SILCHAR, Feb 23 � In a bid to augment the development of technology in North East, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (DietY) opened the first Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) at the National Institute of Technology Silchar on Friday.
It is the 11th Research and Development centre in the country. J Satyanarayana, secretary Department of Electronics and Information Technology, MCIT, Government of India officially inaugurated the centre at the NITS campus.
Speaking on the occasion, Satyanarayana said North East has always been a prime area of focus for development and the DietY has recognised the potential for proliferation of IT in this region. He said that despite the sloppy economic growth and infrastructure, it has a sea of opportunities for new technologies and systems to be developed and used for the benefit of the people. Laying emphasis on the development of indigenous technology Satyanarayana �We are glad to dedicate this new centre here. We believe that it will catalyse the much needed technological revolution in the North East,�
He added that North East is yet to benefit from the many technological and scientific developments which have become the standard norm in the modern society and realising this lacuna, the Government of India has initiated a number of special efforts to accelerate the pace of development in the region.
Earlier, C-DAC�s North East activities were being handled by individual C-DAC centres by directly interacting with the other counterparts. The CDAC has started specific activities focusing on North East and has initiated over 20 projects over the last five years in the region, he informed.
Prof Rajat Moona, Director General C-DAC said that the reason behind setting up a centre in North East was because the demand for technological infrastructure is very high. �As we set out our roots here, we hope that we shall meet the expectations,� Moona said adding that they would work on two fronts here in deploying what has already been successfully in other parts of the country and secondly, in channelising the initiatives to cater to the special needs in terms of products and technology.
Prof NV Deshpande, director NIT Silchar greeted this welcome opportunity saying that a noted scientific institution like the C-DAC will surely add on to the development of the region and contribute towards the need for IT growth here. He said that NIT Silchar is proud to partner C-DAC in this initiative. This new C-DAC centre will function as a nodal agency for coordination and communication. Dr Pradeep K Sinha, Senior Director Corporate Strategy and R&D C-DAC, Col (retd) AK Nath, Executive Director C-DAC Kolkata and G Ramaraju, Group Coordinator( R&D in IT) DietY, MCIT, Government of India also attended the launching event. Dr K Selva Kumar will be the C-DAC centre in-charge here.
