INDIA IMPROVES ITS POSITION IN
E-READINESS
KARNATAKA,
MAHARASHTRA, TAMIL NADU AND ANDHRA PRADESH EMERGE AS FORERUNNERS
Karnataka, Maharashtra,
Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh have emerged at the top of e-readiness.
A report released by the Department of Information Technology
here today, has put Gujarat, Goa, Delhi and Chandigarh at the
second group and called them as aspiring leaders. The report has
divided all the States and Union Territories in six groups. Assam,
Jharkhand, Lakshadweep, Bihar, Jammu&Kashmir, Sikkim, Arunachal
Pradesh, Nagaland, Daman&Diu, Manipur, Dadra&Nagar Haveli
are in the last group and are called less achievers.
Assessing the Central
Ministries and Departments, the report has put Department of Commerce
at the top followed by the Department of Information Technology
among the large Central Departments. The Department of Administrative
Reforms and Public Grievances is at the top among the small Departments.
There is a wide difference among the different departments on
e-readiness. While Deptt. of Administrative Reforms and Public
Grievance is the top performer with 241 points, Department of
Youth Affairs & Sports followed by Department of Finance and
Economic Affairs are at the bottom with 48 and 53 points respectively.
These assessments
have been made on several factors including Network Access, Network
Learning, Network Society, Network Economy and Network Policy.
They inturn include information infrastructure, internet affordability,
number of computers and telephones at home and educational institutions,
percentage of schools having access to internet, number of Information
Technology Parks in the State, turnover of the companies, number
of companies using facilities provided by IT Parks, rural connectivity
and how much ICT has been used in agriculture and health sectors.
Indicators also include if the State Governments are using IT
facilities for land registration, procurement, billings and crime
registration.
India has vastly
improved its position in E-Readiness globally from 54 to 37. China
too, has improved its position to 43 from 64. The report quotes
a study of the Centre for International Development at Harvard
University.
E-Readiness assessment
helps in bridging the digital divide by setting up priorities
for investment in IT sector, exploring opportunities and as a
tool to pursue broader objectives like fighting poverty and contributing
to a truly global information infrastructure.
