The Hindu Business Line : Kerala ideal location for School of Advanced Information Systems

EFFECTIVE value proposition in the application of information technology, as demonstrated in a few successful and well-documented endeavours in Kerala, goes to make the State the ideal choice for housing the proposed School of Advanced Information Systems (SAIS).

Being designed as an autonomous inter-institutional centre for postgraduate studies and R&D, SAIS would be an institution of national importance and would be set up under the aegis of the Union Ministry of Human Resources Development, according to a draft of the Synergy Concept and Vision - 2020 statement submitted to the State Government for consideration. The Scientific Advisory Committee to the State Cabinet is presently studying the matter.

According to Dr K.R. Srivathsan, Director, Indian Institute of Information Technology - Kerala (IIITM - K), who authored the draft, Kerala has, over the last two years, conceptualised and launched a few socially and developmentally important projects such as the Kerala Education Grid and the Karshaka Information Systems, Services and Networking (KISSAN - Kerala) at the IIITM - K.

Research and development is being successfully pursued for developing next-generation information and knowledge management portals for agriculture, digital libraries, e-publications and enterprise integration platforms. These projects have demonstrated effective value proposition in the application of IT by addressing the needs of information systems organisation, knowledge networking and management practices in organisations that desire to benefit from its investments in IT.

Karshaka Information Systems Services and Networking is an innovative project by the Department of Agriculture, Government of Kerala. This project for agriculture is a pilot implementation of application of IT through relevant information systems and networking to aggregate, share and disseminate information of importance and interest to the farmers, agriculture workers and officials in ways that enhance the total agriculture development and farmers' welfare in the State.

The project aims to establish a farmer centric integrated distributed information system for agriculture, which would focus on catering to the various requirements and services to the farmers across the State.

The mission of this project is to develop and deploy information systems, network, processes and services for agriculture in ways that lead to (i) amelioration of farmers' distress and enhance their welfare, (ii) increased farm productivity and (iii) better returns for farm produce and derived products.