Oracle inks MoU with Jharkhand to drive digital transformation

The Dollar Business Bureau

To drive digital transformation in Jharkhand, the US-based technology major Oracle Corporation signed a pact on Monday with the state government and said that the company has not set any targets for investments in technology.

Safra A Catz, CEO of Oracle Corporation, who is on a 3-day visit to India said Oracle technologies are bound to drive digitization in the country, the second largest base of the company after the US.

Catz hoped the recent pact with the Jharkhand government, and a similar agreement with the government of Maharashtra in 2016, would set a course for partnerships with other states.

“The investment is unbounded. We have not bound the investments in any way...we have not put a cap on it,” she said, while adding that the company will provide support to start-ups in Jharkhand.

She has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government of Jharkhand for jointly identifying and exploring areas in which the latest cloud-based technology of Oracle can be used for delivering better citizens services.

The aim of the alliance would also be to address the requirements of citizens and business of the state.

Catz said that cloud would drive change and enhance efficiency in developing economies such as India, just like it is triggering innovation in technology industry.

“India’s rapid transformation echoes the generational shift taking place in the technology industry,” she said.

Oracle, which has 40,000 employees in India, said it looks forward to working with Jharkhand government to create opportunity, support entrepreneurship and better services for the state’s citizens as the company has done with other governments across the world.

Raghubar Das, Chief Minister of Jharkhand said that the state is improving its IT infrastructure.

“We have initiated programmes in this direction. We have recently started State Data Centre which is very effective and helpful in providing effective and responsible governance,” he said.

The Chief Minister said that the state government, in line with the central government Digital India initiative, is undertaking continuous efforts in bridging the gap between the administration and its citizens with the increased use of IT.

“The state government has set a target to make all the departments paper-free by this year-end,” he said.

The key collaboration areas between the government of Jharkhand and Oracle are cloud management, a common citizen services centre to support state administration, database management, etc.