Calendar on Emerging Technology Workshops

Yesterday I was in Santiniketan. I visited the IT Park where a certificate course is going on, being conducted by NIELIT.
I interacted with the trainees. Most were from Tier 3 towns of Rampurhat / Bolpur. I asked them if anyone knew some coding like C+ or Java. Few raised their hands. Some had also done some mobile apps programming. I asked all to learn coding while they were still young if they wanted to be in the IT field for careers.

I informed them that WIL, on behalf of State Govt, was already conducting introductory 5-day on Start-Ups throughout their 100 plus district units. Some inputs would be given here too at IT Park Santiniketan. I asked them to think creatively: Santiniketan's handicrafts and Bolpur's / Rampurhat's / Tarapith's Totos / Rickshaws could be co-ordinated through Uber-Ola-like apps that could be homegrown by the trainees' start-ups. I suggested that digital marketing could be an area where small groups in small towns could also be profitable.

In the afternoon, as I was waiting at Bolpur Railway Station for returning by Kanchanjangha Express, two trainees came up to me and said that they had been thinking and they thought that the idea f digital marketing was great and they would work upon it. I assured them that some inputs were given to them in their present course too: I talked to the Course-coordinator too. While on the train, I requested IT Department's Honorary Advisor Mr Ambarish Dasgupta to give me a concept note on how govt may make digital marketing as a career option for the districts in Bengal. He has agreed.

At the State Level, we plan to have a series of workshops organised by the IT&E Department to usher in a proper eco-system in emerging trends in IT. So far we have fixed the calendar for the next quarter. This is as follows:

1. 16th March 2018: Workshop on Cyber Security
2. 13th April 2018 :  Workshop on Blockchain
3. 18th May 2018: Workshop on Artificial Intelligence

(Some of the other areas that we will work on for the next quarters would be Embedded Software and Technology, Animation & Gaming, Fintech, AI driven Digital Marketing, Face Recognition etc.)