Chandigarh Releases a Forward Looking IT & Electronics Policy

PrernaPuri, Secretary, Information Technology; Additional Secretary, Home, Chandigarh Administration

The vision of the Chandigarh Administration is to create a knowledge based society, in which every citizen of Chandigarh is able to access the government services through online mediums

“Internet has now become the most popular medium for accessing essential information and services and that is why the Administration in Chandigarh is trying to ensure that citizens have easy access to high speed Internet in all parts of the city. This would also facilitate quick and widespread uptake of eGov and mGov applications those are being implemented by Chandigarh Administration”

The Chandigarh administration released its Information Technology and Electronics Policy 2013 on December 7, 2013. The Policy aims to ensure that there is one female e-literate person in every household. It also aims to further boost socio-economic development by promoting various kinds of e-Governance initiatives, bridging the digital divide and promoting Information Technology & Electronics Industry.

With the release of Information Technology& Electronics Policy, the Chandigarh Administration has become one of the leaders amongst the States and UTs in the country to come up with a combined policy for Information Technology& Electronics. The Policy is expected to lay a strong foundation for a knowledge-based society in Chandigarh by empowering citizens at all levels in the society.

A Unique Policy on IT & Electronics The new Information Technology& Electronics Policy released by the Chandigarh administration has many unique and national firsts in it. The Policy envisions creation of an electronic / digital resource by the Department of Information Technology, which would enable the officials as well as the citizens to have an easy access to important information concerning rules, regulations, notifications, etc. The policy will promote excellence, innovation and R&D in the domains of Information Technology & Electronics.
Besides making provisions to create a venture capital fund, the policy also includes incentives and provisions for entrepreneurs to encourage developments in the areas of Information Technology &Electronics.

Making Chandigarh a Smart City
The Information Technology& Electronics Policy of Chandigarh Administration is in sync with the National Policies on Information Technology, Telecommunications, Electronics, Cyber Security etc. Since Information Technology is perpetually in a state of flux, while drafting the policy, special emphasis was laid on mapping technology trends, IT-adoption patterns in Chandigarh and feasibility of using upcoming cutting edge applications of Information Technology for e-Governance. The forward looking approach adopted by the Department of Information Technology has enabled to come up with a policy that has a Vision set to be realised by 2020.

Making Chandigarh the new Hub of IT Development 2013

Over the last few
decades, evolutions in the
Information Technology
& Electronics (ITE)
arena have emerged
as the most significant
enablers for improving
efficiency & effectiveness
ofthe government
& non-government
organizations. Chandigarh
Administration recognizes
theenormous potential of
Information Technology
and Electronics and has
made significant efforts
toensure that the benefits
of these sectors percolate
to its citizens.
Rajiv Gandhi Chandigarh
Technology Park (RGCTP)
which started in 2005
has emergedas a major
centre for IT exports
from the region. RGCTP
presently hosts around
70 companiesfrom the IT
world and provides direct
employment to more
than 20,000 persons.
RGCTP itselfgenerates
exports of around Rs
1750 Crores annually.
Chandigarh, as a whole,
has exports ofaround Rs
1850 Crores annually. This
is remarkable ascompared
with the modest Rs 92
Crore export figure for
2005-06. This growth is a
result of thefocus created
on IT through the IT & ITES
policies of Chandigarh.
Now that the ITE
world is getting ready
for the next level
of transformations
throughtechnological
breakthroughs, it was felt
that the existing policies
of Chandigarh need to
be updatedto make them
more contemporary and
enabling.
In its continuing
endeavour to promote
the IT / ITES Industry
in the city, the new
Information Technology and
Electronics Policyattempts
to develop a modern
and vibrant ecosystem
for IT and Electronics
industry tosupport
eGovernance initiatives of
the Government of India
and attract investment
andtalent to such industries
in Chandigarh. Key focus
areas of the policy include
pioneering e-Governance
initiatives, research &
development in Electronic
System Design and
manufacturing,support of
the Micro Small & Medium
Enterprises and promotion
of entrepreneurship
thatharnesses the huge
talent pool of the people of
Chandigarh.

In order to ensure that the new Information Technology & Electronics Policy of Chandigarh Administration gets implemented efficiently and effectively, the Department of Information Technology is preparing a detailed action plan which would be followed by an implementation plan. The policy is also expected to propel Chandigarh to attain the smart-city status in near future.Smart city infrastructure such as city WiFi and fibre ready homes etc.,are proposed to be developed. Creation and upgradation of the IT infrastructure for interactive education at schools would be undertaken and advanced virtual class room courses would be facilitated

The salient features of Chandigarh’s Information Technology & Electronics Policy 2013
To make two individuals (at least one female) in every household e-literate.
• A Venture Capital Fund, with a corpus of `20 crores shall be created to provide funds to MSE and young entrepreneurs in the IT& ITES industry.
• IT Incubation Centres would be set-up in some identified colleges, where students of the respective colleges would be allowed to set-up start-ups.• Use of upcoming technologies like Near Field Communications, Cloud Computing and Social Media shall be promoted for delivery of public services ‘Anywhere, Anytime & through Any device’.• A knowledge resource / digital library to be setup to maintain a repository of documents for use by general public and Govt. authorities.• Use of emails to be stepped up for (i) responding to email based correspondence of citizens and (ii) for intra- and inter-departmental communication within the Chandigarh Administration.• Chandigarh Administration shall mandate for all the Departments to earmark necessary plan funds annually for e-Governance.• Facility to be set up for user-friendly e-Vault and email IDs for lifelong archiving for each citizen, company and departments to enable them to secure their digital dialog, correspondence and important documents.• Chandigarh to have smart city infrastructure like (i) City Wi-Fi, (ii) fibre ready homes etc.• Facilitating creation and up-gradation of the IT infrastructure for interactive education at schools and promoting advanced virtual class room courses.

• The Department of IT will facilitate participation of Micro & Small Enterprises IT units in tender / RFP issued for procurement of IT goods / services.

• Electronic Technology Transfer, IPR etc. will be incentivised through friendly tax regime for industries who adopt technologies developed by Indian institutes/organizations/laboratories.

• The Department of IT would work towards notifying Chandigarh as Brownfield Electronic Manufacturing Cluster.

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