Kolkata: With Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee desiring to build a hub for technology firms like Silicon Valley, the state IT and Electronics department is leaving no stones unturned to play a leading role in the emerging IT technologies like Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Robotics, IOT etc.
"Considered as one of the most important next generation emerging technologies, Blockchain has the potential to disrupt every industry and gradually rewire the world economy. The state's vision is to move towards a decentralised and transparent ecosystem, where the government and every industry will be able to leverage benefits of emerging technologies such as Blockchain. So we have selected Blockchain as one of the major emerging technologies for the future," state IT and Electronics minister Bratya Basu said.
State Additional Chief Secretary, IT, Debashis Sen said that the government is networking with the best in the country and across the globe, to position Bengal among the best in use of Blockchain.
"We are laying a lot of emphasis on awareness and training of the people working in this sector, as well as for the future generation," Sen said on the sidelines of a Blockchain summit at Biswa Bangla Convention Centre in New Town on Friday.
He added that the government is having talks with the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Technology (MAKAUT) for commencing courses on these emerging technologies.
Saikat Maitra, vice-chancellor, MAKAUT, said that the university is ushering in a restructure in its curriculum, by integrating the study of these emerging technologies into the subjects that are taught currently. "We are also planning to start a Centre for Emerging Technologies for cyber security, Blockchain, IOT etc. We are also in constant touch with the government," Maitra said.
The day-long summit on Friday had speakers from leading IT companies like IBM, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Accenture, along with institutes like ISI, start-up companies and other IT industry people.
Thoughts were exchanged, as sharing of knowledge is one of the most important aspects when embracing new and advanced technology.
It may be mentioned that Blockchain is expected to generate more than 18,000 jobs in the next one year. West Bengal Housing and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) is already using Blockchain for Public Project Funding, through crowd sourcing.
"We have formed a dedicated team for working on this," Sen said.
According to an official in the IT department, the data centres in the state and national level are prone to cyber attacks.
"Blockchain technology is safe as the database is shared in lakhs of computer at the same time. So hacking into a single computer will not affect the data," the official said.