Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Consumer awareness drive on safe computing

by Jo Black

Confederation of Indian industry (CII) J&K State Council in conjunction with department of Information Technology and Computer Emergency Response Team India (CERT-In) recently organized a Seminar on Internet and Safe Computing in Delhi Public school DPS, Srinagar.

This session was the first of the week long Information Technology (IT) Consumer Awareness Drive launched by CII in Kashmir Valley.

During the week CII conducted IT awareness sessions in various Schools and Colleges in the valley.

The Seminar on Internet and Safe Computing was inaugurated by Mr Mohd. Dilawar Mir, Hon’ble Minister for Horticulture, PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control, Government of Jammu & Kashmir.

Mr Mir complimented the multifarious activities of CII in the J&K state and specially thanked CII for taking the initiative to launch the much needed IT Consumer Awareness Drive in the Valley.

Such organized sessions will go a long way in sending the right signals across the country that the Kashmir Valley is not only beautiful but also safe as well.

Mr Mir said that the children of the valley despite being very brainy lack the right kind of educational exposure due to lack of opportunity.

Sessions like these will give the right kind of impetus to the students to get to know the vast employment opportunities in the IT sector across the country.

Mr Mir invited IT companies from across the country to set up a base in the Valley and assured them full Government support.

He further said that the incoming IT companies should fully exploit the potential of the existing IT parks in the state.

Mr Mir exhorted the school children to take full advantage of the session and start getting computer savvy without which there is no future.

This CII effort is spread across seven Cities Viz: Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Chandigarh, Bangalore and Srinagar.

CII plans to reach out to 30 schools targeting more than 3000 children.

This CII imitative is designed to raise consumer awareness about cyber crime targeting the children and youth who are increasingly using online facilities, said Vikram Tiwathia, Chief Information Officer, CII.

Emphasizing the importance of safe online access and sharing, Mr Tiwathia said that information security is not as much of a technical requirement but a social aspect.

The CII along with Department of Information and Technology and Computer Emergency Response Team - India (CERT-In) have established the Information Security Advisory Forum.

This forum is proposed to be the single unified line of communication between government, industry and law enforcement agencies.

The highlight of the session was an interaction with the students in which all their doubts regarding various aspects related to safe computing such as Phishing, Trojans, Viruses, Worms and Spam incidents etc. were discussed.

Mr Vijay Dhar while appreciating the CII’s initiative to reach out the students of Kashmir requested CII to organize industrial visits for their students and also conduct career counseling sessions for the students who are not aware of the employment opportunities available across the country.

Mr K B Thomas, Regional Manager Technology (North India) Sify Technologies Limited showed his keen interest to start Sify operations and said that soon they would be setting up a number of Sify iways across the valley.

The Seminar was attended by over 150 students, Principal and senior faculty members of the school, prominent Industry Members and Senior Officials of IT Department, Government of J&K.

 

 

 

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