Indian Government launches C-DAC Information Media Server
The Indian Government has launched a low-cost dedicated computer appliance which will function as an information media server or ‘internet in a box’. It has been developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC), an Autonomous Scientific Society of Department of Electronics and Information Technology, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Government of India.
The C-DAC Information Media Server (CIMS) is basically a single board computer with a multi-core processor running application software to provide audio and video on demand. It allows users nearby to connect using WiFi and access the content stored on it.
“CIMS is very easy to setup and configure for deployments at locations such as Parliament (Today in Rajya Sabha, Members details), Education Institutes (eBooks, Timetable, news of the day, notices), Railways (Train running information, station layout maps), Hospitals (Doctors on duty, patient records). A user can connect via any smart device with WiFi capability and freely access the available information. Web pages are retrieved and delivers it across the Internet. In the simplest case, the video file is embedded in a web page and stored on the same host as the other components of the page,” said Dr Hemant Darbari, Director General, C-DAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing).
The concept is understood to have evolved out of MIT’s One Laptop per Child school server project. [*]
The device was launched by Ravishankar Prasad, Minister for Electronics and IT and S.S. Ahluwalia, Minister of State for Electronics and IT.
Minister S.S. Ahluwalia said that the device would be used to create awareness of various government schemes.
