Intel, govt to boost IT in India

World's top chip maker Intel and the government on Thursday agreed to jointly develop computing platforms to address issues of affordability, local infrastructure and community usage models to enable and empower rural citizens to participate in information revolution.

Intel and the ministry of information technology and communications will work jointly to make broadband wireless technologies affordable and viable last mile option for rural service delivery, a statement issued after the signing of the agreement said.

The fresh agreement, which comes after the successful completion of an earlier pact between both sides in 2002, also commits both parties to establish an Open Source Resource Centre to provide technical assistance and support government projects on open source.

"Partnership between Indian government and Intel has been a continuing one. It began through a joint statement of partnership in 2002 which has been successfully executed since," the statement said.

According to the agreement signed by communications and IT Minister Dayanidhi Maran and Intel chief executive officer Craig Barrett, Intel will help India maintain its edge in spawning a world-class talent pool and provide research and development thrust.

Intel will work on curriculum design, especially in the area of VLSI, faculty development workshops and research collaborations with educational institutions.

The Ministry will also help scale Intel Learn Programme through state governments and other appropriate organisations.