Nasscoms arm hosts Connect IT Day in Mumbai

Nasscom's arm hosts Connect IT Day in Mumbai

It's part of a series of capacity building workshops on using technology for development and is aimed at helping government officers and NGOs using IT

CMN Correspondent

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

MUMBAI, INDIA: Nasscom's CSR arm - Nasscom Foundation, today initiated Connect IT - a workshop series for government officers and grassroots NGO managers and aimed at building capacities in using technology for development. It's first of the workshop series to be held in Mumbai and will also be organized in three other states.

Under the Connect IT Day, panels discussed out topics relevant to IT usage in development, which was participated by members of various NGOs, government officials, industry and domain experts. Apart from discussion, there were other sessions focused on providing hands-on training in the use of office application, Web 2.0 for project management, knowledge management, accounting and office administration for NGOs and government officers.

"We are trying to equip the NGOs with tools, processes, systems, programs and products which corporate India uses to help them improve their productivity and delivery capabilities. And thus help the NGOs network themselves better in their activities. The whole discussion was on how can NGOs accept IT and in doing so they need to build human capacities and then needs to be trained in using computers and technology," Nasscom Foundations' chairman Jerry Rao told CyberMedia News.

The workshops are not just open to Nasscom Foundation members but it's open to all NGOs and we are also encouraging non Nasscom Foundation members to participate in them, added Rao.

Nasscom Foundation has about 500 members from all over India.

Connect IT is designed to further enhance the capabilities of NGOs and government officers by providing training across range of requirements, designed to enhance their capacities in the field of ICT for development. For government officers, the training workshops will be added in building skills to effectively implement e-Governance programs in their respective departments.

According to Nasscom Foundation's CEO Rufina Fernanades, these capacity building workshop series is for those who are aware and use computers and possess some IT knowledge. While speaking to CyberMedia News, Fernandes said, "We are trying to train them more on use of IT for their own operations. And it's not just for NGOs but even for government officials since lots of e-government projects are coming up and even the Right to Information Act is now in place. So there' s a need for them to be aware, understand and use technology."

From Nasscom Foundation's perspective, Fernandes stressed the event is not just for initiating dialogues or discussions but to provide on-hand trainings through four day workshops and this would continue for three years. "Nasscom Foundation has a full strategy with its various existing programs including the Nasscom Knowledge Network (NKN), Building ICT Capacities @ the Grassroots (BiG) and other programs," she said.

©CyberMedia News