Public sector driving force behind India’s rapid digitization

Jezamin Abdul Razak, Senior Research Manager, Government Insights, IDC Asia/ Pacific talks about the use of cloud, IoT, AI, blockchain, Data Analytics, BlueTooth, and GPS in government operations.

What are some of the projects that the Indian Government is looking to implement, and spend on in the upcoming year?

The public sector has been a driving force behind India’s rapid digitization, where we could see several key projects, including Digital Infrastructure, Digital Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Startups, and Cybersecurity, have been launched by the government last year, and will be seeing more projects within these areas in 2022.

For example, the Indian government has approved the state-wide roll-out of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) with a budget of Rs 1,600 crore over five years. The central sector system will be implemented by the National Health Authority (NHA). Citizens will be able to create their Ayushman Bharat Health Account numbers, which will be linked to their digital health data. This will enable the creation of individual permanent health records, which will aid healthcare providers in making better clinical decisions.

In terms of spending, in the recent budget announcement, the Indian Government has increased its budget for the Digital India program by 67.13 percent. This year’s budget for the program is at 1.39 billion USD, from 0.83 billion USD last year.

What do figures suggest when it comes to digitization in governance in India?

The UN e-government survey rankings are used to assess a country’s e-governance capabilities, and India’s global position as of 2020 was 100 out of 193. There is a large gap to close as e-governance is seen as a mark of trust and transparency.

The government has launched several programs to realise its vision as a digital nation and recently it has announced the e-RUPI, India’s first cashless and contactless digital payment instrument. With e-RUPI and other new initiatives, the government should put regulations and clear governance in place to ensure that digital services are adopted smoothly. Citizens will have more faith in government services if the regulations are clear, and they will be more likely to use them.

Is there any increased emphasis on the adoption of new-age technologies?

As governments seek to modernise their operations, cloud infrastructure is becoming increasingly important. Governments can use cloud technology to access more data sources and analyse them in innovative ways. They can also take advantage of new technologies such as the Internet of Things, blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, and others.

An example of AI and data analytics adoption would be the Aarogya Setu Mobile Application launched by the Government on 2 April 2020. This application uses a combination of Bluetooth, Global Positioning Systems (GPS), AI, and data analytics for contact tracing and contact tracking.

Another technology that we see being heavily piloted in the government sector would be blockchain, as it could simultaneously improve trust and accountability, it could protect data, improve operations, and eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse.

The National Strategy on Blockchain has been released by the Minister for Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) supports some insights into the government’s strategies and promotes the recommendations for creating digital space. Blockchain is being used by the government in public digital platforms in several fields like agriculture, health, and energy to reach ensured security needs and in other 44 key fields like transfer of land and property, managing digital certificates, pharmaceutical supply chain, e-notary services, e-voting, smart grid management, and electronic health record management.

What does data suggest when it comes to e-governance trends that we can foresee in the future.

As the application of AI continues rapidly across industry sectors, the government should pay attention to addressing the implementation of the technology in terms of awareness, education, and risk prevention, and its policies and regulation development to ensure the adoption provides the best benefits to the government.

In India alone, we see many projects within the AI technology space such as in Delhi, Punjab Uttar Pradesh, and Maharashtra are beginning to use AI and ML to control crimes, then there is AskDISHA an AI-powered chatbot, and many more. Putting governance in place would gain the citizen’s trust in using digital services provided by the government.

Jezamin Abdul Razak is Senior Research Manager, Government Insights, IDC Asia/ Pacific

Aanchal Ghatak

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