The story of Indian Information Technology, is now on rails! Six  coaches of the Comonwealth Express train now traversing the country, are devoted to telling the success story of IT in India. Five other coaches provide a curtain raiser for the upcoming Commonwealth Games. The exposition-on-wheels traces the evolution of India’s Information and Communication Technology from industry, health and education to ecology and disaster forecast. Aimed at creating awareness among people at large about the role of ICT in everyday life, the exhibits highlight critical applications in bringing about ‘good governance’ by providing an interface between the government and the people. Key agencies like the National Informatics Centre, the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing, Software Technology Parks of India and National Internet Exchange of India are on board to showcase technologies like smart driving licences, affordable video conferencing, Bhoomi land records computerization, Karnataka’s Nemmadi rural digital services etc.
Educomp Solutions, the largest education company in India is also on board showcasing its solutions in regional language content, rich 2-D & 3-D English content as well as Magikeys – the software application that allows millions of Government school students to surf the web, email, chat and write documents in their mother tongue. The company is also displaying its smart classroom solutions which includes Intel’s Classmate PC.
Conceived by the central Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in association with the Indian Railways, the expo on wheels began its journey from New Delhi on 24 June, 2010 and is currently travelling through 49 cities across the country. While the primary agenda was to spread awareness about the Commonwealth Games, the opportunity has been cannily exploited to inform lay Indians -- especially the young – about how and why India does IT.  The train has been attracting good crowds at every halt.

The expo is now past its half way mark and will halt next in Hubli on September 5, Vasco ( Goa) on Sep 6, Khadaki (near Pune) between Sep 7 and 10; Mumbai CST ( Sep11-12); Gandhinagar ( Sep 14-15); Habibgunj ( Sep 17-18); Jhansi ( Sep 19-21), Agra Cantt ( Sep 22-23)Ajmer ( Sep 25-26), Kota Sep 27, Okhla Sep 28, Sahibabad Sep 29, Patel Nagar( Sep 30- to Oct 1) and Delhi Safderjung (Oct 2). 

Catch it if you can!  ( Sep 3 2010)