Page 2 - 2018 October Newsletter WEBEL

2 Volume: 22
October 2018 Issue

From the Desk of the
Additional Chief Secretary

Department of Information Technology & Electronics
Government of West Bengal

Dear Reader,

The Department of Information Technology and Electronics, Govt. of West Bengal, has been embarking on numerous initiatives to boost IT
skills and catalyse information technology investment across the state. We remain focused on overcoming the digital divide and spreading the
benefits of the IT revolution via policy initiatives and grassroots intervention.

Work has already started on giving shape to the ambitious project of Bengal Silicon Valley. The Honorable chief minister Mamata Banerjee laid
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the foundation stone of this ground-breaking project on 13 August, 2018. Envisioned on the lines of Silicon Valley in USA, Bengal Silicon Valley
would be a word class state-of-art IT hub spread over 200 acres in Action Area II, Rajarhat, Newtown and home to international MNCs, product
based organizations, R&D centres and entrepreneurs giving a huge boost to the IT ecosystem of the State.

The Department believes that our state should pioneer the wave of next set of emerging technologies. In this endeavor, we had knowledge
exchange workshops on Internet of Things (IoT), and FinTech in the months of July and September 2018 respectively. The events were
conducted in Biswa Bangla Centre and attended by students, professionals, entrepreneurs, academicians and Senior Government officials.
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Next event is planned on Quantum Computing on 12 October at the same venue.

Recently, West Bengal Electronics Industry Development Corporation (WBEIDC) in collaboration with project management unit of
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), developed Blockchain based application on crowdfunding of project. This project marks the first of its kind by
any Government in India. As a first endeavor, the application was handed over to a nonprofit organization for crowd-funding of a social project.
The User Manual was formally inaugurated by the Hon’ble Minister-in-charge, Department of IT & E, Government of West Bengal at the
FinTech Knowledge Workshop in Biswa Bangla Convention Centre on 14th September, 2018.

Alongside, in December of this year the Department is planning for a Global Blockchain Congress with eminent experts and dignitaries of
international repute presenting their discourse on the subject.

Work on establishing West Bengal Centre of Innovation (WBCoI) is in progress with process ongoing for on-boarding advanced technology
training partners.

With these initiatives, the department is consistently striving to engage various stakeholders and create an ecosystem that fosters
collaboration, innovation and business activities in technology sector. We believe our efforts would help our State reach greater heights in its
progressive journey.

I wish you all the best for the Puja Holidays in advance!

With Best Wishes, DEBASHIS SEN, IAS
ADDITIONAL CHIEF SECRETARY
DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY & ELECTRONICS
GOVERNMENT OF WEST BENGAL

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