GUWAHATI, July 14 - The 120,000 sq ft Tech City for startups being built by Assam Electronics Development Corporation Ltd (AMTRON) near the Guwahati airport will be ready early next year, said MK Yadava, Managing Director, AMTRON.
�The response has been tremendous. So much so that the State government has decided to add 200,000 sq ft space to the upcoming Tech City,� Yadava said at the inaugural session of the ICT North East 2018 organised by CII in partnership with AMTRON and the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) � Guwahati here on Friday.
The theme of the flagship conference was �Digital Strategies for Enabling Ecosystem�.
�There is a compelling need for creating a strong ecosystem for nurturing startups not only in Assam but across the North-east also,� Yadava added.
�Assam is soon going to come up with the Tech Village, a concept designed to help entrepreneurs and students in training and skilling. Tech Village will help people live in remote areas and fulfil their dream of becoming entrepreneurs. Also in the pipeline are a few Centres of Excellence which will benefit the youths of Assam as well as the other Northeastern States,� he said.
Nitin Khade, IT Secretary of Assam, said the State government is focusing on promoting e-governance ecosystem in the State. �The State is evaluating the issue of better bandwidth. We will be approaching the Central government soon in this regard,� Khade said.
�The State government is committed towards providing high speed Internet connectivity to the citizens of Assam, which is among the very few States in the country that provides incentives to IT companies which set up units outside the IT Parks,� said Khade, who also invited startups in Assam to come up with innovative ideas in artificial intelligence to tackle floods.
�The Assam government will soon start work on FibreNet,� he added.
Prabir Das, Regional Director, STPI, highlighted the various aspects for building an ecosystem for startups and the conducive environment needed to create the same.
KD Vizo, IT Commissioner of Nagaland, listed the initiatives the Nagaland government has taken. He emphasised on reaping the benefits of digital economy besides favouring the digital integration of the economy. �The Nagaland government is promoting digital integration in the State in a big way,� Vizo said, adding that the key objective is to improve ease of doing business in the State.
He also said Nagaland has become the biggest BPO destination in the region. �The State won the Best e-Governance Award in 2016. The State government is tying up with the University of Estonia on e-Governance project in the State,� he added.
Barun Barpujari, past chairman, CII, Assam State Council, delivered the welcome remarks at the inaugural session.
The conference deliberated on smart cities, infrastructure and human resource and making the North-east a startup destination.
Senior officials and experts from government and private organisations such as CISCO, Wipro, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Guwahati Smart City Project, Bohniman Systems, NIC, INthink Knowledge Ventures Pvt Ltd, WebX, Trucare, etc., are also taking part in the conference.
