Dr Santosh Babu IAS (Retd) speaks about the Kerala government’s prestigious projects. Excerpts from an exclusive interview by Channel Iam.com Founder Nisha Krishnan.
What is your new role in KSITL and K-FON and what are your vision and mission?
The vision and mission were already established by the government a long time back and my job is to take it forward. The K-FON project will connect about 30,000 government offices. First preference is for that. High-speed connectivity will be provided to 30,000 government offices. The government also aims to provide high-speed Internet to 20 lakh families, which is the second priority. The third preference is to provide high-speed internet to houses at lower rates. The government of Kerala will be possibly the first in the world to introduce ‘the internet as a right’. The priority is to let that happen. We have told the chief minister that it will be done by June next year. A huge monetization plan also has to be done in parallel and we are now doing that.
Pushing Kerala Space programme
We are moving forward with Kerala Space K-Space. It has 20 acres of land. The building will be constructed soon. TCS has taken 97 acres in which an avionics delivery platform will be made. There are plans to make it into a space park.
SDPK for Skilling
The third priority is given to the skill delivery platform SDPK. A platform that is similar to the Coursera model. World-class digital content will be made available to people. We will give badges instead of certifications. This will help to compete rather than give certificates.
In the IT sector, 30% of skilled people are from Kerala. But they have gone in search of better opportunities. We are trying to use their skills rather than calling them back.
Kerala way ahead in emerging technology
Care has to be given to emerging technology. Kerala Blockchain Academy is a leading platform in this area. Our people are best in emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence, AR/VR, machine learning etc. During the pandemic time, many expressed interest in this field. I would say that IT skill is most wanted than communication skill. I think that Kerala should invest more in emerging technology.
More responsibilities
Even if it’s a politician or bureaucrat, they should have a vision for their country and state. We have never reached the ‘potential’ level. The state government and chief minister’s Vision World-class aims to fill that gap and reach that level. I feel that I have got an opportunity as a bureaucrat to do my best for the state now.
