India, Sri Lanka sign four agreements for collaboration in ICT sector

India and Sri Lanka signed four agreements for collaboration in Information and communication technology (ICT) sector between both countries.
The MoU for cooperation was signed by Union minister for Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad with his Sri Lankan counterpart in Colombo.

Key Facts

The agreements were signed for collaboration in ICT sector and setting up of e-office system and connecting of National Knowledge network (NKN) for collaboration among universities and academics. With this, Sri Lanka became first country to be connected to NKN through Gigabyte (GB) optical fibre network. This will connect NKN to Lanka education & research network (LEARN) through which universities on both sides can share best practices and research ideas. National Informatics centre (NIC) has set up a model E-office system for Sri Lanka.

National Knowledge Network (NKN)

NKN is a state-of-the-art multi-gigabit pan-Indian resource-sharing network aimed at digitally connecting all national universities, colleges and research establishments to create country-wide virtual classrooms. This project was launched in 2010 for period of 10 years. Currently, it is component of umbrella “Digital India” programme.
Objectives of NKN: It aims to connect universities, research institutions, libraries, laboratories, healthcare and agricultural institutions across country with high bandwidth (multi-gigabit)/low latency internet connection so that they can share the knowledge, information and data. Its core idea is to bring together all stakeholders from science, technology, higher education, healthcare, agriculture and governance to a common platform.
Mandate of NKN

• Establish high-speed backbone connectivity which will enable knowledge and information sharing.
• Enable collaborative research, development and Innovation
• Facilitate an ultra-high speed backbone for e-Governance
• Link to Global Networks to collaborate with research communities across the globe.
• Facilitate advanced distance education in specialized fields such as engineering, science, medicine etc.
• Facilitate integration of different sectorial networks in field of health, education, research, commerce and governance.

Month: Current Affairs - January, 2018