NASSCOM Foundation has announced the commencement of ConnectIT workshops in Rajasthan at the ConnectIT Day held in the state capital on the 20th of April. ConnectIT is a series of workshops for Government officers and NGO managers aimed at building capacities in using technology for development and is conducted in partnership with Microsoft. The first such session was held in Jaipur and will be followed by similar workshops in Udaipur, Kota and Ajmer.
Speaking on the ConnectIT initiative Rumi Mallick, National Programme Manager, NASSCOM Foundation, said, "With ConnectIT, NASSCOM Foundation will further enhance the capabilities of NGOs and enable them to build a better infrastructure in their efforts to change lives. For government officers, these training workshops aim to be a step ahead in building their skills to effectively implement e-Governance in their departments. The ConnectIT sessions have been a success in Maharashtra. We hope to repeat the same in Rajasthan, too"
The inaugural session of ConnectIT Day was graced by M. L. Mehta, ex-Chief Secretary of Rajasthan and Trustee of Indian Institute of Health Management Research (IIHMR); M. D. Shivankar, Managing Director, Rajasthan Knowledge Corporation Ltd.; and Deepak Maheshwari, Director – Corporate Affairs, Microsoft India. This session brought together a panel who led forward thinking discussion of IT/ICTs [Information and communication technologies] potential as a key force to accelerate social and economic development. Panellists' shared their innovative examples of IT/ICT advancing social development.
All the panellists' emphasized on the need to network and integrate diverse efforts in IT for governance and NGOs. Challenges to IT adoption in NGOs and Government Departments and Capacity building for leveraging new opportunities of IT in social development was focussed on in the second session. The panellists shared views and debated on the same keeping in mind the common challenges and possible solutions to using technology in development. The session was chaired by Dr. Vikas Goswami, Lead CSR Microsoft, India, Bhutan and Nepal. The panellists' included Rainu Singh, Executive Director, Disha; Satyen Chaturvedi, Rajasthan Voluntary Health Organization; Pushpa Aman Singh, CEO, GuidestarIndia; and Dileep Kumar Yadav, Head, IC4D, ARAVALI.
The ConnectIT workshops, which will follow across Rajasthan, will enable the participant NGOs to draw on best practices and uses of technology for their own specific environment and areas of effort and enable them to deliver top-of-the-line service in the areas in which they operate.
