Chennai: The Union Budget presented in Parliament Saturday proposed to take the country one step ahead in data management and quantum technology. It mooted data centre parks throughout the country and apportioned Rs 8,000 crore over a period five years for the National Mission on Quantum Technologies and Applications.
Repeating the cliché, “data is the new oil”, the finance minister said the country needs to take advantage of analytics, fintech and Internet of Things (IOT).
In this regard, she proposed to bring out soon a policy to enable the private sector to build data centre parks throughout the country.
“It will enable our firms to skilfully incorporate data in every step of their value chains. Our vision is that all public institutions at gram panchayat level such as anganwadis, health and wellness centres, government schools, PDS outlets, post offices and police stations will be provided with digital connectivity. So, Fibre to the Home (FTTH) connections through Bharatnet will link 100,000 gram panchayats this year,’ she said.
The Budget proposed to provide Rs 6000 crore to Bharatnet programme in 2020-21.
Further, the minister found that there is a growing need for the Indian statistical system to meet the challenges of real-time monitoring of an increasingly complex economy.
The proposed new National Policy on Official Statistics would use latest technology including AI. It would lay down a road-map towards modernised data collection, integrated information portal and timely dissemination of information.
The government also finds IFSC, GIFT City to be having the potential to become a centre of international finance as well as a centre for high-end data processing.
“Union Budget 2020 is a defining moment for the Indian IT industry. It brings in proactive policy measures on emerging technologies such as AI, ML, data analytics and quantum computing. In addition to this, the policy on establishing data centers across the country will strengthen the necessary IT-grade infrastructure required for discharging services to the remotest parts of the country while bridging the digital divide, revolutionizing the digital economy and significantly playing a catalytic role in securing data sovereignty of the nation. Eventually it will also bring enormous FDI into this sector,” said Omkar Rai, director-general, Software Technology Parks of India (STPI).
Similarly, quantum technology is opening up new frontiers in computing, communications, cyber security with wide-spread applications, said the minister.
“It is expected that lots of commercial applications would emerge from theoretical constructs which are developing in this area.”
“It is proposed to provide an outlay of Rs 8000 crore over a period five years for the National Mission on Quantum Technologies and Applications,” she added.
