Karnataka - Mysore   

RiiiT to establish ICT centre in Zambia

MYSORE: The city-based Raman International Institute of Information Technology (RiiiT), the first IT finishing school in the country, is set to make a mark internationally. It will establish an Information Communication Technology (ICT) centre in the Republic of Zambia.

This follows a high-level delegation from Zambia, led by its High Commissioner in India Keli Walubita and economic advisor Situmbeko Musokotwane visiting the RiiiT campus on Monday.

The nine-member delegation’s visit is in tune with the Zambian’s Government’s emphasis on encouraging public-private-partnership (PPP) in accordance with its new IT policy which aims at making rapid strides into the field of information technology.

The campus visit was followed by a meeting. Dr. Musokotwane invited RiiiT CEO S.V. Venkatesh to establish an ICT centre in Zambia and suggested that RiiiT can implement a pilot project in one of the institutions and subsequently expand to other institutes.

Mr. Walubita said, “By setting up an ICT centre, you will be servicing not only Zambia. The country has a huge market since it is politically stable.”

Mr. Venkatesh welcomed the Zambian Government’s initiative and said it was possible for RiiiT to implement the project in one of the schools while there was a need to train people.He cited the example of the Indian scenario where there were thousands of trainers available but there was a dearth of quality trainers. He said RiiiT had stepped forward to address this issue.

Dato’ J. Jegathesan, CEO of Malaysia-based JJ International Consultants, emphasised the need for taking ICT and computer sciences in a big way to Zambia The delegation which evinced interest in the RiiiT’s IT kids, an innovative approach to disseminate ICT in schools and shape the future of IT education, said that establishing such ICT centres in Zambian schools will create employment opportunities for youngsters.

Dr. Musokotwane said that the Zambian Government had decided to attract giant investments from Asia and particularly India, considering its reputation in the IT sector at the global level. This was in a bid to increase skills and create additional job opportunities. He said the Government was prepared to share its resources and infrastructure for investors.

Dr. Musokotwane said, “We don’t have enough schools. We are hiring more teachers and learning material. We don’t have adequate facilities also. The Government is also looking at attracting investments in tourism, agriculture and other areas. The IT kids project is interesting and very impressive. India is a giant in IT, hence the emphasis on ICT in Zambia.”

He added that the country had presently completed optic fibre cabling covering 1, 000 kms to increase broadband connectivity while optic fibre cabling in the entire nation will be completed by the end of the fiscal quarter.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Ambience that is ethereal
CPI(M) meet from January 21
2 lakh names to be deleted from voters’ list
Only 38 per cent of target met under Yashaswini scheme
Ex-corporator arrested
RiiiT to establish ICT centre in Zambia

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu