Build a new operating system for making Bharat 2047 a reality

Bharat 2047 operating system design with project portfolio, programs, and projects 

In the previous article, I shared how to DESIGN a new operating system for Bharat to realize the Bharat 2047 mission and vision. There is a greater need for Bharat to come out of the clutches of the British colonial-influenced operating system. 

In the design phase of the new Operating system for Bharat 2047, Bharat must identify the project portfolio, cross-functional programs, and projects in the legislative, executive, and judicial systems to realize the targets of 200 Key Result Areas in the next 25 years. 

The critical success factor for designing the Bharat 2047 operating system is identifying the RIGHT cross-functional projects and programs and canceling the WRONG projects and programs at right time.

For example, the following programs and projects must be executed to realize the KRA -  Re-engineer the whole education system, and build the skills required for 4th and future industrial revolutions.Five programs and 12 projects are identified to realize this KRA. A few projects may be cross-functional (e.g., mental health, etc.). This example is explained only for illustration purposes. 

Hence to realize 200 KRAs, Bharat may need to define around 1000 programs and 12000 projects, and the outcomes and outputs of these programs and projects define the new operating system of Bharat 2047. 

These numbers are given to give an idea of the scale of work to design and build a new operating system. But the actual number of programs and projects may vary.

Hence, considering this scale of work, designing a new Operating System (defining the right programs and projects) may take 3 – 5 years when 100s of cross-functional subject matter experts work in a highly collaborative manner. 

A few say that the big bang approach fails and better start bottoms up, small, and scale up faster. But this model does not work, which Bharat has been doing for the last 75 years.

For example, it is like not having a complete blueprint of the building and starts constructing each room, and at the end, you get a building, which may not be comfortable and convenient to live in, and there may be much waste of space as the blueprint is missing. 

While execution happens incrementally, having the Bharat 2047 Operating system design is highly advisable, ensuring that each rupee spent on building and operationalizing the new operating system delivers the desired benefits and value.

Note: It does not mean that Bharat to wait to define all programs and projects, and the execution of already defined programs and projects can start in parallel

Governance Model to build Bharat 2047 Operating System 

Building Bharat 2047 Operating system is nothing but effectively managing the right project portfolio and successfully executing the programs and projects in the legislative, executive, and judiciary systems faster, better, cheaper, and steadier. Successful execution of these programs and projects brings the required changes, improvements, and newness to the operating system. 

The current department-focused governance model has rigidity and a lack of agility. Government departments spend 95% of their time on day-to-day tasks; simultaneously, they are asked to execute transformational projects and programs.

The common complaint in this model is that there are no additional resources to execute these new programs and projects, there is resistance to change due to resource bandwidth issues, and many government officers do not want to come out of their comfort zone. Hence there are always delays in the execution. This issue must be addressed as the top priority. 

Hence a separate projectized organization must be established with complete alignment with the departments. The programs and projects can’t be executed without cross-functional teams from different government departments and can be deputed to projectized organizations full-time for a stipulated period. Once the projects and programs are completed, they will return to their parent department.

Projectized organizations can’t work in islands and silos. The siloed execution model of projectized organization without involving and collaboratively working with departments would ensure the successful failure of projects and programs. 

The reason is simple: the outputs and deliverables of these projects and programs must be institutionalized and operationalized in the departments. They must understand, embrace, and accept the change due to the new programs and projects without any last-minute surprises. 

Build Bharat 2047 Operating System 

The three important focus areas to build Bharat 2047 Operating system are Project Portfolio Management (PPM), Program Management (PgM), and Project Management (PM). Programs and Projects are the change agents without which Bharat will fail to prepare for a better future. 

Most people think that PPM, PgM, and PM are general management domains, which is not true. Only some people can become program or project managers. This specialized domain requires a very different mindset from operational leadership. Hence asking operational leaders to manage programs and projects is not a good idea.

Without effective planning, execution, and monitoring & controlling of the portfolio, programs and projects lead to a waste of money, delays, and failure to bring the required changes, improvements, and newness to the operating system. 

The following framework may be used as a reference to manage portfolios, programs, and projects effectively. That results in new policies, processes, laws, regulations, operating models, services, governance models, and smart infrastructure that shapes the Bharat 2047 Operating System. This new operating system accelerates the pace of realizing Bharat 2047 core purpose, vision, themes, objectives, and key result areas.

Role of Modern Cyber system in building Bharat 2047 Operating System 

As I mentioned earlier, the operating system of Bharat in 2047 must include digitalized governance model, services, policies, processes, standard operating procedures, workplaces, and operating models. That means while executing the programs and projects; they must aim at leveraging the capabilities of the modern cyber system as below:  

• Hyper-Connected                                                                            
• Omnipresent
• Autonomous 
• Augmented Intelligence 
• Predictable Future & Automatic Recommendations 
• Real-Time and Contextual Communication & Collaboration

For example, In Bharat 2047 operating system, the public healthcare process must leverage modern cyber system capabilities. It must save the patient's electronic health records in blockchain and allow any doctor from anywhere to access these records at any time with consent from the patient. Patients can avail of healthcare services from anywhere, at any time, using any device (digital healthcare). Using smart prescription cards, patients can get medicines from Any Time Medicine Machines (ATMM). Patient health monitoring in real-time can be done with smart devices, and doctors get real-time alerts to provide the timely healthcare to patients.  Blockchain-enabled smart contracts must allow the automatic implementation of public healthcare policies without government officers’ intervention and delays.  

All this means that when executing a program or project to design new public health policies and processes, it must factor in modern cyber system capabilities to ensure that smart and intelligent policies and processes are built that would become an integral part of the new operating system. 

If the new operating system fails to best leverage the modern cyber system capabilities, it would be impossible for Bharat to realize its 2047 mission. 

Crisis Management vs. Proactive Management 

Bharat today is specialized in crisis management. For example, suppose floods happen in a city due to heavy downpours. In that case, the city can be brought into normalcy within a day or two.  But it is a million rupees question why proactive and predictive planning is not done to manage the floods due to rain effectively. Every year we experience disastrous stories of how cities are drowned with heavy water during the rainy season. 

In another example, Bharat failed to prepare the stadium for international games a few years back. Still, the government could make the stadium ready in a few weeks by managing the crisis effectively (of course, we have yet to determine the quality impact). What does this mean? Bharat is mastered in crisis management, which is reactive and required, but a long way to go to have proactive management with proper planning and execution. 

This mindset must change, and the Bharat 2047 operating system must be scalable, agile, flexible, and, most importantly, predictable and proactive to absorb the changing needs happening at a rapid pace today. 

Whether it is to manage programs, projects, or day-to-day operations, it is essential to establish a PLAN – DO – CHECK – ACT model. 

That means planning what you want to do, doing what you have planned, checking what you have done, and promptly acting on any constraints, issues, and risks. This mindset is required for Bharat to excel in the coming years.

Also, while building the Bharat 2047 operating system, the programs and projects must ensure that this new system has the integral practices and systems to manage the failure path, as mentioned below, effectively. 

Agility to build Bharat 2047 Operating System 

In the last 75 years, there have been so many programs, and projects got executed. A few are very successful, many are delayed, billions of rupees are wasted, and the intended benefits still need to be delivered. In most cases, even after 20-30 years, many projects are still in progress. 

Gone are the days of executing projects in the waterfall model. It is important to divide the project into multiple iterations or increments, and each iteration/increment must deliver tangible value to the key stakeholders within a shorter period. 

Hence, I propose to devise a structure and governance by the government so that a Project must have multiple increments, each project increment must not go beyond three months, and each program increment must not go beyond six months. In this way, we can experience the results quickly. Government must build an Agile Program and Project Management system, which helps deliver results faster, better, and steadier. 

Intelligent (smart), agile, scalable, and flexible Bharat 2047 Operating System would enable us to realize our vision, and mission of Bharat 2047

Jai Hind, Jai Bharat

The article has been written by V Srinivasa Rao (VSR), Chairman & MD, BT&BT Author – Lean Digital Thinking – Digitalizing Businesses in a New World Order and Chairman – Open Digital Innovation, IET Future Tech Panel