Far from the eyes of our mainstream media,Bihar’s politicial leadership has released a draft policy document which will lay the foundation for Bihar's new future . After taking various steps to boost agriculture and investment in Bihar, the govt has taken encouraging steps to roll out the draft version of the IT Policy 2008. The draft version is all set to put Bihar on the IT map and help in balancing the digital divide in the country.

It ‘s vision statement articulates that by the end of 2012, Bihar becomes one of the top five e-Governed, IT-enabled, e-Literate States in the Country and is regarded as a preferred destination for IT businesses and is a major supplier of skilled IT manpower.

The IT policy goal would be realised by building core IT infrastructure in the State, ushering in e-Governance, providing extensive citizen-centric services, promoting IT education, incentivising IT businesses to set up units in the state, regulating IT services and putting in place institutionalised arrangements for implementation and monitoring of IT activities in the state. The key objectives of the plicy aims at :

IT Infrastructure: To create world class IT infrastructure and connectivity for e-Governance in the state linking its offices from the State HQs down to districts and blocks; to ensure connectivity for panchayati raj institutions; to facilitate setting up of broadband digital networks and encourage National Long Distance Operators (NLDOs) to build robust fibre optic network in the State.

e-Governance: To use e-Governance to implement Government‟s agenda of Good Governence; to improve the internal processes of the government through deployment of Information Technology, administrative reforms, re-engineering and modernization with a view to providing an efficient, responsive, transparent and cost effective Government; to take all necessary steps to gain the maximum advantage under the National e-Governance Plan and the resources available therein for ushering in e-Governance in the State.

Citizen Services: To use IT to bring various services to the people at minimum cost on "anywhere, anytime‟ basis; to bridge the digital divide between urban and rural areas by implementing the scheme of Common Services Centres (CSC) to provide G2C and B2C services to the citizens at their doorstep; to undertake computerisation of government offices to enable them to respond to citizen‟s electronic requests for services and information.

e-Literacy and IT Education: To promote measures for in government offices as well as among the masses;to ensure IT education in schools and colleges; to set up dedicated institutions for IT education in public and private sector.

IT Industry: To create a favourable climate in the State for investments in the IT, ITES & knowledge-based industries with a view to generating employment, earning income through exports and encouraging eCommerce, thereby significantly increasing the contribution of the IT sector to the State GDP.

Regulatory Issues: To devise appropriate legal and regulatory framework for efficient administration of IT and ITES; to prevent misuse of ICT and protect intellectual property rights, patents & trademarks.