Tamil Nadu to revisit policy on cyber security: IT Minister Mano Thangaraj

Tamil Nadu Information Technology Department was working in upgrading its policy on cyber security and was holding discussions with various stake-holders, Minister T Mano Thangaraj said

The Tamil Nadu Information Technology Department was working in upgrading its policy on cyber security and was holding discussions with various stake-holders in this connection, Minister T Mano Thangaraj said here on Tuesday.

The Minister for Information Technology and Digital Services appealed to the industry experts to ensure adoption of technology by various government departments.

"We are revisiting the cyber security policy. We have convened a meeting asking all the people from the information technology sector to give us any recommendation and suggestions whatever they need...," he said.

Thangaraj was addressing the members of various industry associations on 'UMAGINE CHENNAI' here organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, Tamil Nadu.

He said there was huge potential on the use of technology among government departments.

Referring to his recent visit to Finland, Thangaraj said he was not able to see a single policeman to regulate traffic as everything was automated.

"I was surprised to see (in Finland) that there is no violator nor regulator. What a wonderful thing. Here, I could see policeman standing in scorching heat or in highly polluted road junction. That is why I say, technology should help people and it should make their life easy," he said.

"Whether we are using technology at a proper level, it is a big question mark," he said.

On the launch of i-Tamil Nadu Technology hub (iTNT), he said the government was planning to launch it in two or three weeks.

"The iTNT Hub which we are going to launch is an idea given by all the stakeholders of the IT sector. The iTNT Hub is gaining momentum because so many countries are volunteering to be our technology partners," Thangaraj said.

Israel and France have already signed an agreement with the IT department and the United Kingdom is also ready to be the technology partner. This is a good development, he said.

Referring to the UMAGINE International Conference scheduled to be held in March, Thangaraj said the event has been organised to meet the vision set up by the Chief Minister M K Stalin towards reaching USD 1 trillion economy.

"I hope we are all getting the support from the industry-academia as well as from all the stakeholders for this event. Lot of renowned speakers are participating in the programme," he said.

Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu (ELCOT) Executive Director Arun Raj said, the UMAGINE conference would be one of the information technology entrepreneurship and digital summits to be organised by the government.

"It will have participation from various countries. The Government of France is going to be official partner with us in the event," he said.