World Computer Literacy Day

World Computer Literacy Day is observed on 2nd December and was created by a famous Indian computer company National Institute of Information Technology (NIIT) Ltd. in 2001 to mark its 20th anniversary. The day was mainly directed towards improving the teaching of Information Technology, and more generally, the “celebration of computers”.

NIIT Limited was set up in 1981 to help the Indian IT industry overcome its human resource challenges by Rajendra S. Pawar and Vijay K. Thadani, graduates from IIT Delhi. They considered a franchising model in IT education, setting up nine educational centers by 1987. NIIT offers training and development solutions to individuals, enterprises, and institutions.

The celebration on this day urges individuals to use them productively with a range of abilities going from essential use to the programming level and advanced problem-solving. This day is the best occasion to learn in insight concerning the computer and its related technology.

In 1985, India Postal Department has issued commemorative postage on Children’s Day which depicts a girl learning to operate the computer. Take this Day as the best opportunity to learn in detail about the computer and its related technology.

In today’s generation computers plays a very important role. From solving a tiny mathematical problem to researching on world’s biggest issues, the computer does everything. The day strives to encourage the development of computer and technological skills among women and children in India. It promotes awareness about computers so that people of any age can understand the importance of computers and their related technology. Computer and all electronic gadgets have become an important part of our daily life.

The Indian government has launched Digital India in the year 2014 under which most of the activities like banking, paying utility bills, education will be done through digital mode. Many sectors have followed digitization and converted their manual system to digital systems. However, digital literacy among senior people is very low. Many senior citizens of India have no knowledge of digitization and are computer illiterate. Literacy in computers also means one’s understanding of how computers execute.

The theme for this year’s Computer Literacy Day 2024 is ‘The Big Three Computing Advances’.

How the day is celebrated

World Computer Literacy Day is celebrated in many countries in several ways, like providing computer knowledge to people of backward communities or educationally weaker groups. Encourage and educate people on this day about computers and the need for learning about computers. Teach your kids how computers work. If you introduce them to programming early, they will have a digital literacy advantage throughout their lives. Indulge yourself to teach someone about computer use and share the knowledge on social media to promote worldwide digital access using the hashtag #WorldComputerLiteracyDay.

Quotes on World Computer Literacy Day

“I think it’s fair to say that personal computers have become the most empowering tool we’ve ever created. They’re tools of communication, they’re tools of creativity, and they can be shaped by their user.” -Bill Gates
“The internet could be a very positive step towards education, organization, and participation in a meaningful society.” -Noam Chomsky
“A computer would deserve to be called intelligent if it could deceive a human into believing that it was human.” -Alan Turing
“I do not fear computers. I fear lack of them.” – Isaac Asimov
To err is human, but to really foul things up you need a computer. – Paul R. Ehrlich
“The computer was born to solve problems that did not exist before.” – Bill Gates
“Access to computers and the Internet has become a basic need for education in our society.” -Kent Conrad
“A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.” – Emo Philips
“It’s hardware that makes a machine fast. It’s software that makes a fast machine slow.” – Craig Bruce
Computing is not about computers anymore. It is about living. – Nicholas Negroponte
A computer does not substitute for judgment any more than a pencil substitute for literacy. But writing without a pencil is no particular advantage. – Robert McNamara
Computers literacy does not mean knowing about various software and programs, it certainly leads to knowledge about how fluent one person can use a computer.