Delhi City News Archives

As the Delhi government grapples with putting in place the infrastructure for the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the state's Information Technology (IT) department has swung into action to work on a plan to link the city digitally during the Games. To set up a public portal exclusively for the Commonwealth Games is one option that the department is looking at.

At a recent meeting, senior Delhi government officials put their heads together to explore ways of building up IT infrastructure to provide instant links during the 2010 Commonwealth Games between venues.

It was the first meeting that the IT department held on putting in place the Information Technology infrastructure for the Games with special advisor, Commonwealth Games, R Narayanaswamy. According to senior officials, just as infrastructure development in terms of transport, flyovers, special corridors and better roads are essential for facilitating the movement of players and visitors during the Commonwealth Games, IT connectivity to guide the visitors around the city is also critical.

The meeting discussed various aspects of IT infrastructure with one of the key idea being information dissemination through a public portal devoted to the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

"The IT department is exploring the feasibility of putting in place all information related to the Games on a public portal which need not necessarily be owned and run by the government and could be privately run or managed. For instance, the portal can be used to provide information about places of tourist interest, access to digital maps of various locations, schedule of the various events in 2010 and information about cultural programmes," a senior official said.

During the meeting, Narayanaswamy asked the department to prepare a detailed plan on all the ideas discussed so that a path could be chalked out to execute whatever was feasible, sources said.

The meeting also discussed the need to put in place online services to provide facility for hotels booking in delhi, guest houses, purchase of entry tickets and booking of tourist travel packages during the 2010 Games.

As part of the information dissemination proposal to reach out to a wider audience during the Games, the IT department put out the idea that cinema halls like PVR may be roped in to telecast the live matches and big screens of world class standards can be put up at strategic locations in the city for live telecast.

The IT department's long list of ideas included a unified ticketing system for Delhi Metro, buses, light rail, air and taxis. It also suggested a single card for transportation and tourism by which all purchase of tickets can be made and the visitors can be tracked.

The department further suggested that the government should try and adopt various modes to allow people to make payment for procuring tickets easily and also make it possible that information on availability of tickets can be known through mobile phones.

As far as extending internet connectivity was concerned, the IT department talked of making Delhi into a hot spot where internet could be accessed from anywhere.

"Another idea being looked at explores if various services like Delhi city maps, Delhi transportation time tables, Delhi event schedules can be made available on mobiles and online," an official said.