The Hindu Business Line : Kerala aims to become open source software destination

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Thiruvananthapuram Feb. 12 The Kerala Government has no intention of forcing the State's IT industry to adopt free or open source software, declared Mr K.R. Jyothilal, Special Secretary, Department of Information Technology.

Addressing a workshop organised in the city on Monday to discuss Kerala's draft IT policy, he said that the Government hopes to develop Kerala into a free and open source software destination. Similarly, the Government intends to use such software for its e-governance initiatives, he added. However, the State's IT industry is free to work with whatever software it wants, he emphasised.

The draft IT policy has not specified any fiscal incentives for the IT industry. This is because the Government wants to consider the views of all stakeholders, particularly industry, before fixing the nature and quantum of fiscal incentives, he explained.

The draft IT policy aims to bridge the digital divide and take the benefits of IT to all sections of society, Mr Jyothilal said. For instance, the Government hopes to ensure that at least one person in each family in the State is e-literate, he added.

Earlier, addressing the gathering, Mr Joseph Mathew, Advisor, Department of Information Technology said that earlier government policies had looked at IT only from the industry's perspective. However, there is a need to consider the perspective of all segments of society while framing an IT policy, and this is what Kerala's draft IT policy attempts to do, he explained.

At the same time, the Government recognises the important role played by the IT industry and any dilution of the industry's role in the draft policy will be addressed, he added.