VIENTIANE, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Students, researchers, readers, and the general public in Laos now have easier access to sources of knowledge with the introduction of an electronic collection of books known as Lao E-Books, created by the Lao Institute of Computer and Electronic Technology, local daily Vientiane Times reported on Monday.
Lao Minister for Science and Technology Boviengkham Vongdara officially opened the website, which contains some 950 books.
Speaking at the launch of the website, head of the Lao Institute of Computer and Electronic Technology Vilasak Inthapatha, said Lao E-Books is created to meet the needs of the public, particularly in this digital era when people's lifestyles have changed in line with technological developments.
The Lao Institute of Computer and Electronic Technology supported 260 books on agriculture, scientific papers, law, social and cultural issues, etc., in Lao and English in the website.
"The digital revolution has forced countries to align their development with changes in technology," he said.
"The Ministry of Science and Technology together with the Institute of Computer and Electronic Technology created this website to gather information, textbooks, research papers and theses, students' reports, documents and various books into a central location that can be accessed electronically and provides a modern service," Vilasak added.
The website has a registered domain name at the digital information center in the Department of Digital Technology, and users can access the site at ebook.most.gov.la.
Vilasak said the institute will develop an application for both Android and IOS systems so readers can access Lao E-Books on their smartphones. The institute will partner with various entities to develop the website so that it houses a more diverse collection of books and a larger number of written articles.
