at the Central and State level. All these initiatives work towards a common mission of making Government services accessible to the common man in the fastest and simplest manner through the use of technology. One of the initiatives which has made good progress is MCA21 under the aegis of Ministry of Corporate Affairs which has successfully made filing of documents, registration of companies and public access to corporate information very simple tasks. The National Portal of India project, is another initiative that I am extremely proud of. The portal aggregates more than 5000 Indian Government websites at various levels and provides a much needed single window interface to the citizens. Significant infrastructure projects currently on-going in various stages of implementation by DIT such as State wide Area Networks (SWAN), Community Service Centres and CICs are also providing a strong back-up and a much needed infrastructural support to such e-governance initiatives. They are performing the significant task of taking ICT to the doorsteps of masses in every nook and corner of the Country and would effectively prove to be a backbone of National ICT endeavours. SWAN is being implemented by most of the State Governments. What endeavors are being taken to provide services through these state wide networks? SWAN is a crucial component of the NeGP aimed at providing core infrastructure for supporting e- Governance initiatives and DIT has also earmarked a significant outlay for supporting this activity. Under this initiative, State Wide Area Networks are being setup to provide 2 Mbps connectivity up to block level with provision for wireless connectivity from the block level to the village level. DIT shall provide the necessary support to extend connectivity to the block level through NICNET/ SWANs. It is hoped that once the connectivity reaches the grass-root level, it would invariably lead to increased transparency, efficiency and effectiveness for delivery of citizen services. The key concerns for IT initiatives these days are Standardization and Interoperability. What is your view on need for Standards in IT? What steps have DIT undertaken in this direction? While reviewing the various technology initiatives undertaken by different departments, we realized that many key projects by various government agencies were seemingly done in isolation. Different development platforms were being used which were seldom interoperable. Added to this was the fact that there was no single agency identified for framing enforceable e-governance standards and processes that must be adhered to by all developers. We felt that there is a perceptible need to institutionalize the task of codifying e-governance standards and processes for the sake of ensuring interoperability of applications and solutions. With this view, DIT has instituted an apex body to oversee the process of bringing out e-governance standards and five key areas have been identified to begin with , namely Network and Information Security; Metadata and Data Standards for Application Domains; Quality and Documentation; Localization and Language Technology Standards and Technical Standards and E-Governance Architecture The KPO industry has helped to generate huge employment at a very fast pace in India. What would you say about the government's plan to provide incentives to this sector? India provides a ready access to a large intellectual pool with domain expertise in specialized areas like engineering, finance, medicine, business, research etc and is well positioned to address the global KPO need. The government always welcomes the intellectual and intelligent minds when it comes to issues that are related to the progress of India and thus, the government is positive on this issue and is keen to provide employment to the intelligent brains of India to work with them. What is your vision for the IT sector in India in the years to come? Do you feel PPP has a significant role to play towards an overall progress? I foresee India bustling with energy, entrepreneurship and innovation in the times to come and this cannot be done without an active partnership with all concerned including the private sector as well. I feel the Indian IT Industry has a lot to contribute to the growth of the sector and we are constantly encouraging Public Private Partnership endeavours in the interests of the citizens and the nation as a whole whereby both the Government and the Industry can leverage upon each others' strengths to pave the way for more success in the times to come. What do you foresee as the future of NIC? What role does DIT expect from NIC in the next decade at the national level? For a long time now, NIC has been successfully anchoring e-Governance initiatives by providing the best possible technology support to the Central and State Government as well District Administrations at all levels. I see a very positive role ahead for a dynamic organisation like NIC. My advice to NIC would be to further consolidate and strengthen its core expertise so that it is always at par, if not ahead, with the latest advancements world over in the areas of Information and Communication Technology. My best wishes for a bright future of the organisation in the times to come.