VIJAYAWADA: After realising the 'Smart Village' concept through complete digitisation of Mori village in East Godavari district recently, the Andhra Pradesh government has joined hands with the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) to turn 456 more villages in the State into smart villages.
The representatives of the UCB have called on Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday and held discussions in this regard. A memorandum of understanding was signed between the State government and the UCB authorities.
The initiative is a self-contained sustainable business model to prove that a smart village does not need huge investments and infrastructure but can be developed through simple equipment and resources using the uninterrupted internet and information technology.
Under the unique initiative, the smart villages will be an internet-connected rural habitations like Mori where the State government has implemented the fiber net programme as well as cashless village initiative successfully. While all the households in the village are connected with fibre optic cables for internet connection, various government services like ration through fair price shops are provided through digital transactions.