Ten colleges win INVITE e-governance projects

Bangalore, Nov 24 (UNI) Ten colleges from Karnataka have been declared winners of Project INVITE (Initiative to Nurture a Vibrant Information Technology Ecosystem), an innovative academic initiative.

Sponsored by the Ministry of IT and Communications, Board of IT Education Standards and IBM India, the project, developed primarily on Open Source software and Open Standard technologies, had hitherto received an overwhelming response with over 600 students from 50 institutions in the State participating since its launch in January.

A panel of qualified experts and faculty members in the field of e-governance and IT were set up by IBM and the Department of IT and Communications to judge the entries. The winners were judged based on Innovation in Scenario, Analysis and Design, Quality of Code, Applicability and Success of the Prototype and Documentation, IBM said in a release here today.

Project INVITE complemented IBM's academic initiative - the IBM outreach program - which sought to help universities, train students on open standards-based technologies - open source software to create a larger pool of technical experts among the student population, the release said.

Project INVITE and IBM work in tandem to enable a more competitive workforce in India, capable of driving the development of innovative technologies. The initiative also helped varsities get updated on the most current IT curriculum relevant in the job market, it added.

The winners were students from The BVB College of Engineering and Technology (two teams), Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College, Bapuji Institute of Engineering and Technology, Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering, Golden Valley Institute of Technology, M S Ramaiah Institute of Technology, M R Institute of Technology, Basaveshwar and Alpha College of Engineering.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Munindra Kumar Bhartee, Country Leader, Ecosystem Software Group, IBM India, said the project clearly showcased the potential and drive of students to develop innovative IT projects which would benefit the public.

The prototypes developed by the students during Project INVITE 2006 would be made freely available to the respective Government agencies, solution providers and academia. All projects would be kept in a central repository for future access by the Government, IBM and business partners.

UNI VK GD TS1638