Question : SETTING UP OF SINGLE EXCLUSIVE PORTAL



(a) whether the Government proposes to set up a single exclusive portal for linking all universities in the country;

(b) if so, the details thereof along with the objectives of the scheme; and

(c) the expenditure likely to be incurred thereon?

Answer given by the minister


MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI SACHIN PILOT)

(a) to (c): Government has approved a Project on 25.03.2010 for the establishment of the National Knowledge Network (NKN); at an outlay of Rs. 5990 crore to be implemented by NIC over a period of 10 years.

The Objective of the NKN is to interconnect all Universities, Libraries, Laboratories, Hospitals and Agricultural Institutions to share data and resources across the country over the high speed information network.

NKN will facilitate creation, acquisition and sharing of Knowledge resources among the large participating Institutions in the country. It will bridge the existing knowledge gap in the country. It will help the country evolve as a Knowledge Society and spur economic activities in the Knowledge domain.

The applications that are identified for implementation and delivery on NKN are: Agriculture, Education, Health, e-governance and Grid Computing (High Performance computing).