Connectivity is the need of the hour and it should be used as a tool to create awareness of various social issues, according to Poongothai Aladi Aruna, Minister for Information Technology.
The Minister, who had inaugurated a centre for e-governance at Karunya University recently, said the social issues that needed to be addressed were disease burden, population and environmental pollution.
“The United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre, on the recommendations of the National Knowledge Commission, hopes to set up a knowledge network to share data and resources by connecting all universities, libraries, laboratories, hospitals and agricultural institutions across the country,” she said.
With the existing infrastructure, it was estimated that 500-1,000 node network could be commissioned within three to six months. “It is time students developed interest towards research and growth. Inter-institutional or trans-country collaborative research will become an economically viable option in view of our available network,” Ms. Poongothai said.
India's share of Gross Domestic Product was expected to go up by 18 per cent by 2039 globally.
“To convert this into reality, we need a strong political leadership, an innovative value-based private entrepreneurship and an enthusiastic public participation,” she said. Paul Dhinakaran, Chancellor of the university, spoke.
Paul P. Appasamy, Vice-Chancellor, and Anna Mary Fernandez, Registrar, of the university, were present.
