SCIENCE

Following is the speech of the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh at the launch of the Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology:

"It is a pleasure for me to inaugurate the India-Tanzania Centre of Excellence in Information and Communication Technology in the distinguished presence of His Excellency President Jakaya Kikwete.

I have just seen some of facilities of the Institute, and I am deeply impressed with what I have seen, including the Param High Speed Super Computer. I understand that this project will facilitate the growth of information and communication technology in rural areas. The setting up of ten tele-centres in various regions of Tanzania will provide services in tele-education and tele-medicine to many citizens.

I have been a teacher myself and I have never lost an opportunity to be in the company of students. I am very pleased to see so many young Tanzanian students around me. I can sense their sense of excitement and hope about the future.

We have completed the setting up of three components of the Pan African e-Network Project: the tele-conference facility at the State House, the tele-medicine facility at the Dar es Salaam Cancer Institute, and the tele-education facility in the University of Dar-es-Salaam. These Centres are operational and courses are underway in the University of Dar-es-Salaam since 2009.

I commend the vision of President Kikwete to make Tanzania an Information Technology hub of East Africa. The growth of the information technology industry in India has brought about many positive changes to the Indian economy.

India is ready to provide all the help we can within our resources to enable Tanzania to create a pool of world-class IT professionals. If we can produce a steady stream of highly trained scientists, technologists and engineers, our cooperation would be worthwhile and we would be putting our money to good use.

I see this Institute as the first step in our long journey of cooperation in the field of science and technology. We would be more than happy to share our experience and knowhow in all fields, including information technology, agricultural sciences, geology, and health and medicine.

I would specially like to announce our readiness to cooperate with Tanzania in the area of space technology and applications. As a developing economy ourselves, we have benefited immensely from the applications of space technology and our expertise is available for Tanzania.

Investment in education and human resource development has been the focus of successive governments in India. This is a painstaking effort, but its returns are assured and limitless. We are ready to cooperate with Tanzania in capacity building. We welcome more Tanzanian students to come to India to study, to train and to build up their expertise. A large number of scholarships are available today under the framework of our cooperation with Africa and I would invite you to make full use of these opportunities.

It is said that knowledge is power. Knowledge, combined with creativity and productivity, can become an effective instrument for the prosperity and wealth of a nation. The scientific and technological empowerment of the youth has a direct correlation to a nation's social and economic progress. The development of human resources will be vital to sustain the Tanzania's healthy economic growth rates of the past few years.

The countries of the South have today shown that technology is no longer the preserve of only the rich countries. We have the capability to build a large industrial and technological base. We just have to think big and invest our resources judiciously. We have to become technologically independent and self-sufficient.

We also have to constantly innovate and remain open to new ideas. We should develop the capacity to remain in the forefront of knowledge based industries. This requires the creation of new institutions of excellence which can contribute to socio-economic development in our countries.

I am confident that the faculty and students of Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology will propel the information technology industry in this great country forward.

I congratulate the Indian Centre for Development of Advanced Computing or CDAC for the positive role they have played in making this Institute a reality. This Institute stands as symbol of South-South Cooperation.

I encourage you, the budding engineers of this institution, all success as you chart a new future for yourselves and make Tanzania the information and communication technology hub of East Africa.

You represent the future of Tanzania, and from what I have seen I can say with confidence that the future of Tanzania is bright."