<div>The launch of Digital India, one of the pet projects of the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance government, is expected to be a big-ticket event. Digital India project will be launched on Wednesday (01 July) with much fanfare at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Delhi. Digital India aims to transform the country into a digitally empowered knowledge economy. The vision of Digital India is centred on three key areas -- digital infrastructure as a utility to every citizen, governance and services on demand and digital empowerment of citizens.</div><div> </div><div>Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Digital India Week following which several events will be held across 26 states and union territories covering 600 districts in the country. The 'Digital India Week,' is likely to see commitments of "billions of dollars" of investments by foreign and domestic firms, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said. </div><div> </div><div>The week long programme can help India make rapid strides in business and technology. Private participation is one of the factors that will determine its success.</div><div> </div><div>The programme, which has a total overlay of Rs 1 lakh crore, is meant to gave an impetus to inclusive growth in areas of electronic services, products, devices and manufacturing.</div><div> </div><div><strong>Here are 10 key things you need to know about Digital India Week</strong></div><div> </div><div> </div><div>1) The whole programme will offer five products - Digitize India Platform, Digital Locker, National Scholarship Portal, e-Hospital and e-Sign. It will have four portals/apps - Digital India Portal and Mobile App, MyGov Mobile App, Swachh Bharat Mission App and Aadhaar Mobile Update App - to help people associate themselves with the government initiatives.</div><div> </div><div>2) About a third of India's 252 million internet users, and a fourth of mobile internet users, are in rural areas. But internet penetration in villages, at 8.6 per cent compared to 37.4 per cent in cities, has a long way to go, and this is the statistic Digital India hopes to change.</div><div> </div><div>3) The ambitious campaign will involve multiple partners and stakeholders, including government ministries and departments, industry, school and academic institutions, gram panchayats and civic bodies.</div><div> </div><div>4) A project aimed at digitising land records, birth and death certificates, mark sheets and other such utilities would also be unveiled. People will be given digital space using cloud technology to store vital government-issued e-documents and help minimise the use of physical documents. Citizens can access documents through web portal and mobile application anywhere and anytime. It also enables e-signing of documents.</div><div> </div><div>5) Under the Digital India initiative, the Modi government is implementing a number of policy changes. These include open software adoption, BPO policy (to create BPOs in smaller towns), electronic development fund to promote creation of intellectual property in India. The government has targeted the Digital India initiative to reach its full impact by 2019.</div><div> </div><div>6) Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) has issued a directive to all major IT firms in Bangalore, instructing them to screen the event and watch Prime Minister Modi's speech without fail. As per the STPI directive, all the software companies must make arrangements for the broadcast of the Digital India Initiative programme.</div><div> </div><div>7) On the infrastructure side, the Centre is building the BharatNet (formerly called the National Optical Fibre Network) that aims to connect 250,000 gram panchayats with high-speed optical fibre-based Internet access.</div><div> </div><div>8) Modi will present the government's roadmap for digitising India at the event that is expected to be attended by 10,000 guests. Business leaders like Airbus India CEO Peter Gutsmiedl, RIL Chairman and MD Mukesh Ambani, Tata Group Chairman Cyrus Mistry, Bharti Enterprises Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal, Wipro Chairman Azim Premji, Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani, Sterlite Technologies Chairman Anil Agarwal, Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumaramangalam Birla have confirmed their participation in the programme.</div><div> </div><div>9) Global heads of technology companies met Modi and assured their support to the campaign, be it Facebook, Google or Microsoft. However, at the last hour, none of the global executives from these behemoths will be attending the opening summit, citing various reasons. NR Narayana Murthy will also not attend due to prior engagements.</div><div> </div><div>10) According to media reports, the University Grants Commission (UGC), in a notification dated June 25, has directed all varsities and higher education institutes across the country to observe the Digital India Week (DIW) from July 1 to July 7. </div>
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