Minister for Information Technology and Digital Services T. Mano Thangaraj on Wednesday said the State government was considering the integration of all departments through automation for better and safer networking.
“Plans to automate all departments, including police, education, welfare, are under way. Each department deals with a lot of data. So an IT-coordination among them must be implemented,” the Minister told The Hindu.
The Minister said that there were threats of security theft and data breach nowadays since the technology being used was very fragile. “International hacking is also possible. So, the State must maintain a proper network across departments, which is what we are trying to work out,” he said, adding that the challenge was with respect to coordination between each sector.
“For example, there aren’t many shelters for traffic police. Some of them are forced to work for long hours under bad weather conditions. If automation was done, the pressure [on them] would reduce as technology will handle navigation and identify defaulters. Cybercrime tracking and resolving can be expedited. With automation, tracing of data, scheme implementation, information security and minimising burden on officials can be achieved,” he said.
The Minister said the government was holding talks with several foreign agencies regarding the automation plan. “Once the MoUs (Memoranda of Understanding) are signed, a Detailed Project Report will be formulated,” he said.
“Tenders were rolled out, inviting applications to install e-service centres in the State, especially in remote areas. Modernisation of the existing Tamil Nadu Disaster Recovery Centre has been proposed.....Also, a trial run of Information Communication Technology training for government officials in all districts, with 5,000 participants, took place recently. An announcement directing all officials to undergo this training will be given before the State Budget,” he said.
