Guwahati, Sept 2 (KNN) The government’s focus is to build a Digital Highway to connect all the villages of the state in the next five years, said Assam Chief Minister Sarbanand Sonowal while addressing the Northeast Information and Communication Technology (NICT) Conference 2016.

Sonowal said his government would develop the mission of e-gram to connect every village in the state through digital technology in the next five years.

The event was organized by ABP Group and The Telegraph along with Government of Assam. It was jointly supported by MSME body NESSIA and the Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME) here on Thursday.

"Each rural household will be digitally connected so that people can get their needs fulfilled without having to travel to bigger cities and towns," Sonowal said.

He said the best way to connect with youths is through digital medium and this government is going to fulfil their hopes and aspirations through sincere and dedicated work.

The Assam chief minister, who completed 100 days in his office as CM, invited the IT players of the country to be part of this revolution.

"Being a northeasterner, I must say that the region is full of potential and possibilities. So it is important for everyone to discover the Northeast through a digital highway and digital literacy. I urge information technology players to join us to utilise the potential of the region and help it prosper," Sonowal said.

The chief minister also said his government and the private sector would have to work hand-in-hand on the public-private partnership mode to realise the digital literacy campaign.

Speaking on the occasion, state Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said Digital Clubs will be set up in every village of the state from where people can directly avail government services. The Digital Clubs will facilitate services like air and rail ticket booking, digital books apart from essential government services making the dream of e-Governance a reality.

He said the Assam government's endeavour was to infuse digital literacy in the rural areas under the mega mission.

State IT minister Keshab Mahanta, in his address, said the government's focus was on investment in information technology, electronics systems design and manufacturing (ESDM) and entrepreneurship development. "Our endeavour in the past three months has been to support and create a friendly environment for ushering in the IT movement," he said.

NICT 2016 will also have speakers and participants from the industry, government and knowledge leaders from the Union ministry of electronics and IT, government of Bangladesh, Competition Commission of India, Airports Authority of India, DoNER, Power Grid Corporation of India, State Bank of India and Dell, among others. (KNN Bureau)