Pitroda moots knowledge portals on natural resources

Friday, 29 September 2006, 19:30 IST
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BANGALORE: National Knowledge Commission (NKC) chairman Sam Pitroda Thursday favoured creating a network of knowledge portals to enable citizens access data on natural resources and utilities for speedy delivery of services. Delivering a keynote address through video-conferencing from Chicago at Info Vision 2006, a knowledge summit organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here, Pitroda told about 200 captains of India Inc that the NKC was developing a national portal on water resources to facilitate exchange of data and information relating to water, its usage and conservation. "The portal is being developed by Infosys CEO and NKC member Nandan M. Nilekani and his family with the support of their foundation. We are also in the process of creating similar portals on energy, environment, education, health, citizens rights and literacy," Pitroda said. Referring to the tasks before the NKC, Pitroda said the objective of the national network was to connect all institutions of higher learning, universities, libraries, science & technology labs, R&D centres and government services in a seamless way for easy access to citizens. "The pro-active participation of the private sector in disseminating knowledge through a national network of high bandwidth on natural resources and essential services will help the nation build a knowledge society," Pitroda said. Advocating a public-private partnership approach in building the national knowledge network, he said the nation had a great edge in creating a "health IT system", which he described as a billion-dollar industry. "We have an opportunity to create a new platform and set standards. We have to create a voluminous database of patients. We can be the leaders in the health IT industry in the next five years," Pitroda asserted. The NKC plans to use the excess capacity of telecom majors like BSNL, Bharti, Reliance and Tata for building the national network. To develop a knowledge base for the masses, Pitroda called for reviving libraries across the country and suggested the setting up of a national commission for libraries. "Such an ambitious project will require a massive central funding as we cannot afford to ignore our national libraries, which are a major source of knowledge and information," he added.
Source: IANS