Bangalore: Karnataka government and Microsoft on November 13 signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for "Bangalore One", a state-of-the art online portal project.

The MoU initialed at the software major Infosys campus on city outskirts was announced by Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna and Microsoft Corporation chairman Bill Gates.

Krishna said that all the services being rendered by the government and semi- government organisations would be under one roof and under "one dispensation", be it paying water or electricity bills. "It is an urban answer to take technology to the doors of the citizens of Bangalore," he said.

Krishna also announced that Karnataka government has become a "Zero Piracy" organisation. He said that he had told Gates when he met him in 2000 that the government's intention was to become a "Zero Piracy" organisation and added that a survey of government organisations and public sector units had shown that it has been achieved.

Gates said that Karnataka was playing a leadership role in many ways, not only in "great colossal work" going on in software but also steps were being taken under the guidance of Krishna to make technology an effective tool for citizens.

"Bangalore One" portal was a state-of-the-art system where citizens could get all information. He complimented Karnataka government on becoming a "Zero Piracy" organisation and noted that respect for intellectual property was an important element in driving the software sector in India not only in services but also software products.

Gates also said that he and Krishna talked about extending to 1,000 schools the "Smart School Project", under which Karnataka would be assisted by Microsoft in setting up the project in five divisions over the next three years.

Microsoft, a company statement explained, would mobilise "appropriate resources" to assist Karnataka government in developing an educational portal for building online digital communities that connect school, administration, teachers, students, partners and academicians.

For the "Bangalore One" project, Microsoft would act as a technology provider and consultant to Karnataka government and help the state IT and Biotechnology department to take advantage of the latest e-governance framework based on Microsoft.Net technology, the statement said.

PTI