The wave of digital transformation has given a makeover to governments and businesses across the globe. India also witnessed dramatic developments through technology adoption in multiple sectors that led to enhanced efficiency and improved service delivery. At Express Computer, we leveraged these developments as a chance to organise the 33rd Edition of Technology Sabha at Hotel Crowne Plaza, Kochi to showcase exemplary success stories from central and state departments, and share ‘lessons in e-governance leadership from the innovators, creators, and accelerators’.
The first speaker to deliver the keynote address was D K Singh, Managing Director, Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) said, “We provide IT solutions to Indian Railways for their all requirements…In 1985 we came up with the passenger reservation system. Even airports then had manual systems for passenger ticketing and other services.”
While speaking of the pros and cons of digitalisation, he highlighted that e-governance has certain limitations including cybersecurity, agility, empathy, out-of-the-box solutions, human touch, and more. However, considering cost as a factor, traditional or physical governance is costlier than e-governance. “Indian Railways’ e-ticketing website is among the largest e-commerce websites across Asia. We have developed Comprehensive Customer Demand and Grievance System. We have launched a portal ‘Rail Madad’ wherein we have integrated multiple services and helplines offered by Indian railways on a single platform. We have also kept it as the first priority in our voice response system,” he added.
He noted that “the moral duty of government and public agencies is to ensure transparency, accountability, convenience, and connect ‘Rajpath’ with ‘Janpath’.”
Mayank Chaturvedi, Country Manager – Public Sector, Hewlett Packard Enterprise India Pvt. Ltd. took over the dais second. He said, “We need to focus on digitising processes and building efficiencies. Becoming digital is inevitable. It will play a key role in our lives.” By 2025, around 50 percent of the data will be created at the edge and around 150 billion devices will be connected, he added.
Sharing a perspective on ‘Building inter-modal transportation and integration of travel through the use of technology’ Lokanath Behra, Managing Director, Kochi Metro Rail Ltd., Government of Kerala, addressed the audience. He highlighted, “Kochi has 27 percent of its area with water and intermodal integration was needed to aid people with their everyday commuting needs. Therefore, in 2021 we launched a ‘Water Metro’ to improve connectivity between the 11 islands that surround the city.”
The Water Metro’s infrastructure is identical to a regular metro and a passenger has to go through AFC gates before boarding the metro. “We’ve implemented QR-based ticketing in Kochi Metro. So passengers need to scan the QR and an amount gets deducted automatically as per the picked destination and the AFC gates open,” he added.
While concluding his address he emphasised that “public participation in digitalisation initiatives is utmost important. These digital services should be service-centric.”
Launching of the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra
Following the keynote and special addresses, Sumit Wadhwa, Director – Government Vertical, Samsung India Electronics Pvt. Ltd. and Varun Thapar, Marketing Head – Enterprise Business, Samsung India Electronics Pvt. Ltd. with D K Singh, Managing Director, Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS), Kumar Vineet, Special Secretary, Electronics & Information Technology, Government of Uttar Pradesh, and Srikanth RP, Editor, Express Computer launched the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra.
Sumit Wadhwa, Director – Government Vertical, Samsung India said, “We make some of the smallest things and some of the largest things. We are the most integrated companies. Many phone companies and television companies use our display. Innovation is at the heart of Samsung and we are leaders when it comes to patents. Samsung manufactures everything from the chip up. Therefore, we ensure that security is established right from the chip level.”
Dr. Santhosh Babu, Principal Secretary and Managing Director, Kerala Fibre Optic Network (KFON), Kerala State IT Infrastructure Ltd. (KSITIL), and Chairman & MD and Executive Director (ED), Information Kerala Mission (IKM) said, “Predictive governance is what I look forward to achieving. Governance should not be seen but felt.”
“We are coming up with KSMART – Kerala Solutions for Managing Administrative Reformation and Transformation. We have developed a massive infrastructure under KFON to support digitalisation among the people of Kerala… eGovernance should be people-centric and work towards adding value to lives,” he added.
Vikash Sultania, Territory Leader – Government, Energy & Power, SAS India took to the stage and presented on ‘Analytics – A change Agent in Digital Transformation’. He emphasised that “analytics can be beneficial to maximize revenue, improve taxpayer experience, detect, and prevent leakages and tax evasion.” Further he added that analytics has been helpful in streamlining the PDS system and its operations. Moreover, analytics has also been helpful in optimising the use of resources, prediction, and forecasting.
Sajith Menon, Enterprise Account Manager, ManageEngine shared his insights on the topic ‘Driving Digital Transformation in 2023 and Beyond.’ He highlighted that ManageEngine enables secure mobility for your workforce. “We offer solutions that have an out of box compliance report. Metrics must be in place for tracking productivity, user activity, and user experience,” he continued.
Subramaniyam Iyer, Regional Director, India & SAARC, Forescout shed light on ‘Building foundation for e-Governance with Asset Visibility, Continuous Compliance, and Automated Response.’ Advocating the significance of cybersecurity, he said, “Today most devices that we use are connected and hence it becomes a major challenge to protect and secure these devices from cyber attacks. Today the attack surface has increased and there is no single source of truth. We use about 20+ techniques to cover all types of devices that the customer is using.”
There is a need to start by building a foundation for e-governance. There are five key phases for active defense for the ‘Enterprise of Things’. This includes Visibility, Assessment, Control & Isolate, Remediate, and Automate, he added.
The next speaker was Krishna Kumar Singh, Country Sales Manager – Public Sector Vertical, HPE Aruba. He highlighted that “Aruba ESP architecture is a unified infrastructure that unifies network operations across all domains and locations. We have applications that can help our users proactively identify the actual challenges. It uses AI and ML-powered algorithms to identify the same. The infrastructure applies principles of Zero Trust to increase protection levels while simplifying operations.”
Meanwhile, Rama Devi Lanka, Director – Emerging Technologies & Officer on Special Duty (OSD), Department of IT & Communications, Government of Telangana said, “In Telangana, over 400 services are being delivered through online modes. We have various actionable policy frameworks including open data policy, cybersecurity policy, drone framework, blockchain policy, AI framework and more.” Emerging Technologies wing was setup in 2017 by the Government of Telangana, she added., and the department is working on over 12 projects in Blockchain, over 18 projects in AI, more than 10 projects in drones, and more.
She elaborated on the IRASTE project. She said, “IRASTE is a project which is in the implementation stage. In this intelligent devices are deployed that alerts a driver before a collision or an accident. We are also working on the integration of AI and Blockchain.”
According to K Anvar Sadath, CEO of Kerala Infrastructure & Technology for Education (KITE), the Government of Kerala, “empowerment of students and teachers is given key importance in our programmes.”He also stated that the department has created the Samagra Resource Portal in order to deliver online education via digital content. He mentioned that KITE was the first organisation to provide the first Bell digital lessons, which are currently available on DTH and cable networks.
Shedding light on ‘Innovations in e-Governance using Digital Public Good infrastructure’, Sumnesh Joshi, Deputy Director General, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) said, “We aim to bring in an Inclusive Development with focus on Antyodaya under the Digital India Mission.”
Further, he added that “Aadhaar could be leveraged for authentication through various modes including online authentication, face authentication, mobile as an authenticator, QR code or mAadhaar, digital signatures, and enhancing credibility and security.” Commenting on DigiLocker he said that DigiLocker makes it convenient to digitally store all sorts of government documents and identities. Also, it makes it easier to securely share one’s personal details or documents online.
During her key address on ‘e-Governance Initiatives in WCD in Maharashtra’, Rubal Agarwal, Commissioner, ICDS, Department of Women & Child Development, Maharashtra highlighted, “We geotagged and restructured all the Anganwadis. We used WhatsApp chatbot that proved to be a more versatile platform due to its multimedia support.”
One of the objectives of Maha MTS is the enumeration of potential migrating beneficiaries of Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and Integration Child Protection Services (ICPS) and to ensure the portability of services. The Take Home Ration (THR) – Good Practices Across the States/UTs Report, which was released in June 2022 by the NITI Aayog and the World Food Programme, recognized the initiatives by the Department of WCD as one of the best practices, she added.
Pankaj Chawla, Head- Solutions Architect, SAARC, Infoblox, shared his thoughts on the subject, DNS-based threats: Is your data at risk? and said, “The mission of Infoblox is to empower organizations to manage their evolving networks simply and securely.” “Infoblox runs on a technology that detects zero-day malware leveraging,” he stated.
Ajitabh Sharma, Chairman and Managing Director, Jaipur City Transport Service Ltd, Government Of Rajasthan elaborated on how IT interventions augmented the State’s mobility. He said, “Using the IT tools we have been able to lift up the passenger count from 1.2 lakh per day to 1.5 Lakh. We identified the gaps with the use simple data analytics. Today in around 300 buses we have active electronic ticketing machines (ETM) that generate the data. So, we compile data from GPS and ETMs installed in buses and leveraged that to identify the number of people using the buses. Also, it brought to light the issues people were facing and other pain points. This helped us to optimise and improve operations.”
Kumar Vineet, Special Secretary, Electronics & Information Technology, Government of Uttar Pradesh mentioned that “AI, ML, and IoT tools have been used to develop ‘Mining Mitra’ through which we are able to know about loads carried by trucks… Moreover, a web portal has been developed by UPDESCO for the paperless implementation of the DigiShakti scheme. Right from the movement of the devices from the warehouse to the payment for the devices everything has been monitored through a mobile app.”
DigiShakti Adhyayan app has made it easy for students to reach the government and vice versa. Infosys has come up and associated with the Government of Uttar Pradesh with their Springboard platform to provide over 12000 courses free of cost, he added.
Speaking about ‘Kramer Government Solutions’, Vinoth Kumar, Regional Sales Manager – South-West India, Kramer India said, “We have over 1000 product lines from collaborative devices to AVoIP, room control devices, and more. To cater to government requirements, Kramer offers solutions ranging from command and control rooms, and mission-critical operation centres to courtroom solutions, convention centres, and further.”
Dhiraj Gyani, Director, Education & Government Engagement, GitHub, ecstatically stated that “over 100 million developers call GitHub home, and over 10 million are from India.” He added further, saying, developers can secure their code in minutes and businesses can automatically comply with requirements. GitHub’s advanced security allows you to gain visibility into your security posture, respond to threats proactively, and ship secure applications quickly,” he said.
Santhosh Y Kulkarni, Country Manager, Smart Solutions, Vertiv India took to the stage and said, “We provide Data Centre Critical Infrastructure to enterprises that becomes a foundation for adopting digital.”
Vertiv has realised that there’s no one solution that will thrive but it has to be hybrid. The IT infrastructure should be data-intensive, human-latency sensitive, machine-to-machine latency-sensitive, and life critical, he added.
Highlighting solutions offered by Vertiv, he said, “We have RFID based solution that helps in tracking all the devices deployed in a data centre. Also, our solutions help enterprises in improving PUEs. Moreover, we can do remote monitoring and perform data-based actions through our solutions.”
The following was a Panel Discussion themed ‘Emerging technologies that will transform the future of e-Governance’. Dhiraj Gyani, Director, Education & Government Engagement, GitHub moderated the session.
B Sundar, Special Secretary, IT, Electronics and Communication Department, Government of Andhra Pradesh, while listing out bottlenecks in the implementation of advanced technology tools, said, “For those belonging to the economically weaker section it is difficult to buy even a smartphone. This poses a challenge while we implement the emerging technologies.”
Mohan Krishnan, Deputy Director General & State Informatics Officer, Kerala, National Informatics Centre, Ministry of Electronics and IT, Government of India shed light on technological developments in the government. He said, “At present, we have Centres of Excellence for AI, Blockchain, Cloud-based solutions and more. Further, tools like facial recognition are used by Transport authorities today for confirming driver’s license. It is also used by educational institutions.”
In his deliberation, M Srinivas Rao, CEO (T-Hub), Government of Telangana emphasised on startups leveraging new-gen technologies. He said, “In the Blockchain space some of our startups have done great work like in vaccine traceability, e-voting, land records, etc. We also have several startups working in the AI space, energy conservation, green buildings, big data, and more.”
Prof Mahesh Panchagnula, Dean, IIT Madras, Tamil Nadu called UPI, Aadhaar, Arogya Setu, as success stories of the government. He said that “the lesson for all of us lies in these success stories. In my opinion, e-governance projects have to be more patient and not tied to short-term benefits.”
Sharing the Kerala government’s perspectives, Binu Francis, Secretary, Corporation of Thiruvananthapuram, Government of Kerala said, “We are delivering around 2000 services in a day in Kerala. So there’s a huge data collection that’s happening. This data is helpful as after a year when we look back, we can identify gaps and develop strategies to plug those gaps.”
“Recently we introduced a platform to register all the water supply lorries and sewage disposal lorries. So, now if people need such a service they can apply the same on our app,” he added.
Gajendra Kumar, Scientist ‘F’, India Meteorological Department highlighted, “Currently we have the fourth largest computing facility in the world. With better technologies, we can improve our forecasting and assessment.”
Rajesh Goel, Solution Head-Industry Vertical, HPE India pointed out that “the Indian government has been growing in a polymorphic way. Until and unless you have the right data economy, you can’t grow well.”
Sharing his insights during a key address on ‘Use of Big Data, AI, and Blockchain Technology in public governance – Benefiting the Society’, Er. Robert J Ravi, Chief Technology Officer, Government of Tamil Nadu underlined that “the aim is to take the technology to the grassroots level so even the rural people can also benefit from the evolving technologies.”
The final Panel Discussion of the day was moderated by Srikanth RP, Editor, Express Computer, The Indian Express Group. The discussion-themed ‘Reimagining Public Healthcare with Data, Analytics & Emerging Technologies’ saw intriguing deliberations.
Dr. Mannan Akhtar, Special Secretary, Health & Family Welfare Department and State Mission Director, ABDM, Uttar Pradesh pointed out that “Collection of data is an issue in the healthcare section as there are multiple touch points like ‘Asha Kendras’ where the real-time data collection becomes difficult. Moreover, interoperability is further difficult as there are no fixed protocols or SOPs yet.”
While adding to Dr Akhtar’s deliberation, Khushaal Yadav, Joint CEO, Rajasthan State Health Assurance Agency, Rajasthan said that “the data being collected has to be accurate. Also, there should be a model where it is more about data-driven decisions and not just decisions based on instincts or past experiences.”
Dr. B Viduthalal Virumbi, Nodal Officer (Technical), Population Health Registry & State Digital Health Mission, Government of Tamil Nadu underlined that “there should be a participatory approach so that all the stakeholders have certain ownership and visibility of the data.”
T Karthik Reddy, General Manager, Aarogyasri Healthcare Trust, Telangana said, “Having uniformity in data collection is helpful. Aarogya Setu is one of the examples of such uniform data collection.” While addressing the use of advance analytics, Prashant Rai, Sr Business Solution Manager, SAS India said, “By the use of advance analytics you can augment the data which is lying in the forms of images, texts, videos, etc.” Adding to it, Indrani Laskar, Joint Secretary, Health Department, Government of Assam spoke about the significance of not just data collection but leveraging the data collected. She pointed out that “at times we do not act upon the data insights and thus take decisions more on instinct bases than the actual data insights. Therefore, we need to avoid such practices.”
In a video address, Snehil Kumar Singh, Director, Kerala State IT Mission, Government of Kerala highlighted the significance of making e-services available in local languages. He said, “We have a Malayalam and English enabled Portal owned by Kerala State IT Mission and developed by C-DIT.”
The digitisation of government services has led to the creation of a single-window portal. The portal incorporates various online services and presently offers 884 services from 80 departments. Earlier, it offered 500 services from 60 departments… The advantages of running open source technology (OST) are easy coordination, verification of all department applications, cleaning of redundant services, and engagement of various service teams, he added.