Meghalaya CM set agenda ​after launching of Digital Northeast 2022

Guwahati Aug 11: Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on Saturday pushed the agenda of digital transformation at the launch of

Digital Northeast 2022 at Guwahati.

The Digital Northeast 2022 was released by Union Electronic and Telecommunication Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in presence of Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, Meghalaya IT Minister, Hamletson Dohling and others.

Conrad told the gathering that the Meghalaya Government has approved an amount of Rs. 35 crore for construction of Phase-I of the Shillong Technology Park Building at the 80 acres Tech Park campus in New Shillong Township.

Out of 80 acres of land, 10 acres has already been handed over to the National Institute of Electronics & Information Technology (NIELIT) for construction of its campus, the foundation of which was laid by unveiling a digital plaque at Guwahati.

The Technology Park Building Phase-I, which is scheduled to be completed by 2020, will have about 1200 seats.

These seats will be made available to IT and ITeS companies to setup their operations, which will open up employment opportunities for the local youths.

The Phase I Building will also have facilities earmarked for Incubation Centers, Skilling Centres and Centres of Excellence. Besides these, an area of about 5000 Sq. feet will be available for setting up of a Data Center.

“The availability of skilled manpower, infrastructure and a salubrious climate makes Shillong an ideal destination for setting up a Regional Data Center. By 2022, I expect that all 80 acres of the Shillong Technology Park would be fully occupied with direct employment opportunities for at least 12,000 youth”, Conrad said.

He informed that the government has made investment in ICT component in education sector with the support of ADB funded project — Supporting Human Capital Development in Meghalaya, wherein 117 school buildings are being constructed.

Each of these schools will be equipped with Computer Labs, Smart Class Rooms & Digital Libraries with rich content and well trained teachers, he added.

The Chief Minister enlightened the gathering that in the Agriculture sector, Meghalaya has implemented an innovative project named 1917 iTEAMS, which is a first of its kind in the country. “This is an IT enabled platform where farmers can contact a Call Center for their needs for advisory services and for farm inputs. Even for evacuating their outputs, the farmers can contact the call center that dispatches Agri Response Vehicles dedicated for the purpose.

Explaining that the state government has implemented a state-of-the-art Centralised GIS platform which leverages existing State Data Center and State Wide Area Network, the Chief Minister said, “By 2022, I envision that the state government departments will be ready with a comprehensive GIS database with rich layers. I will also ensure that the state fully leverages the facilities made available by the National Center for Geo-Informatics of the Ministry of Electronics & IT”.

The Meghalaya Chief Minister also acknowledged the Union Cabinet that had recently approved Rs 3911 Crore under the “Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan” to cover the uncovered villages in Meghalaya with mobile network.

He also urged the Central government to expedite the implementation of the “Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan” and the “BharatNet” projects so that the citizens of Meghalaya can have equitable access to reliable and high quality connectivity.