Govt setting up cloud data centres to cut costs for small scale sector: Sibal

Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Kapil Sibal on Monday highlighted the advantage of cloud computing in cutting down the cost of operations for the small scale sector.

For this purpose, Sibal said that the Government has already started setting up data centers under PPP projects wherein the space is provided by the government and the investment in creating physical infrastructure is done by the private sector. The minister was delivering the Inaugural Address as Chief Guest at 'The Industry - IT Summit 2013' organized by CII in Delhi.

“We need to create an ecosystem of connectivity between various stakeholders in the economy like entrepreneurs, banking, SMEs, foreign investors for ensuring inclusive growth of the Indian economy,” the minister said.

Sibal highlighted critical areas offering greater opportunities for IT adoption such as cloud computing, data centers, small scale sector, banking sector, semi-conductors, cyber security, etc, which will ensure better competitiveness, inclusivity and sustainability for the Indian IT sector.

Among the key challenges, Sibal stressed on the low level of Research and Development (R&D) in the private sector. He shared that of the 0.8% of GDP being invested in R&D, the government's share is 0.6% whereas the private sector only contributed 0.2%.

He emphasized the need for a consistent policy framework for the IT sector from a long term perspective which will help transform the business landscape with enhanced IT adoption, and in turn create a significant contribution to India's GDP.

To realize this goal, Sibal informed that the Government has framed the three important national policies viz. the IT policy, the telecom policy and the Electronic System and Design Policy keeping a 20 year horizon in mind.

He added that these three policies will enable the End-users, IT service providers and government to partner with each other and leverage information technology to achieve and maintain the desired economic growth rate.

Sibal informed that the Union Cabinet will shortly take up the Electronic Service Delivery Bill for discussion through which the Government aims to deliver all public services electronically in next 8 years, offering a huge opportunity for the Indian industry.