When the entire country is facing a crisis due to Covid-19 pandemic, digital technology has turned out to be a boon during the tough situation, said State Electronics and Information Technology Minister Tusharkanti Behera during a webinar.
Gracing the ICT Odisha webinar jointly organised by the Odisha Electronics and Information Technology Department and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in Bhubaneswar on Friday, the Minister said the digital technology has somehow eased people's problems during the lockdown period.
“As the market has switched to online, now people need not to go out of houses for buying items of their choices due to which the social distancing norms are effectively being followed to break the chain of coronavirus. Even work from home has been proved to be very useful during lockdown to deliver services by the professionals,” Behera said adding that new technology like artificial intelligence and machine learning will turn out to be a great boon to human community in upcoming days and it will make our life more easier.
Participating in the webinar, State Electronics and IT Secretary Manoj Mishra said that Covid-19 pandemic has affected all the sectors in the country, but has brought a huge opportunity for IT industry. However, ‘digital divide’ has emerged as a big challenge in the society that could affect education, employment sectors on a large volume.
“To overcome the situation, we need to provide internet connectivity to everyone in the State,” he said.
“India can be a self-reliant nation by leveraging technologies, talent pool, and the robust ecosystem developed by the Government,” underlined Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) Director General Omkar Rai. The theme of the 10th ICT Odisha Webinar was ‘Digitisation Opportunities Post Covid’.