42 MoUs inked during lockdown; 3 new policies unveiled: TN CM

The policies are on cyber security, block-chain and artificial intelligence, which were unveiled by Chief Minister K Palaniswami. "During the COVID-19 lockdown period, we signed 42 MoUs, involving an investment of Rs 31,464 crore with a potential to create 69,712 jobs," he said.

Chennai, Sep 19 (PTI): Tamil Nadu has signed 42 memoranda of understanding (MOUs) during the COVID-19 enforced lockdown while three policies in the information technology sector were launched on Saturday. The policies are on cyber security, block-chain and artificial intelligence, which were unveiled by Chief Minister K Palaniswami.

"During the COVID-19 lockdown period, we signed 42 MoUs, involving an investment of Rs 31,464 crore with a potential to create 69,712 jobs," he said. The Chief Minister said this in an address during the valedictory session of the CONNECT 2020 organised by CII- Tamil Nadu.

The block chain policy was the first of its kind in the country, ensuring transparency in the distribution of social welfare schemes by the government while enhancing cyber security in the state. Tamil Nadu safe and ethical artificial intelligence policy 2020 would enable the state reach its developmental goals in the IT sector, the policy said.

Palaniswami said the state leads in information technology (IT) and Information Technology-enabled Services (ITeS). "The state continues to be the destination of choice for the IT/ITeS sector in the country. It has been upgrading its IT infrastructure in a dynamic manner to facilitate speedy access to information and delivery of various services of the government," he said.

Stating that the government was gradually opening up to the economic activities by announcing relaxations, he said, "We have been attracting investments over the years and I'd like to mention that81 projects signed during the Global Investors Meet 2019 have commenced commercial production while another 191 are under various stages of implementation." The state attracted 63 projects with an investment of Rs 19,000 crore following his visit to the United States and United Arab Emirates that would create 83,300 jobs, the Chief Minister said. "The government aims to transform Tamil Nadu as the innovation hub and knowledge capital of the country through creation of worldclass institutions in various fields," he said.

To revolutionise the way government services were offered to citizens, a knowledge proof identity-based services delivery project would be implemented by establishing and leveraging the state family data base and block chain backbone infrastructure, he said. "This pioneering initiative will take government to the citizens thus eliminating the need for the citizens to request G2C (government to citizen) services. The ambitious BharatNet and TamilNet projects will be implemented to connect 12,524 village panchayats of the state with 1Gbps high-speed connectivity," he said.

"It is our endeavour to work with industry in addressing and resolving all the issues impacting the economic and industrial growth of the state," he added.

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