Kerala as first fully Digital State

Kerala is boast of both Mother Nature’s bounty and an impeccable track record in adoption and promotion of Information Technology for the welfare of its people. On one hand, there are calm and tranquil backwaters surrounded by banana mangroves and majestic coconut trees beckoning nature lovers, while on the other, there are IT parks and SEZs standing as testimony to the State to stand out as an IT hub.

Presenting the Budget for fiscal 2016-17, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy announced an outlay of over Rs.482 crore for the IT sector, which would go towards establishing a ‘high technology business incubation centre’ at Kalamassery in Kochi and a ‘knowledge city’ near the Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram. Besides, he also talked of spending lavishly on further promoting eGovernance in the State. The government’s vision entails giving impetus to its economy and creating many more employment opportunities for the youth.

Over the years, the State Government has successfully implemented initiatives like e-District, e-Procurement, e-Office, Digital Literacy, Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT), Citizens’ Call Centre, Service and Payroll Administrative Repository for Kerala (SPARK) and e-Mail Management System (EMS) through its nearly 400-odd portals and over 2,600 Akshaya centres to make the life of its people easier and government processes simpler. In short, Kerala is fast transforming itself into a digitally-empowered society, a ‘Digital State’ in every possible sense of the term.

Kerala is fast emerging as a ‘Digital State’ and striving hard to transform itself into a giant information technology (IT) hub to give impetus to its economy and create more and more employment opportunities. Famous for its picturesque landscapes, backwaters and heritage, the State has now also earned a name as one of the rapidly developing IT destinations in the country.

India’s highest literacy-rate state has now added another feather to its cap by getting recognition as country’s digital state, thanks to the political will of the government and an enviable record of people’s cooperation in Kerala towards digitization.

The Kerala Economic Review – 2014 showed that Kerala had recorded the growth rate of 6.49 per cent, which was above the national average of 4.04 per cent and second highest among the south Indian states. The State is well connected through the Kerala State Wide Area Network (KSWAN), National Optic Fibre Network (NOFN) and the National Knowledge Network (NKN) to provide high-speed Internet connectivity to all Gram Panchayats and urban clusters. In 2015, Idukki became the first district in the entire country to have NOFN, which the government termed as an exceptional achievement.

The efforts of the government have resulted in highest mobile penetration, with close to 32 million connections, for a population of 33 million. The number of smart phone users is also going up sharply. The recent growth of Internet as well as smart phones penetration, combined with the government’s initiatives, has helped the State make significant strides in turning Kerala a knowledge-powered economy.

State official said that four major projects contributed gradual evolution of Kerala into a digital society, namely Akshaya project, IT@School, digital infrastructure availability and State Data Centre, and allied applications. Considering the existing digital infrastructure and a plethora of digital initiatives, the government is now aiming at bridging the digital divide by making available digital infra- structure accessible to citizens at affordable cost, promoting entrepreneurship and generating more employment opportunities for the youth.

One of the most ambitious projects of the State Government is Akshaya, which aims at bridging the digital divide and disseminating ICT services. Akshaya centres are set up within a two-kilometre distance from any household and are networked leveraging entrepreneurship. With over 2,600 centres in the urban and rural areas, these centres are taking e-governance to the citizens’ doorsteps. Such concept has been emulated by other states and christened as Common Service Centres (CSC) as part of a central initiative – National e-Governance Plan (NeGP). Some of the key services delivered by Akshaya centres include Aadhaar enrolment, banking and insurance services, utility bill/fee payment service, online application for redressal of public grievance by the Chief Minister, data digitization, Aadhaar seeding and Non-Resident Keralites’ Welfare Board (KNRK) service, among many others.

The seriousness of the State Government can be gauged from the fact that the budget allocation for the IT Department has gone up substantially to strengthen the digital infrastructure. The government has proposed to establish ‘high technology business incubation centre’ at Kalamassery in Kochi and a ‘Knowledge City’ near Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram to promote IT and e-governance in Kerala in the current fiscal 2016-17. The Kerala Government is making efforts to facilitate incubation of new technologies with high intellectual property value and develop a research and development centre for high-end analytics.

According to reports, the State has witnessed highest level of urbanization in its history between 2001 and 2011, with an increase of 83.82 per cent over the previous decade. However, not everything is going down well with the government. Although the State is posting a spurt in economic growth, it records the highest unemployment rate. According to experts, if digital opportunities are tapped, then fields like education, healthcare and law and order can be revolutionized. If the higher education institutions can be connected digitally, students can be guided by skillful teachers.