eGov December 2015

INDIA’S PREMIER ICT EVENT

EVENT REPORT

DECEMBER 2015

VOLUME 11  ISSUE 12

COVER STORY

Smarter Cities in DIGITAL INDIA

2ND CLOUDGOV SUMMIT 2015, NEW DELHI

DEVENDRA FADNAVIS Chief Minister, Maharashtra

GOVERNMENT

BFSI

V K GAUTAM

KAUSTUBH DHAVSE

SANJAY BHATIA

RAJESH AGGARWAL

NIKHIL GANDHI

DR K SHIVAJI

Principal Secretary, IT, Govt of Maharashtra

OSD to Chief Minister, Govt of Maharashtra

MD & VC, CIDCO Govt of Maharashtra

Jt Secretary, Dept of Financial Services, GOI

Group President, SKIL Infrastructure Limited

Chairman & Managing Director, SIDBI

DR GOVIND

VIKAS RASAL

Chief Executive Officer, NIXI

ANUPAM

Div Jt Registrar, Cooperative SHRIVASTAVA Societies, Govt of Maharashtra CMD, BSNL

CORPORATE

S B SINGH

DEB DEEP SENGUPTA

V SWAMINATHAN

Deputy Director General, NIC

Managing Director, SAP India

Senior Executive Vice President ± India, Kotak Mahindra Bank

DR M RAVI KANTH

AJOY MEHTA

R D DHIMAN

BALAJI D MANJULE

SIDHARTH MALIK

Chairman & Managing Director, HUDCO

Commissioner, MCGM

Principal Secretary, Industries, Govt of HP

Deputy Agriculture Secretary, Govt of AP

VP & MD, India, Akamai Technologies

egov / egov.eletsonline.com / December 2015

SPECIAL REPORT 52

Digitising Rural Telangana

Indian Railways Riding the Tech Wagon

EDITORIAL

Chronicling the Unfurling of a Digital India

INDIA—the premier event on ICT in India — organized annually by Elets Technomedia would witness its 11th glorious edition at Mumbai. This premier event, along with the eGov magazine has been privy to the unfurling of India’s development story leveraging the power of ICT right from the early inceptions of the National eGovernance Programme to its current consolidation into the well thought out triad of JAM (Jandhan-Aadhar-Mobile), the nine pillars of growth under the Digital India vision and the stupendous mix of 98 Smart Cities and 500+ AMRUT cities. eGov magazine has been a self-ordained chronicler of this majestic story, whose resplendence and rigour can be found out in the archives duly organised at http://egov.eletsonline.com. This year-end issue brings to you a vivid variety of insights from government and industry alike. We went on to ask some of the finest minds and dominant influencers as to what are the key issues, challenges and threats that stand in way of ushering in the much-sought-after digital age. Their views would somewhere help the concerned stakeholders to strategise and design their approaches and plans to overcome the roadblocks. Anupam Shrivastava of BSNL is certainly driving the public sector behemoth to a definitive direction of excellence and penetration. He speaks at length in an exclusive interview. City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra Ltd (CIDCO), Maharashtra under the leadership of Sanjay Bhatia, is an emerging case study for envisioning and execution of the Smart City movement in the country. The ubiquitous and ever-inspiring Rajesh Aggarwal, who has now been entrusted an important role in the Ministry of Finance, talks all about the way to a cashless economy. Ajoy Mehta of the Greater Mumbai Municipal Corporation speaks of the growing portfolio of eGovernance at the local level. Similarly, the theme of eAgriculture is very-well contextualised by Balaji D Manjule, Deputy Agriculture Secretary of Andhra Pradesh. Technology-enabled linguistic inclusion could not have been better elucidated by Dr. Govind of NIXI. We bring an exclusive interaction with him in this issue. HUDCO’s Dr. M Ravi Kanth gives a holistic overview of his organisation’s futuristic mission, which has been spearheading the urban development over the decades. Besides, the range of digital initiatives in the State of Himachal Pradesh has been beautifully communicated by its Principal SecretaryIndustries, R D Dhiman. In addition to these valued interactions, we also welcome the newly-appointed 22 Joint Secretaries in the Government of India and present an editorial commentary on what they bring to the governance superstructure. We also take a look at how a generic communications platform like Twitter has been so innovatively utilised by the Indian Railways, with views from the government as well as Raheel Khursheed, Head of News, Government and Politics, Twitter India. Hope you would find this year-end issue of eGov magazine interesting and illumining. Do send in your reflections and suggestions.

RAVI GUPTA Ravi.Gupta@elets.in

Email at subscription@elets.in to get previous issues

September 2015

October 2015

November 2015

December 2015 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

ASIA’S FIRST MONTHLY MAGAZINE ON E-GOVERNANCE

DECEMBER 2015

VOLUME 11  ISSUE 11

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Dr Ravi Gupta EDITORIAL TEAM GOVERNANCE / BANKING & FINANCE Senior Assistant Editor: Nirmal Anshu Ranjan Assistant Editor: Kartik Sharma, Rachita Jha, Souvik Goswami, Bhawna Satsangi, Gautam Debroy Senior Correspondent: Sudheer Goutham B, Vishwas Dass, Arpit Gupta Correspondent: Poulami Chakraborty, Manish Arora Junior Correspondent: Sneha Mejari Trainee Sub-Editor: Akanki Sharma SALES & MARKETING TEAM Assistant General Manager: Ragini Shrivastava, Mobile: +91-8860651650 National Sales Manager: Fahim Haq, Mobile: +91-8860651632 Sr. Manager: Gaurav Srivastava, Mobile: +91-8527697685 SUBSCRIPTION & CIRCULATION TEAM Manager Subscriptions: +91-8860635832; subscription@elets.in DESIGN TEAM Creative Head: Pramod Gupta Deputy Art Director: Om Prakash Thakur, Gopal Thakur Senior Web Designer: Shyam Kishore

Host Partner

Organiser

Information Technology, Electronics & Communications Department, Government of Andhra Pradesh announces

WEB DEVELOPMENT & IT INFRASTRUCTURE Manager Web Development: Ishvinder Singh EVENT TEAM Manager: Gagandeep Kapani ADMINISTRATION Head Administration: Archana Jaiswal

GOV CONCLAVE

Andhra Pradesh

21 December 2015 ap.eletsonline.com | #elets_ap

Chandrababu Naidu Chief Minister, Andhra Pradesh

Keynote Address

EDITORIAL & MARKETING CORRESPONDENCE eGov – Elets Technomedia Pvt Ltd: Stellar IT Park Oﬃce No: 7A/7B, 5th Floor, Annexe Building, C-25, Sector-62, Noida, Uttar Pradesh - 201301, Phone: +91-120-4812600, Fax: +91-120-4812660, Email: info@elets.in egov is published by Elets Technomedia Pvt Ltd in technical collaboration with the Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies (CSDMS). Owner, Publisher, Printer - Dr Ravi Gupta, Printed at First Impression Corporate Services Pvt Ltd, E-114, Sector-63, Noida, UP and published from 710, Vasto Mahagun Manor, F-30 Sector-50, Noida, UP Editor: Dr Ravi Gupta All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic and mechanical, including photocopy, or any information storage or retrieval system, without publisher’s permission.

Programme Chair

J S Deepak

Secretary, Department of Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India

G S Phani Kishore

Special Secretary, Department of Information Technology, Electronics & Communications, Government of Andhra Pradesh

WHEN

21 December 2015 WHERE

Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh VENUE

The Gateway Hotel, MG Road, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh “eGov Concalve-Andhra Pradesh 2015” will focus on IT promotions, e-Governance and Innovations for Inclusive Growth in the Sunrise State of Andhra Pradesh, the leader in eGovernance For Programme Queries: Souvik Goswami; +91-8800745252, souvik@elets.co.in For Sponsership Queries: Fahim Haque, +91-8860651632, fahim@elets.in

Write in your reactions to news, interviews, features and articles. You can either comment on the individual webpage of the story, or drop us a mail at editorial@elets.in

egov / egov.eletsonline.com / December 2015

Message

22nd November 2015

I am delighted to note that “eIndia Maharashtra” summit, based on the theme of Digital India and Smart Cities is being hosted by the Department of Information Technology, Government of Maharashtra, and organised by Elets Technomedia Pvt Ltd, on 30th November, 2015 in Mumbai. Maharashtra has been a pioneer in the adoption of technologies that facilitate better transparency and accountability in governance. The State Government has adopted eGovernance and mGovernance to reach out to citizens in a more effective manner. We firmly believe that Technology is the way to build a robust and scalable administrative ecosystem to help fulfil the aspirations of this nation. We also believe that Transparency, Efficiency and Inclusiveness are the core principals of running administration, and technology helps us achieve those objectives. Maharashtra is the most industrialised State in the country, with a vibrant IT economy witnessing increasing urbanisation, and aspires to create sustainable and friendly urban spaces that integrate the use of technology, social media, community participation and eGovernance to make cities smarter – smart cities. Global technology/software organisations have extended their support in our endeavours to build a robust and sustainable Digital Maharashtra programme. During this day-long event, I expect experts, technocrats, policymakers, administrators and business leaders from around the globe to discuss issues and offer solutions to help drive the Digital India and Smart City programmes. Besides, the Summit would also provide a unique platform to acknowledge and showcase exemplary initiatives and innovations through Awards, Exhibition and a special issue of eGov magazine. We take immense pride in the various key initiatives we have launched in the last one year, especially our “Aaple Sarkar” digital platform. This platform will soon become the onestop shop for accessing government services, registering grievances, providing suggestions and thus help build a strong and empowered Maharashtra. I am also happy to share that we recently implemented the “Right to Service Act”, which brings about 220 services under my administration under this act to provide time-bound services. The Smart City programme launched under the leadership of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is another game changer. Rapid urbanisaton is a reality and cities have to gear up to deal with the management of scarce resources, also to provide a safe and quality environment. The programme encourages us to plan our cities better, use technology to drive efficiency and create long-term sustainability. While Smart City is indeed the buzzword, we have also started working simultaneously on the “Digital Village” programme. Our first pilot at Harisal will be a showcase and will be launched soon. 2016 will see Maharashtra complete 50 smart villages with Harisal being the template. I extend my best wishes for the success of “eIndia Maharashtra” summit and welcome all the stakeholders of Digital India and Smart Cities from all over the country who will assemble in Mumbai for this vibrant conference, and hope to benefit from its deliberations.

DIGITAL MAHARASHTRA

DEVENDRA FADNAVIS

Maharashtra to Reap DIGITAL FRUITS Digitising Villages, empowering Startups, facilitating mGovernance and galvanising Smart Cities constitute the key quartet of Devendra Fadnavis Government’s execution focus. In an exclusive interaction with Elets News Network (ENN), the Chief Minister explains in greater detail

Please define the concept of ¡Digital Village© and the idea behind developing it. What other IT-driven initiatives have been undertaken and MoUs signed by the government? Digital Village as a concept entails using technology to solve critical problems that plague our villages, namely health, education, skill development and employment. Rural areas often do not have the requisite infrastructure or human resources to deal with these problems. However, with the intelligent use of technology, these issues can be tackled. For example, baby warmers in ambulances, mobile-connectivity for ambulances and tele-medicine are some of the ways through which the maternal mortality rate will drop. Village students can be taught by the best quality teachers via video conferencing. Similarly, digitisation can take ‘aanganwadi’ reports online and hence help track the progress of each child. There is already a strong trickledown effect while the pilot is being conducted in Harisal; it’ll benefit 51 smaller villages within a 15 km radius. The idea behind the initiative is to bring villages to the mainstream. The lack of nutrition, coupled with genetic health problems and the lifestyle of people, has to be changed to make them healthy and connected with the mainstream. Digitisation will go a long way in creating a self-sufficient economy — an environment in which PDS, PHC, education and other benefits can be enjoyed, increasing penetration of the banking system and allowing for regular monitoring of important metrics.

Startups have been growing in large numbers in Maharashtra over the last couple of years. How do the government policies help them set up their establishments? We understand fully well the importance of the role played by startups in the economy, and therefore, fully support them. In May this year, we tied up with NASSCOM to set up two startup warehouses, in Navi Mumbai and Pune. These warehouses will be a co-working facility that can be leased by startups for six months at a nominal cost with high-speed internet and basic utilities like electricity and water.

egov / egov.eletsonline.com / December 2015

DEVENDRA FADNAVIS

My government has a special focus on execution: CM We will facilitate the establishment of a common platform for exchange and dissemination of knowledge resources between academic, research institutions and the IT industry, and the setting up of incubation centers particularly for small enterprises. A committee under the chairmanship of the Development Commissioner (Industries) will define a model and framework for setting up such a platform and for incubation centres across the state in ICT field such as embedded software, chip, telecom technology etc. Our young engineers are full of innovative ideas and we are working on creating a startup policy to promote a culture of entrepreneurship and innovation in the manufacturing and IT & IT-enabled services sector. This is aimed at attracting these incubation units to Maharashtra by making the state an attractive destination. We have a world class institution in IITBombay and we intend to create a startup hub around it.

What all eGovernance and mGovernance initiatives have been introduced by the government in the larger interest of public? We are proud of the fact that Maharashtra

has always led the way in adopting new technologies to improve efficiency and transparency in governance. There are numerous mGovernance and eGovernance initiatives we have introduced in the past year to make citizens lives easier. However, two initiatives I would like to highlight are ‘Aaple Sarkar’ and ‘RTS’. To ensure that a citizen doesn’t have to walk into a government office to file a complaint, we launched Aaple Sarkar – the state’s first ever-integrated online grievance redressal infrastructure. The system is now operational across most of the state and has satisfactorily resolved 15,000 grievances. In today’s technology driven world, running from pillar to post to avail of basic services seems archaic. Out of this belief was born the Right to Services Act, wherein 224 services across various departments are being made available online in a timebound manner. These services include birth certificate, caste certificate, domicile certificate, etc. It is also going a long way in bringing in greater transparency and accountability.

What are your future plans in view of Smart Cities and Digital India? Where do you see Maharashtra in next five years and what are the major challenges in implementing the schemes? The Smart Cities programme, being monitored by the Centre, will enter implementation stage in the coming months. For each of the 10 cities in Maharashtra that will be developed as a Smart City, I have appointed a senior bureaucrat as a mentor.

A committee under the chairmanship of the Development Commissioner (Industries) will define a model and framework for setting up such a platform and for incubation centres across the state in ICT field such as embedded software, chip, telecom technology etc

DIGITAL MAHARASHTRA

OTHER FOCAL POINTS AAPLE SARKAR Maharashtra’s first ever integrated online grievance redressal infrastructure RIGHT TO SERVICES ACT 224 Services across various departments made available in a time bound manner KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE PLATFORM Academia - Research Institutions IT Industry We have also decided to introduce our own Smart Cities scheme. The details are presently being worked out and will cater to urban sprawls and smaller towns and cities in Maharashtra that did not make the final cut in the Centre’s scheme. In our first year itself, we have successfully launched major initiatives that promote utilisation of technology to improve the standard of everyday living and governance. Programmes like Digital Village, RTS, etc., will mature and expand and have a long lasting impact on the entire State. The PDS modernisation project is underway and will soon be implemented. There is a clear plan to ensure that we can comply with the principles of ‘minimum government, maximum governance.’ Execution will be the key to all of these initiatives, as adoption of technology always involves doing away with long-standing practices. For initiatives like the Smart City project, funding too will play a key role. However, I do not anticipate either of these to be major bottlenecks. My government has a special focus on execution – I have set up a war room that closely tracks and de-bottlenecks all critical projects of the state. With regard to funding, Maharashtra is a highly-favoured investment destination as can be seen from the Foxconn and other large investments that have been made here in the past 12 months. As told to Kartik Sharma, Poulami Chakraborty, Arpit Gupta, Rachita Jha & Sneha Mejari

December 2015 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

TECHNOLOGY

V K GAUTAM

Cloud Bursts in Maharashtra The State has been a front-runner in terms of transparency in governance and overall efficiency in citizen service delivery, says V K Gautam, Principal Secretary â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Information Technology, Government of Maharashtra, in an interview with Poulami Chakraborty and Arpit Gupta of Elets News Network (ENN)

paperless environment. It talks about use of UID as a tool to facilitate the delivery of government services to the right beneficiary. The policy also talks about the use of Marathi with applicable national and international standards as the first and mandatory language for all eGovernance applications in the State. It also talks about the development of core infrastructure like State Data centre, State wide area network and citizen service centres for delivery of services to the citizens of the State.

Please elaborate to us the current IT policy framework of the State? Maharashtra is the first state to release a dedicated eGovernance policy. The e-Governance Policy was drafted by a 10 member e-Governance Committee under the chairmanship of Padmashri Dr. Vijay .P. Bhatkar and approved by the Cabinet. The Policy aims to maintain and strengthen the leadership of the state in the area of e-Governance and take it towards mGovernance.The Policy would enable citizens to avail of various services online, or at a place near their home, without having to visit government offices at minimum possible cost.The policy would enable government to function more efficiently and move towards a

egov / egov.eletsonline.com / December 2015

The Maharashtra Government is one of the early adopters of modern technologies. How is the government leveraging technology like Social Media, Mobility and Cloud for eGovernance? Maharashtra State Data Centre uses the Cloud technology extensively. This has helped Departments of the State Government to focus on application and content rather than worry about infrastructure. The State is harnessing the benefits of scalability and flexibility offered by the Cloud virtualization environment.

What is your take on this new age of mGovernance? In Maharashtra, the teledensity is around 93 per cent. The number of mobile phone subscribers in Maharashtra is approximately 10.75 crore (7.69 crore in Maharashtra telecom circle & 3.06 crore in Mumbai telecom circle). This shows the strength of the mobile phone as a platform to reach out to the citizens of the State. The focus of the State has been on building applications for delivering content through mobile phones. Directorate of Information Technology has come up with a policy for empanelment of IT firms for development of mobile apps. This has helped to accelerate the development cycle.

Maharashtra is one of the first states to adapt to Cloud. What have stateÂŠs achievements been in terms of cloud computing? As I mentioned earlier, Maharashtra State Data Centre uses cloud virtualisation

V K GAUTAM

technology. We offer various categories of services like Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS)and Software as a Service (SaaS). Currently, we have more than 650 virtual machines in the State Data centre which are used by various Departments. Introduction of new eGovernance technologies also involves large- scale capacity-building exercise. Tell us about such initiatives in the government sector. I agree that the crux in the success of an eGovernance project is change management to ensure that the user is convinced that the new technology will make life easy for him/her in addition to the systemic benefits that it will bring in. We have in-house training and capacity building programs to ensure this. Recently, we embarked on a massive programme of training around 68,000 government employees in online delivery of Right to Services Act. Of this, we have covered around 32000 in phase-1 in the month of October and the remaining 36,000 will be completed by mid-December. Also, we have taken an interesting initiative which we refer to as ‘Virtual cadre.’ In this, tech champions in each Department are identified and encouraged to take the lead in building and sustaining e-Governance initiatives. Over 80 per cent of Maharashtra is covered under the Aadhaar scheme. Tell us about the further plan of the government in terms of UID enrolment. Actually, as per projected population figures of 2015, 85 per cent of the

population in Maharashtra has AADHAAR numbers. The majority of the uncovered population in the 0-5 age group (Anganwadis). Around 70 per cent of the children in this age group have to be covered. Also, 25 per cent of the school children in the age group of 6-18 years also have to be covered. We are focusing on camps in anganwadis and schools. Maharashtra is one of the very few States in the country to invest in procurement of UID enrolment kits. We already have 2000 enrolment kits and another 1929 will be available by end of December 2015. This infrastructure provides a backbone on which the State hopes to complete the balance enrolment and keep pace with the subsequent population growth. The State also has trained around 12,000 Village Level Entrepreneurs who have obtained certification as AADHAAR enrolment operators. So, we have quality human resources available for the project.

You have always been an advocate of encouraging startup companies, and small and medium scale enterprises. How is the government engaging the private sector for state©s development? Maharashtra has built an extensive network of around 35000 Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLE) who are managing the Citizen Service Centres (CSC). You can find such CSCs not only in urban areas but in a small village with a population of 1000. These Village level entrepreneurs

We are having one of the best Cloud infrastructures in the government structure in the country. Our data centers are mostly on Cloud, and physical servers are rarely used by us. As a matter of fact, we are also able to provide the departments with a virtual machine in flat two to three minutes

TELECOM

have helped the delivery of e-governance services to the last man. The State has proactively worked out a policy of standardization of rates of services. This has ensured that citizens are provided affordable services. At the same time, the CSC is becoming financially viable. We have also entrusted critical applications like UID enrolment, EPIC card printing, collection of utility payments, printing of Record of Rights and a host of services to the VLEs. Also, the State has a policy on website development and a similar policy on development of mobile apps. The idea has been to encourage the MSME sector and start ups by providing them a level playing field in these areas.

What are the major challenges you face while implementing IT in tier II cities of the state? How are you bridging the gap? Availability of reliable high speed bandwidth in tier-2 cities is going to be a challenge in the years to come considering the fact that the IT footprint of most Departments is increasing rapidly. Our vision is of providing 100 MBps connectivity to every office and home in the State in the next 5 years. We hope to achieve this through a systematic implementation of the Bharat Net project.

How do you visualise eGovernance for Maharashtra for coming years? The State has recently enacted the Right to Services Act. One of the focus areas in the eGovernance sector will be to ensure that an online channel is provided for citizens to access the services notified under the Right to Services Act. This will ensure that citizens can access services from the comfort of their homes. The State is working on developing an enterprise architecture model for the various databases of Departments to ensure that valuable time-series data held by any Department can be accessed by another Department. This will do away with knowledge and information silos and ensure better integration.

December 2015 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

IT INITIATIVES

KAUSTUBH DHAVSE

Digital Maharashtra in the Making Kaustubh Dhavse, Ofﬁcer on Special Duty (OSD) to the Chief Minister, Government of Maharashtra, in conversation with Kartik Sharma, Arpit Gupta, Sneha Mejari & Poulami Chakraborty, says that technology is driving efﬁciency in the State and completely transforming the way the government delivers its services to citizens

What is the vision of Chief Minister for `Digital Maharashtra' and what is the roadmap to realise it? The Hon’ble Chief Minister, Shri Devendra Fadnavis, firmly believes that technology can help drive efficiency and thus help administration provide a more comprehensive ecosystem to deliver its duties. On 21st November 2014, the Hon’ble Chief Minister reviewed the digital roadmap of the state at a high-

egov / egov.eletsonline.com / December 2015

level meeting. He has defined specific expectations from all state departments on their overall IT adoption, key projects and the future course. Thus was born the five-year plan of Digital Maharashtra. There are about 48 projects spanning across the departments within the government and the progress is monitored and issues are resolved to help aid speedy implementation. The projects are divided into three categories: Category 1 comprises projects, which are related to internal processes within the government. The CM encouraged all secretaries to take a detailed view of the way their department is interacting with other departments and set specific SLAs for delivering up to each-other’s expectation. Most departments have already embarked on a comprehensive BPR exercise and will use technology to service each-other’s requests faster. This phase is about building a strong internal setup to respond to ever-increasing workloads. Category 2 projects are department specific. We have segregated departments as citizen facing and support, and each one has its set agenda to further improve effectiveness. Category 3 projects are large-scale implementations, which will have a remarkable impact on the state as a whole. Our flagship ‘Aaple Sarkar’ programme is one such example of a Category 3 project. We firmly believe that within the next three years, all our projects will reach completion stage and that will have a significant impact on the way administration functions...it will help change citizens’ perception towards the government delivering its services.

Is `Digital Village' programme going to be a one-of-its-kind initiative ever undertaken in the country? What is the concept and who are the stakeholders? Digital Village is all about rural empowerment. Better management of rural economy, providing opportunities at par with cities and bringing them to mainstream, so that they

KAUSTUBH DHAVSE

We firmly believe that within the next three years, all our projects will reach completion stage and that will have a significant impact on the way administration functions...it will help change citizens’ perception towards the government delivering its services can enjoy the benefits of a progressing state/nation. From its planning and concept, it is indeed one of its kind in the country. Lot of work has gone into identifying the core indexes of the villages and then identifying a plan to help review and rejuvenate the rural ecosystem.

Under the able leadership of a young and dynamic Chief

Minister, what changes have occurred in terms of digital literacy to the last mile? Digital literacy is one of the core components of the Central Government’s Digital India programme. Unless people know how to access and use digital services, they will never enjoy the benefits of the programmes being implemented by the state. Various programmes are running in parallel to push digital literacy

IT INITIATIVES

level up. On account of very high mobile phone penetration, we have already created a reach. Now, we need to utilise methods to deploy the right content, so that information dissemination is consistent with the laid principals and people feel empowered with information. The State has taken aggressive steps to drive up digital literacy through our well established network of citizen service centers, through district offices and other reach-out mechanisms.

The Central Government is trying to give the country's outlook a kind of facelift, which had never been witnessed in the past. How is the Maharashtra Government contributing to the efforts of the Centre and what help are you getting from them? The vision set by Hon’ble Prime Minister Narednra Modi is both inspirational and time bound. His concept of minimum government and maximum governance now resonates across the entire country and our state is no different. With the Hon’ble Chief Minister taking active interest in the deployment of technologies, we can safely say that Maharashtra in the next few years will have established systems and procedures in place, which will draw national and international acclaim.

What are your plans for development in Maharashtra in the next five years? If the pace of development happens according to your plan, where do you position the State in the coming years?

Digital Village is all about rural empowerment, better management of rural economy

Our state’s greatest strength lies is our IT Department, which has officers of remarkable calibre, pedigree and unrelenting drive to help achieve IT goals. Our entire focus is on the implementation of the 48 projects which have been announced by the Hon’ble CM and if we accomplish those projects in a timebound fashion, we would be creating an altogether new Maharashtra.

December 2015 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

SPECIAL INTERVIEW

SANJAY BHATIA

CIDCO Enjoys the First-Mover Advantage The City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra Limited (CIDCO) conceived and moved towards raising a Smart City when hardly anyone had moved in the direction, says Sanjay Bhatia, Managing Director & Vice Chairman, CIDCO, Government of Maharashtra, in an interaction with Kartik Sharma, Sneha Mejari and Akanki Sharma of Elets News Network (ENN) What is your view on the initiative to develop Smart Cities in India? It’s an excellent initiative undertaken by the Government of India. Earlier, we used to visit abroad and look at the Smart Cities there, we would wonder that some day, our cities would also be developed in similar fashion…and it’s there today. I am a mentor for the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) and awaiting final selection of the city. People are planning and talking to stakeholders, creative ideas are flowing in and cities are competing with each other to stay ahead in the race — there’s optimism all around.

What is the role of the City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra Limited (CIDCO) in creation of Smart Cities? CIDCO is the special planning authority for 300 sq kilometres where we are developing 14 towns. Out of these, seven towns have already been developed and handed over to NMMC, which is also competing to have

egov / egov.eletsonline.com / December 2015

its towns selected for being developed into Smart City. The remaining seven towns, which are at various levels of development, have also been picked up for developing into a brownfield Smart City by CIDCI itself. We are not taking any assistance from the Government of India, as we had already been planning for this initiative. Moreover, we have already completed some of the things as part of the Smart City initiative. We have prepared a full-fledged Smart City plan for these seven towns, including a pan-city development of the area. Due to fund constraints, the Government of India has restricted the elements of Smart City to be put in place to a few, whereas we have picked up all areas and going pan-city, to the possible extent. In addition to it, we have taken up two greenfield projects — Pushpak Nagar, spread over 500 acre land near the new airport, which is under construction, while the other one, Naina, spans across 600 km but we have taken up 37 sq km initially for the Smart City pilot project. Earlier, our plans included making good

roads and everything required for a Smart City, but now we have also introduced the IT component. Generally, when people come for layout approvals, they have to submit their manual plans, but we are doing auto DCR, so that they can just submit their plan on computer and get our instant response. The process is ready for launch. Similarly, we are planning to have automatic water reading and special sensors to check leakages. Talking about electricity, we have automatic meter reading and GIS mapping for records. Some of our initiatives will near completion by the year-end itself.

Since you started the Smart City exercise much before others did, do you think your efforts would get Maharashtra a high-tech city in the very near future? Today, everybody is looking towards us, and whatever we are doing is because we are already in the execution stage, with self-financing playing a big role. Some Smart Cities are looking up to the Centre for funds and asking the State Government

SPECIAL INTERVIEW

SANJAY BHATIA

Smart City Plan for Navi Mumbai Raigad Central Park

Central Park - Amphitheatre

to help. But, we are self-dependent and generating our own money. This applies to our Metro initiative as well. Our railway station with commercial compound model has been one of the successes CIDCO can boast of.

Apart from having luxuries like plaza in the city, basic facilities like healthcare and education are also very important. Any thoughts there? These are essential elements of a Smart City. In fact, we have already provided these facilities to the people. Talking of Navi Mumbai, there are around 80-90 healthcare facilities. There must be about 60-70 schools and colleges for which we have given plots, apart from the schools we have constructed.

When we talk of Smart Cities, involvement of private sector is inevitable. But the private sector finds it a little difficult to work with the government. How do you plan to facilitate the

Valley Park

Central Park

¡ease of doing business©? We have started a transparency exercise in CIDCO. A part of ease of business is keeping all information up to date and keeping it easily accessible by citizens. So, we have a 20-point transparency plan. The first step is that we keep all our information updated on the website. Then, we are also developing apps, so that citizens can easily get all the information they want. Similarly, after introducing eTendering, we also have an ombudsmen sitting and ensuring that there is no corruption. All these are parts of ease of business. Likewise, there is the auto DCR for giving automatic approvals. We also got 30 discretionary clauses converted into mandatory ones, where replies must be given in ‘yes’ or ‘no’. That is what we put into auto DCR, so that computer could take the right decisions. So, this is the kind of change taking place in the business processes because of this transparency plan for facilitating ease of doing business.

What were the challenges in

Nehru Palm Beach Lake

implementing the process? It is a huge task to implement IT and create infrastructure. How did you manage? The initial challenge was to gear up the organisation for the change. The second challenge was, of course, hardware and software: despite CIDCO not being an IT company, we wanted it to run through IT. So, different types of hardware, programmes and processes had to be procured. It really took considerable time, more so because we wanted to achieve it in a transparent manner.

How important is the citizens© engagement in developing a Smart City? It is indeed very important. If you don’t involve the stakeholders, some of them could start creating obstacles. So, it’s always very useful to first have communication with the stakeholders and involve them. If they think it is for their benefit and their viewpoints and interests converge with those of the authorities, then the whole process becomes easier.

December 2015 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

START-UP

DR. K SHIVAJI

Catalysing START-UP MOVEMENT The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) will pursue the strategy of not becoming the competitor of the existing ďŹ nancial players, but instead act as a centripetal force to strengthen the entire gamut of ďŹ nancial institutions and thereby the ďŹ nancial ecosystem itself, shares Dr. K Shivaji, Chairman & Managing Director, SIDBI, with Kartik Sharma and Akanki Sharma of Elets News Network (ENN)

In the past one year, SIDBI has worked a lot towards skill development and strengthening the small and medium scale enterprises. Can you elaborate on that? In India, we need another 10-15 million jobs for the aspiring youth. But, the job creation is almost negligible, which is surely an imbalance. So, there is an urgent need for intervention. The youth today is willing to undertake entrepreneurial initiatives for good, attractive and

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lucrative jobs. We need to capitalise and leverage this kind of zeal seen across the country by encouraging the start-up movement. It is important to emerge fast in a competitive market, and entrepreneurs should be smart in their business plans, business models and day-to-day operations. At SIDBI, we have taken up the credit-plus approach, which means not only providing the capital, but also coming up with a holistic approach in terms of fiscal and non-fiscal hand-holding. Make in India, which is one of the prime projects of the Government of India, has already started yielding results. On that front, SIDBI has also come out with a dedicated front corpus of `1,000 crore to push the manufacturing sector. This amount has been earmarked to take care of not only manufacturing, but also associated manufacturing activities, so as to give a holistic push to the sector. SIDBI

will pursue the strategy of not becoming the competitor of the existing financial players, but to strengthen the entire gamut of financial institutions and financial players, which will help in improving the entrepreneur ecosystem.

Is it not challenging to provide security to these start-ups? If these fail, will the government be there to provide support? We may be able to provide at least some support. However, an entrepreneur needs to put in his best. Rigour, conviction, commitment and energy need to be pulled together. However, security from safety net necessitates fulfilling certain requirements, and may come in various forms, like guarantee, hand-holding or mentoring. However, giving a guarantee that a venture would succeed and in case of failure, somebody else will take care would make people lethargic. Probably doing it partially could be thought of to avoid disinterest.

SIDBI is also doing a lot of work in the field of financial inclusion, for which government agencies have launched various

DR. K SHIVAJI

START-UP

Security from safety net necessitates fulfilling certain requirements, and may come in various forms: Dr. K Shivaji

campaigns. In this scenario, how does SIDBI view the need to push financial inclusion in the country? A large number of enterprises are unable to mobilise adequate finances in time, and sufficient funding for the unemployed is still largely amiss. Only `17,000 is available as loan for around 5.57 crore of entrepreneurial units; as a result, the huge potential of the talented people, who are unserved and unemployed, remains locked. There is a need to unlock that potential, so that they can also contribute to and participate in the journey of the nation’s growth. However, the various forms of financial inclusion drive, which is now emerging as a complete set of initiatives undertaken by the government agencies, regulators and financial institutions together, is a step in the right direction. The Government of India, along with various state governments, institutions like SIDBI and banking regulator Reserve Bank of India (RBI), is coming up with a number of multi-dimensional initiatives to strengthen the drive. I believe that we should also push social inclusion and economic inclusion, so that the ultimate objectives go hand-in-hand. Moreover, various new banks, which were issued licences by the Central Bank recently, are also going to play a very

The government’s initiatives, like Digital India, Skill India Mission and Make in India, are together galvanising the start-up movement important role in this context. SIDBI, in a very coherent way, is ensuring maximum focus on that segment by devising new instruments. Apart from this, we are also getting a good help on account of availability of Aadhaar, and Jan-Dhan accounts. It makes it very easy for a financial player to move forward and implement their strategy.

The technological sector is home to the major chunk of startups in India. They are also the backbone of the Digital India initiative. By backing these start-ups, do you also see SIDBI contributing to the initiative? The government’s initiatives, like Digital India, Skill India Mission and Make in India, are together galvanising the start-up movement. Entrepreneurs need various kinds of constituents to work in tandem, which will finally culminate into a larger start-up movement as a result of strengthening of the overall technology ecosystem. Digital India is certainly one of the most

desired initiatives of the day, which will help enhance the country’s growth potential with the process gaining momentum. Besides, increasing the efficiency, it will also make the country more competitive vis-a-vis the global players.

Any message for the start-up representatives attending the eIndia summit? How do you think this summit can further illuminate their path? This meet is an opportune time for a large number of entrepreneurs, who can look forward to future guidance and mutually beneficial tie-ups that could help them leverage their potential. Individual entrepreneurs have their ambitions for growth and development. Although bubbling with enthusiasm, they need to be oriented towards the shortest and the mostefficient way of going about it. A platform like eIndia will definitely help all these entrepreneurs translate their energy and enthusiasm into growth and success.

December 2015 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

COVER STORY

URBANISATION

Smarter Cities in DIGITAL INDIA The rapid pace of urbanisation and growing pressure on urban resources is forcing more and more governments across the globe to create smarter urban spaces. And, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no different in India. As the government pushes its Digital India dream, it carries along the idea of Smart Cities, for both complement each other, writes Nirmal Anshu Ranjan of Elets News Network (ENN)

ver since the ascension of Narendra Modi-led NDA Government at the Centre, there has been an increased focus on achieving economic revival, pushing inclusive growth, accelerating the pace of industrial development, providing social security to the people below the poverty line and empowering the common man. However, the government knew it only too well that the ideas like inclusive growth and empowerment of citizens cannot be translated into reality in a vast and diverse country like India that easily. So, it went ahead with the launch of a number of programmes running on technology, which has the power to transcend geographical barriers to take benefits of governance to the last man in the remotest corner of the land. And, in this context, the Digital India programme of the

egov / egov.eletsonline.com / December 2015

Centre served well as the all-crucial hinge to support its technologydriven initiatives.

Idea of Digital India The Digital India initiative of the Government aims to ensure that government services are made available to citizens electronically by improving online infrastructure and by increasing Internet connectivity. It includes an ambitious plan to connect rural areas with high-speed internet network, work on which is already under way in certain pockets of the country. Basically, the concept of Digital India entails three core components: creation of digital infrastructure, delivery of services digitally and digital literacy, which would work together to make the country a smarter nation.

URBANISATION

However, the new dispensation was alert to the fact that before a country goes digitally smart, it must also become physically as well as socially smart: if there is inadequacy of housing, roads, transportation, energy, water supply, healthcare, education or sanitation infrastructure, the dream of a digital India is destined to remain a pipedream. In fact, at the root of the problem lies the rapid pace of urbanisation, as hordes of people continue to troop into metros and other big cities in search of employment opportunities and better living standard, thereby leading to an unmanageable load on the limited urban resources.

Towards smarter cities So, in line with its electoral promise, when the BJP–led Central Government announced the 100 Smart Cities Mission, it caught the imagination of one and all—urban planners, the common man, businesses and other stakeholders—alike. They had already been feeling an acute need for improvement in urban infrastructure, so

Roshan Gupta Head - Global Alliance & PSU, Business Octane

EMPOWERING CITIZENS Digital India– the dream project of the Government of India focuses to digitally empower each and every citizen of the country making them more efficient, irrespective of climatic, geographical or political diversities. However, in order to maximise its benefits, the use of technology needs to be simplified. Therefore, we have developed solutions which are simple to use just like a mobile phone. Business Octane’s immersive visual collaboration solutions bring paradigm shift in human interaction by empowering people across multiple locations.

PARADIGM SHIFT THROUGH SOLUTIONS

◆ The solutions offered by the company can change the way how ministers and top government ofﬁcials in the Central Government, State Governments and other government departments, get together with the zonal heads, district heads and other concerned ofﬁcials to discuss, direct and review things effectively and frequently without travelling from their base locations. This will dramatically speed up the implementation and execution of various important schemes and projects as well as avoid work disruptions. ◆ To help our customers take better decisions and leave nothing to imagination, we have also built executive experience centers across major cities of India i.e. Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune.

COVER STORY

Srinivas Rao Sales Director Government Sector, Hitachi Data Systems

SOCIAL INNOVATION FOR BUSINESS GROWTH The government’s Digital India vision is expected to propel the country into its next phase of growth. While both Smart Cities and Digital India projects will create new economic and social opportunities, they will also bring up challenges related to technology adoption and implementation to make the Digital India vision a reality.

ADDRESSING KEY ISSUES

◆ To make the Digital India vision a reality, it is critical to develop the technology infrastructure backbone that addresses issues related to last-mile technology delivery, civic and urban infrastructure management and empowering citizens and local governments. ◆ Technology adopted should aim to develop solutions for issues like population boom, rapid urbanisation, rising healthcare costs, public safety concerns, etc ◆ To bring about greater citizen participation and thus empowering them to contribute to India’s economic growth, we will need to engage the growth opportunities in areas like broadband availability, connectivity in education, connected healthcare, citizen services, agriculture, etc

FOCUS

We are working with the government and ecosystem players to make the Digital India vision a success. Our social innovation strategy forms the crux of our growth story in India. Social Innovation is Hitachi Data Systems’ holistic approach to helping businesses and societies address the challenges and opportunities that are occurring across today’s business, technology and cultural landscapes. Some large government projects like mygov.in and NPR (National Population Register) are already using our infrastructure. Hitachi Data Systems is already in talks with the government to provide data analytics solutions for better traffic management, faster crime prediction, efficient data centre management at the state-level and better healthcare management to raise life expectancy. Globally, industries are using our social innovation solutions to take advantage of the IoT. Telecom Analytics - Network operators are using our tools to access real-time data analytics and identify potential problems before they affect their customers and deliver consistent service. Public Safety - Our public safety solutions build safer societies and environments, respond enable quick response to situations and increase the effectiveness of limited workforces and funding. Connected Health - Healthcare providers use our integrated care solutions, to aggregate patient data and access, as well as operational and financial data, to enable evidence-based medicine. IT Analytics - Enterprises can transform machine data into actionable insights using a Cloud-based machine-to-machine analytics solution that enables IT teams to gain intelligence.

December 2015 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

COVER STORY

URBANISATION

that cities could cope with the ever-swelling headcount. Incidentally, a UN State of the World Population report predicts that over 40 per cent of India’s population would be living in the urban areas by 2030. In this backdrop, the government came up with a plan to create 100 Smart Cities, and later the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and

Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme to be effected in over 500 tier II and tier III cities. The announcements came much like hope of oxygen to a gasping man. Backing its words with action, it cleared Rs 1 lakh-crore to be spent over creating smarter cities, and then

Amit Marwah

Monica Malhotra Kandhari

Senior Director, MBD Group

BRIDGING DIGITAL LEARNING GAP EDUCATION SKILLS: NEED OF THE HOUR

The government’s pro-active push in digital age direction and the digital support offered across sectors is surely going to beneﬁt millions of people. This can offer education skills as well as many technologies across a wide spectrum of users. It can enable many people in remote geographical locations to access mainstream education, skill development, facilities and communication.

CHALLENGES

◆ There are always challenges one faces when trying to bring about change. ◆ Resources and accessibility for digital technology in the country are still a challenge. We need mass produced and economical versions of laptops and tablets, better electricity cover as well as network connectivity. However, with the efforts of the present government these will surely be mitigated soon. ◆ India is a diverse country. So, the integration of technology and languages is essential as it will need to be a multi-lingual digital programme. We have 250,000 gram panchayats and each will require broadband connectivity. ◆ We also need uniﬁed laws and statutes in place across the entire country.

OPPORTUNITIES

◆ The digital learning opportunity is huge in the education and skill development sector, as Indian students still looking for quality education resources. ◆ We offer 360 degree education solutions ranging from textbooks, stationery, digital content, educational apps, ICT hardware, Vocational Courses etc. Our expertise lies into content development (varied languages) and delivery, be it digital or physical text books – we are progressing towards a digital world and most of our learning and teaching solutions are aligned accordingly. ◆ We have also created an extensive Teacher Training programme under the banner of MBD Disha that offers capacity building programmes for teachers and covers entire gamut of training needs of the teachers and school administrators.

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Head of Technology India Region, Nokia Networks

SMARTER SOLUTIONS FOR DIGITAL AGE Nokia believes that the Digital India initiative can make a great difference to the country right now. To accomplish a truly Digital India, the government must start by building on the infrastructure that is already in place, and integrating the right technology — to accelerate the delivery of services that create a more connected society. While India’s strengths in IT and growth in telecommunication sector are acknowledged, there is still a major gap in basic connectivity infrastructure such as Internet and broadband outreach and smartphone penetration. This can potentially be a major obstacle to fully realising the Digital India vision and that is where Nokia can use its experience and advanced solutions to help bridge the gap.

BUILDING BLOCKS

◆ Broadband connectivity across urban and rural areas to enable eGovernance and eServices availability to all. ◆ Connectivity along with smart applications will enable delivery of eServices and eGovernance to citizens and Internet of Things (IoT) eco system will play a key role to make this happen. ◆ Nokia today runs the backbone of mobile broadband connectivity for close to 300 million or about 1/3rd of India’s mobile population. We continue to play a pivotal role in helping India evolve through generations of connectivity technologies. ◆ Nokia believes that Big Data Analytics and automated network & service management along with security and privacy will help capitalise the power of IoT to help realise Digital India and Smart City objectives laid by the government. It also helps industries to become more efﬁcient, agile and real-time. ◆ Creating the IoT will be the next big thing for the mobile ecosystem, especially for application in connected mobility, smart cities, healthcare industry and public safety areas.

ROADMAP

Nokia, along with operator partners is working to leverage mobile subscriber location, usage & trafﬁc, and demographic data to provide valuable insights and big data analytics under “Nokia Data Services”, which will be used by urban planners, retail, ﬁnance and banking, hospitality and other industries to provide smart city solutions.

COVER STORY

URBANISATION

Sanjeev Bobby Sarin

CEO & Founder, Ozone Networks

DIGITAL CONNECT I believe Digital India is one of those visionary ideas that have the potential and depth to transform India. The plan is to establish a digital platform to digitally connect and deliver government programmes and services to individuals across India, alongside content and services user want to access.

CHALLENGES

◆ With billions of devices to be connected with each other and the online healthcare and online retail spending expected to grow at a higher rate, the future poses a lots of opportunities and challenges in the digital space. There are undoubtedly a few challenges that need to be addressed if we are to achieve the Digital India goal, infrastructure, neutrality and security being the prime concern. ◆ India will need massive data storage as all data need to be backed up at an alternate site. This will require huge investment to set up data centers in various parts of the country. ◆ We need to encourage all service providers and partners to educate and embrace users to use the networks, and ensure they have a sustainable business model. All providers should get access equally to grow Digital India. If we are not inclusive, like other projects in other countries, the project will fail, and it’s too critical to fail. ◆ India is a nation where we do not take security seriously which has left our IT infrastructure defenseless to security attack through cyber fraud etc. Securing the data for all the time is going to be a huge challenge, but we have talented engineers who I am sure can create an Indian solution to ensure our security.

OPPORTUNITIES GALORE

◆ The private sector sees lot of opportunities in the eGovernance space. Given that the goal of this project is to provide services in real time from online and mobile platforms, it opens doors for large number of IT industry players to develop platforms, which can help in providing government services and information to people in all parts of the country. ◆ Connectivity or Internet has become more of an infrastructure requirement like road, water and electricity, so the need for Internet is going to be huge. We only have six per cent population, which is connected today to a population of 1.27 bn. This leaves out a huge population of around 800-900 mn unconnected. ◆ The government has pledged to connect India’s 250,000 village clusters, using WiFi for the ‘last mile’. We at Ozone have deployed 7000 WiFi zones in India; about 1500 are public hotspots, the rest are for enterprises like Macdonald’s, Haldiram and Subway who see value in providing free WiFi in their outlets. With the government’s focus on expanding digital services reach, there could be upwards of 2 million hotspots by 2020.

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approved an initial investment of Rs 3,120 crore for boosting urban infrastructure in 102 cities across five states under AMRUT plan, in the first go. This funding under the AMRUT is meant for enhancing water supply, sewerage network, non-motorised transportation system and availability of public spaces.

Boost to eGovernance A prominent feature of a Smart City around the world is that they have used eGovernance as an effective tool to serve citizens better, re-engineer internal business processes, increase transparency, accountability and citizen participation and use resources in an environment-friendly manner. Even though, broadly speaking, eGovernance initiatives usually account for only 10-15 per cent of the total investments, they are an essential part of the overall city architecture. eGovernance also reduces the cost of governance substantially, as a number of countries have opted for centrally-hosted or Cloudbased platforms for ICT solutions with a view to minimising investments in hardware and digital infrastructure. As a developing country, it is desirable for India to adopt a centrally-hosted/Cloudbased solution to slash an avoidable expenditure, which is not possible in traditional cities. Coming to the states in India, Maharashtra has been one of the early adopters of the concept of ICT-driven Smart City, and it had moved towards raising a high-tech city when hardly anyone had moved in the direction. Digital Maharashtra As the Union government launched the Smart Cities programme, it was lapped up by the Maharashtra Government. In a recent interview to Elets News Network (ENN), Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said: “It (the Smart Cities programme) is being monitored by the Centre and will enter implementation stage in the coming months. For each of the 10 cities in Maharashtra that will be developed as a Smart City, I have appointed a senior bureaucrat as a mentor. “Maharashtra is the most industrialised State in the country, with a vibrant IT economy witnessing increasing urbanisation, and it aspires to create sustainable and friendly urban spaces that integrate the use of technology, social media, community participation and eGovernance to make cities smarter – smart cities.” Going a step further, the State has also undertaken a ‘Digital Maharashtra’ initiative. A senior official of the State told ENN that expressing his firm belief in technology as a driver of efficiency, the Chief Minister has undertaken the programme. “There are about 48 projects spanning across the departments within the government. Their progress is monitored on a regular basis and issues resolved to help aid speedy implementation.”

Rural empowerment Similarly, ‘Digital Village’ programme of Maharashtra aims at rural empowerment. With its help, the government is making efforts to ensure better management of rural economy, provide opportunities at par with cities and bring them to the mainstream, so that they can

URBANISATION

Kushal Nahata

Ramsunder Papineni

Co-Founder & CEO, FarEye

TRANSITION FROM eCOMMERCE TO mCOMMERCE In today’s time when the world is moving from an eCommerce to an mCommerce platform, companies need advanced technology assistance and support. In a world of mobile workforce management, though mobility continues to form an integral part with a signiﬁcant increase in the number of mobile workers but lack of a strong mobile strategy stops the companies in leveraging their best. However, the problem is this doesn’t stop the companies incorporating any mobile technology as it’s less expensive and easy to use. According to an IDC report, Asia Paciﬁc will see the largest increase in total number of mobile workers with 601.7 million mobile workers in 2010 and 838.7 million in 2015 leaving a huge space of opportunities for the mobile workforce players in investing in such a market.

OPPORTUNITIES

◆ The main offering of FarEye through its mobile workforce management platform helps organisations address challenges faced during field operations. It’s a solution to the most critical problems of manager i.e. realtime coordination with mobile workers, field jobs and customer requests. With FarEye, access to information becomes easy from any place and at any time. ◆ FarEye increases the efficiency and effectiveness of operations by helping organisations to schedule jobs, track execution and evaluate the performance, all in real time. Real time coordination with mobile workforce, task automation, constant job updates, tracking workers, identification of best worker to perform a task, reduction in manual work, analytical reports, smarter decision making are among few benefits that FarEye gives to its clients. ◆ Since organisations such as FarEye are not applications but mobility platforms, the mobility solutions provided by them seamlessly integrate into existing workflows of companies eliminating challenges that would have been faced otherwise. Furthermore, the outsourcing model gives the organisation an option of a flexi – operational budget involving a monthly fee depending on the licenses or consumption rather than huge capex investments. ◆ FarEye also has a niche positioning in the industry with its cashless transactions enabler (wallets), network impact and data analytics to conquer the market by having superior functionalities. The firm is not restricted by the type of industry, function (sales, supply chain, services), employee strength or geography. There are 1.3 billion mobile workers out of which 85 per cent are not using technology to help them work better. This is the huge opportunity that FarEye wants to tap.

COVER STORY

Regional Director - India & SAARC, FireEye

EYING ADVANCED THREAT SOLUTIONS The digital age has ushered in new opportunities for economic growth. As the government, businesses and citizens evolve to take advantage of these opportunities, they face newer risks and threats from multiple sources.

THREATS

◆ The first is a threat to information that was hitherto recorded on physical files, such as land and tax records. ◆ The second is related to compromising physical systems through cyber-attacks. We’ve seen how attackers can hijack control over critical infrastructure – such as power plants, electricity grids, even ATM machines –for profit or sabotage.

BATTLING AGAINST THREATS

◆ To ﬁght against advanced threats, security professionals must reimagine their approach and create an adaptive architecture that protects against advanced attacks. Technology is key, but it’s not enough. First, you need to identify as early as possible that you’re being attacked, along with analytics and forensics to identify threats not just on what they look like, but how they behave. ◆ Next you need intelligence; you need to be close to attacks – not just the ones you face every day, but the ones compromising other organisations across industries and geographies. ◆ Lastly, you need experts who get into the mind of the attacker and understand their motivations. FireEye can help CISOs re-imagine their security approach across the platform to protect multiple things, including endpoint, email, web, ﬁle and mobile security. Our technology, intelligence and expertise help organisations defend themselves against the most advanced threats in today’s cyber security landscape. enjoy the benefits of a progressing state. “From its planning and concept, it is indeed one of its kind in the country. Lot of work has gone into identifying the core indexes of the villages and then identifying a plan to help review and rejuvenate the rural ecosystem,” said Kaustubh Dhavse, Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to the Chief Minister. Well, going by the belief that “when going gets tough, the smart get going”, one is sure to see more and more states adopting a similar aggression in their approach to become “smarter”, especially when there is a dispensation at the Centre that is ready for hand-holding to make India a smart country – both physically and digitally.

December 2015 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

PAYMENT SYSTEMS

RAJESH AGGARWAL

Moving Towards Cashless Economy When we talk about payments, we have to talk about a lot of currency floating around and lesser digital and mobile channels of money, says Rajesh Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Department of Finance Services, Government of India in conversation with Kartik Sharma, Sneha Mejari and Akanki Sharma of Elets News Network (ENN)

door of any type of financial untouchability.

What are the ways to get this ignored population into the financial ambit?

Can you throw some light on the concept of financial untouchability? Generally, the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojna (PMJDY) is considered as a financial inclusion programme only. But if we delve deeper, it is actually much beyond that. Few decades ago, despite nationalisation of banks, social untouchability was there in the economic and financial system. There were people who belonged to the lower strata of the society, with the majority coming from the SC/ST category. Nobody would touch this segment and banks would deny opening their bank accounts and the financial institutions would not give them easy credits. So, when I talk of national inclusion, I also talk about shutting the

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We basically had all the rules, policies, procedures from banking regulator RBI and other banks and financial players. For instance, theoretically we had the master circulars to allow people to open bank accounts. In 2012, RBI has said that Aadhaar can also be used as an identity proof, but even that was failed to have much impact. Coming to the incumbent government, even it did not change the rules and policies. But, there was an apparent change in the attitude. Survey after survey has shown that the core of the country is still away from the financial system. Gradually, we can see the bankers getting sensitised to the issue. I have heard from many bankers that after remaining in CMDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s chair for years together, they are now feeling satisfied that they have been able to do something good for the society. So, this attitudinal change is taking place at all levels.

With the advent of new payment banks, how do you see the

payment systems taking shape in the country? Talking about traditional ways of transaction, one should also talk about a lot of currency floating around, instead of digital and mobile channels of money like easy cash-in, cash-out facilities closer to the villages, easy channels of remittance, etc. The entire gamut of Jan-Dhan accounts, more ATMs, micro-ATMs, etc., is providing avenues to save their earnings via digital mode.

As an IT Secretary, you have the experience of using IT for innovative purposes. How do you see use of IT taking India to the path of cashless economy? IT is basically the heart and soul of every insurance company and bank. A lot of operations are going mobile these days. For instance, Paytm itself has 10 crore customers and different surveys are showing that practically every household in the country has access to some kind of bank account or a postal account or a mobile wallet. Then, we have the Aadhaar, where 900 million people have been issued Aadhaar numbers and it provides an instant online verifiable method of identity. And it could be through biometric or mobile-based OTP. The third is mobile, more than 900 million sim cards

PAYMENT SYSTEMS

are active. So, combining these three can really lead to total change in the way service is delivered. Insurance inclusion is also missing in this country. It is said that less than two per cent people in this country have some kind of insurance, 98 per cent simply have no insurance. So, when we came up with `12 Suraksha Beema Scheme, it was incredibly simple. You have to have a bank account, your age has to be between 18 and 70 and you have to have an amount of minimum `12 in the bank account. Further, there is no subsidy from the government at all and it even has private insurance companies involved in the project. Also, we requested IRDA, the regulator and they agreed that electronic evidence will also be admissible.

There was a view when PMJDY was incorporated that these accounts will be opened, then there will be no transactions and there will be no use of those accounts. But things are going on. Do you think that notion was wrong and things are falling at place? Initially, some bankers were sceptical because one can specially have a special drive and open account just for the heck of it. Fortunately, it did not happen and the zero balance account was also a masterstroke. Initially, some felt that it

CASHING IN ON CASHLESS TECHNOLOGY

Moreover, it came with totally online accounts, and people got ATM cards with pin number. As the online account was open, people could see it with mobile and Aadhaar numbers. So, they can do mobile banking also. They can use micro ATM, and now we see that more than Rs. 26,000 have come to these accounts. Also, the chairmen of many banks are saying that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a comfortable venture for us. We are not making losses in Jan-Dhan accounts. Banks are earning about 1,000 crore per annum from these accounts by way of interest and so on. So, there is definitely money at the bottom, as itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a

Insurance inclusion is also missing in this country. It is said that less than two per cent people in this country have some kind of insurance, 98% simply have no insurance. So, when we came up with `12 Suraksha Beema Scheme was not good. There were people who felt humiliated going with Rs 50 or Rs 100 to the banks and when Prime minister himself said that he has proudly opened zerobalance account, that humiliation factor was gone.

RAJESH AGGARWAL

commercially viable programme.

You also handle National Insurance Company (NIC). Do you see making it as a model insurance company or

corporation? National insurance is one of the oldest insurance companies in the country, established in 1906. Commercially also, it is doing quite well. On the social front also, the Suraksha Beema has done the highest numbers, almost 50 per cent of the Suraksha Beema have come from national insurance. And in insurance inclusion, we are trying to make sure that we go to more and more villages through online channels and mobile channels to reach out to more rural areas. We can even sponsor SC/ ST boys and girls from villages and their certification fees we can pay from national insurance so that they can also come up and start selling insurance products.

What is your message for the participants conference on Financial Inclusion Payment Systems? I have always enjoyed conferences organised by Elets group on various topics. I am sure this conference will also see good audience with multiple interests. This is the field where lot of innovations are coming up, new start-ups are coming up, lot of new ideas and technologies are floating around. So, conferences like these really help policy makers, technology guys, bankers and insurance people.

December 2015 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

DIGITAL CONNECT

DR. GOVIND

NIXI Trouncing the Lingual Disconnect NIXI is implementing . domain name in a variety of Indian languages, says Dr. Govind, Chief Executive OfďŹ cer, National Internet Exchange of India, in conversation with Souvik Goswami of Elets News Network (ENN) Give us an overview of the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI). NIXI is a not for profit organisation under section 25 of the Companies Act 1956 and was registered on 19th June, 2003. It was set up for peering of ISPs among themselves for the purpose of routing the domestic

addresses were added. These activities have further opened and enhanced the scope of NIXI activities. NIXI as an Internet Exchange needs to evolve with the larger eco system of the Internet to include content service providers, other value-added service providers, Registrars of .IN Registry and

We have already launched . . Now, we will be focusing on launching . in other languages. Once it comes into reality, we will do massive campaigning in the villages, so that people know that there are domain names in local languages, too Internet traffic within the country, instead of taking it all the way to US or abroad, thereby resulting in better quality of service (reduced latency) and reduced bandwidth charges for ISPs by saving on International bandwidth. Subsequently, addition of the sovereign functions viz .IN country code top level domain Registry as well as National Internet Registry (NIR) for allocation of IPv4 & IPv6

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affiliates of NIR to play inclusive role in the growth of Internet in the country.

Digital India campaign has been launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. What is your opinion on it? It is a great initiative taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi which has got various components. One of these is

the connectivity part and it is really an important component. At present, there are 235 million broadband subscribers in India. The government is aiming to take it to 337 million by 2017 and by 2020 the government has set the target to increase the number to 600 million. Apart from this, broadband connection will be taken to the hinterland, villages up to the level of panchayat in the country. Under Net, 2, 50,000 panchayats will be covered. Content is the other part of the Digital India campaign and the focus is on providing content in the local languages as large part of our population is non-English speaking. We have 22 constitutional languages in the country and would like to see that the content is generated in the local languages. This will help citizens in doing various activities in the internet domain in their own languages.

How can NIXI fit in the context of Digital India content and connectivity? NIXI will play an important role as we will be providing the domain names. At present, we are running the .IN registry for high-end domain and this is in English. We are implementing . domain names in a variety of Indian languages. We have

DR. GOVIND

The shift from .IN to .

LINGUALCONNECT DIGITAL CONNECT

is helping rural India to connect better

launched . in Devanagari script in August 2014, along with various languages like Hindi, Dogri, Konkani, Maithili, Marathi, Nepali and Sindhi. Thereafter, it is available in Bengali, Gujarati, Manipuri, Tamil, Urdu, Punjabi and Telugu languages. Currently, out of 22 languages, we have now domain names in 15 local languages. Efforts are on to cover all 22 languages.

In the present age of social media, what are the plans of NIXI to use social media for better results? We have already launched . in English. Now, we will be focusing on launching . in other languages. Once it comes into reality, we will do massive campaigning in the villages, so that people know that there are domain names in local languages. On the other hand, we are going to leverage social media in a big way, so that we can

engage it to see how . /.in domain names can be used in a better way.

Please elaborate on the new initiatives of NIXI. The other area of focus for us is to create leadership training programmes for the young leaders in the Internet area. We already have NIXI Fellowship Programme and we train the young minds in the areas of cyber security and Internet governance. We are also focusing on skilling the youth of the country in the field of Internet governance.

Connectivity will be an integral part of the Digital India programme. However, it is a challenge too in terms of connecting India. What is your opinion on that? The major challenge will be developing applications and reaching out to the last

mile. Reaching out to people beyond panchayats will be a challenge. The low cost and affordable devices have to be provided, along with contents to the last mile villagers. All these have to work together, so that the villagers know about the usefulness of Internet as an effective tool for their future generations.

Do you think that mGovernance is the path to follow in future? mGovernance brings about huge scope and opportunities as 1,000 million people have mobile in their hands in the country at present. The mobile platform is going to play an important role, especially in the villages where computers and devices have not reached. Smartphones will be the future. I was told that even in some smartphones, content is being provided in some local languages. This is indeed important as content is the king.

December 2015 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

COOPERATION

VIKAS RASAL

Coop Movement PAYING OFF Urban cooperatives are a huge opportunity for the 438 urban cooperative banks in Maharashtra. Indicating strong hold in the sector, Vikas Rasal, Divisional Joint Registrar of Cooperative Societies (Mumbai Division), Government of Maharashtra, in conversation with Sneha Mejari and Jessy Iype of Elets News Network (ENN) throws light on how his organisation is helping to grow the role of urban cooperatives in the State What has been the role of the cooperatives so far? The cooperative movement in Maharashtra has a long history. It has 2.20 lakh cooperative institutions under 54 categories and about sixand-a-half lakh population is associated with it. These cooperatives include sugar cooperative mills, housing societies, and labour federations and societies. Almost 50 per cent population is benefitting from the cooperative movement.

How does the cooperative structure work and how does the fund flow in this sector? There are financial institutions, like the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank and district central cooperative banks, and at the grassroots level there are primary agriculture credit societies (PACS). There are about 21,000 PACS in the State. The crop loans for Rabi and Kharif are given to the farmers through the central cooperatives banks. NABARD gives it to the Maharashtra Cooperative Bank through tax, which is distributed to the farmers. There is a commercial banksâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; state-level committee of bankers, in which the policy is decided as to how much assistance should be offered to the farmers every year. Based on terms of crop loans, 50 per cent finance is routed through the cooperative sector and 50 per cent through

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commercial banks. The State had distributed about Rs. 5,000 crore last year, out of which most funds were rolled out by the commercial banks. About 1.36 crore farmers are registered, out of which about 76 lakh are given the benefit of crop loans. We intend to reach every farmer to offer loans. The new government and the Cooperative Department will work through this and see that most of the farmers gain through these loans. Every branch of the bank will be given a target to cover all farmers in their vicinity. This is one of the important activities we have planned. Farmers sometimes go to private lenders, too, for credit. The Maharashtra Government has announced that `171 crore private loan taken by the farmers will be reviewed and as per the government resolution, it shall be settled. Crop loans up to one lakh rupees are made available at reasonable rates of interest. The loan, if repaid within time, they will be given three per cent interest rebate.

Tell us about the role of urban cooperatives in Maharashtra? The urban cooperatives are a huge opportunity and there are 438 urban cooperative banks in Maharasthra, and 15,000 cooperative credit societies. The government has 65 per cent

urban movement in the State, which indicates a strong hold. These banks and societies are non-agriculture financial institutions. This sector covers urban area and towns, where the credit requirement of the urban population is estimated and disbursed, accordingly. The system is easily accessible to the people as it has a local connect. Credit and recovery also becomes easy there.

What are the advantages of a sugar cooperative in Maharashtra? How can it benefit the industry? Sugar cooperative is one of the strongest and most important segments in Maharashtra with high, socio-economic impacts. Owing to these cooperatives, the sugar movement got the strength here. There are 168 sugar factories in the State, and every year `5.11 lakh metric tonnes of sugar is produced with an annual turnover of `35,000 crore. It is a major revenue earner of the State, as 55 per cent of sugar is produced in Maharashtra. There are nine lakh harvesters and 1.5 lakh people are working in the sugar factories. Besides, there are lots of ancillaries in the sugar industry, like distillery, coal generation, particle ores, by-products, etc., that generate more employment.

TELECOM

ANUPAM SHRIVASTAVA

Enabling Telecom through Cloud Claiming to provide unmatched support to its clients, BSNL Cloud architecture provides enterprise class security to data. Anupam Shrivastava, Chairman & Managing Director of the PSU telecom giant, in conversation with Dr Ravi Gupta, Editor-in-Chief of eGov magazine, throws light on their partnership with Dimension Data and how this portfolio expansion will transform the BSNL image

How important is Cloud technology in strengthening eGovernance initiatives across the country? Digital India is one of the major initiatives being rolled out. Given the complexities and the need for faster deployments, new innovative solutions are the need of the hour. eGovernance initiatives will get accelerated with faster adoption of Cloud services. The government is looking at delivering almost all services directly to the end user and Cloud plays an integral part in that. With the use of Cloud technology, a lot of strategic initiatives of the government can be rolled out faster. CloudÂ technology bridges a major gap for application providers and helps them focus on their core areas and deploy faster. It is one such area where BSNL is focusing upon to ensure our active participation in Digital India. The technology is moving towards Cloud and it is the new emerging model. BSNL Cloud is a globally proven platform.

How far BSNL has been able to bridge the gap between citizens and the government through its tie-up with Dimension Data offering Cloud services? BSNL and Dimension Data tie-up is a perfect example of PublicPrivate-Partnership (PPP) model. With Dimension Dataâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tested and proven Cloud platform, BSNL is able to provide highly reliable Cloud services to the citizens through various important portals hosted on our Cloud platform. Various government departments are using our Cloud platform to launch their citizen-centric services. Time is changing and Cloud is bringing that advantage of implementing IT Infra in shortest possible time.

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ANUPAM SHRIVASTAVA

TELECOM

What has been the result of the key offerings that the BSNL and Dimension Data tie-up has provided to the Indian market? BSNL is the biggest connectivity provider in India and Cloud is an add-on service. Connectivity and Cloud are integrated. Citizens can avail these Cloud services if they have connectivity. BSNL is increasing their presence day by day and the reach is in rural areas, which helps the clients having pan India presence to take advantage of connectivity and Cloud services as a bundled offer. The IDC and Cloud services have aided BSNL to build and add new strategic capabilities to its portfolio.

What is the market share BSNL is eyeing through this portfolio expansion? BSNL is transforming from telecom service provider to ICT service provider to ensure more and more services both on Telecom and IT Platform. The company is focusing on Center/State/PSU/Enterprise and clients across the country.Â BSNL, along with DD, has been able to enable transformation for the various departments spanning across Civil Aviation, Health and Family Welfare, and utilities in making the knowledge of the various government initiatives available to every citizen of the country.

What are the measures undertaken to provide a secure public Cloud environment? Security is an integral part of any discussion on Cloud. As a Public Cloud provider, we were very clear that we would provide best-in-class security for our Public Cloud environment, with our strategic partnership with Dimension Data. We were able to create a multi-layered and multi-tiered security architecture which covers network security, strong authentication and rolebased access control. We have ensured that we implement global process frameworks, like the ISO standards from a process perspective, the data centre hosting, etc. The Public Cloud environment is tier-3 certified and has all the bells and whistles required to address any eventuality. Dimension Data through

BSNL is the biggest connectivity provider in India and Cloud is an add-on serviceâ&#x20AC;Ś citizens can avail Cloud services only if they have connectivity. So, BSNL is increasing its presence and reach in rural areas its global support centre located in India provides 24X7 monitoring of the set up, which helps in identifying and mitigating any incident.

What are the key characteristics that make BSNL IDC Cloud services stand apart from other cloud service providers in the country? The architecture of the Cloud platform provides resiliency and availability. It has enterprise class security and a user-friendly portal and orchestration layer that helps in creating the required infrastructure services. We provide an integrated

environment which consists of the network security and operating system enabling the clients to quickly deploy and start utilising the services. The architecture of the Cloud platform enables a Hybrid deployment which permits clients to have a unified view across virtual and physical systems, making the Cloud adoption seamless as they can replicate their existing data center architecture on Cloud. We have worked on commercial models which meet the requirements of different set of clients. With a global support centre available locally, we are able to provide unmatched support to our clients.

December 2015 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

TECH PLATFORM

S B SINGH

Facilitating Good Governance The National Informatics Centre (NIC) designs ICT-based solutions to fulfil the vision in accordance with the Digital India framework, guides a team of professionals to prepare the technical and management plans to implement the solutions across the country and ensures that the project is implemented properly and in true spirit, says S B Singh, Deputy Director General, NIC, in an exclusive interview with Gautam Debroy of Elets News Networks (ENN) How do you rate the success of NIC since its inception? National Informatics Centre (NIC) was established in the mid of 70s as a UNDP project, since then it has grown with tremendous momentum to become one of India’s major Science and Technology organisations promoting informatics-led development in the country. This has helped to usher in the required transformation in government to ably meet the challenges of the new millennium. It has not only emerged as prime builder of e-Government/ e-Governance applications up to the grassroot level, but has also evolved as a promoter of digital opportunities for sustainable development. During the last three decades, NIC has implemented many network centric application software for programme implementation in various ministries and departments, using state-of-the-art technology software tools. During 1980s and early part of 1990s, the policy thrust was on creating Management Information System (MIS) and Decision Support System (DSS) for development, planning and responsive administration in governments which led to the genesis of present day e-Governance/ e-Government. Bridging the Digital Divide, Social and Financial Inclusion through ICT

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and ‘Reaching-the-unreached’ concepts were tried and made operational in the late nineties. The 21st century saw a major shift in the Information Technology and the focus shifted to extension of government services to citizens using ICT. Here too, NIC has been instrumental in steering e-Governance applications in government ministries/departments at the Centre, States, Districts and Blocks, facilitating improvement in delivery of government services, wider transparency, promoting decentralised planning and management, resulting in better efficiency and accountability to the people of India. The journey from NICNET (VSAT based NIC Network) to National Knowledge Network (NKN), connecting institutions/ organisations carrying out research and development, Higher Education and Governance with speed of the order of multi Gigabytes per second and desktop-based systems to ‘Cloud Computing’ (Meghraj) and National Data Centre (NIC), has been at the forefront of Government Computerisations all these years.

Tell us about your role in digital India mission? The Digital India programme focuses on preparing India for the knowledge-

based transformation and delivering good governance to citizens by synchronised and coordinated engagement with both Central Government and State Government. It seeks to provide services to the citizens’ right at their doorstep by integrating them across departments and jurisdictions and making them available in real time for both online and on-mobile platform. It talks of extending high-speed secure Internet to the grassroot level, digital infrastructure, digital empowerment, digital literacy and availability of digital resources or services in Indian languages. It covers electronic services, products, devices, manufacturing and job opportunities and promises inclusive growth. My role in the Digital India Framework encompasses understanding the vision of GoI and respective Ministries in terms of IT-based services to the citizens and design ICT-based solutions to fulfill the vision in accordance with the Digital India Framework. The role also includes guiding a team of professionals to prepare the technical and management plans for implementing the solutions across the country and ensureing that the project is implemented in its full potential and true spirit. As you can see, the entire Digital India concept is based on services (technology enablement,

S B SINGH

consolidation across departments & GPR) and networks. All these years, NIC has been working in these areas in the Central Ministries, State Government and with District Administration.

Tell us some of the new projects you are implementing for eGovernment and eGovernance applications? One of the major areas I am working on currently is the Digitise India Programme through crowd sourcing. It is one of the critical eGovernance initiatives of DeitY for the Digital India Programme and has been envisioned as an end-to-end workflow based IT framework for digitisation of government records and to empower citizens, students, housewives across the country to self-identify as volunteers and contribute towards the gigantic task of digitisation of these records. It’s a fairly new concept in the country, especially in the area of Government Informatics. The second project I am working on is to transform GoI vision of Skill India into reality through a web portal that keeps the records of both – the employable skill sets and the employer. The plan, already approved by the Ministry of Skill Development, proposes the Skill India portal as a multi-tenant and configurable platform. It will work as a national career service to provide opportunities to millions of skilled youth from various parts of the country both from the urban and rural area and will facilitate all the stakeholders to get onboard both from the supply and demand side of the labour market. Many new IT-based programmes have been initiated for the Ministry of Tourism such as development of Hotel Cloud for accessing online classification, approval and occupancy of hotels, e–registration system for travel trade service providers and development of institute management system for online admissions, where the students aspiring for Hotel and Catering Management Degree/Certificate can apply online without any hassle. For the Ministry of Sports, we are in the process of launching a Sports Connect Conclave for celebrating success of past and current champions by

bringing them together on a single podium, using the Internet to spread awareness about their achievements and stories, and connect fans with their idols. The Sports Connect Programme with creation of a single window system for information on journals, e-books, scholarships, schemes, job opportunities, sports facilities and sports news is also included. In addition, many other activities are planned such as e-museum - showcasing India’s sporting history with videos, pictures and memorabilia, ICT-enabled Talent Hunt data collection for identification of talent at the grass-root level, mandating information flow on talented individuals from schools, colleges and other institutions and creating a sports-related statistics database to house a range of data on Indian sport disciplines and sportspersons, their records, statistics, performance, match details, etc. I am also looking after the Custom Computerisation at the National level. It is a mission mode project running on a 24*7 basis at the various Sea ports, Air Cargoes, Dry Ports and Border sites across the country. Currently, ICES is operational at 134 major customs locations handling nearly 98 per cent of India’s international trade in terms of import and export consignments. Internal automation of the custom house has led to a comprehensive, paperless, fully-automated customs clearance system that makes the functioning of customs clearance transparent and efficient. Online, real-time electronic interface with the trade, transporters, banks and regulatory agencies concerned with customs clearance of import and export cargo through ICEGATE is also a major component of ICES.

If we talk about rural as well as urban India (Smart City), how does NIC work? Is it able to deliver government services to the citizens? Yes, I am proud to say that when it comes to enabling government services, NIC is one organisation which has contributed equally for the urban as well as rural areas. One of the key factors which influences it is the reach of NIC that extends to all the Ministries/ Departments of the Central Government, 35 State Governments/Union Territories, and

TECH PLATFORM

about 625 district administrations of India. Another critical factor is that NIC has vast expertise and experience in the design, development and operationalisation of various eGovernment projects in the areas of public administration and governance like agriculture and food, animal husbandry, fisheries, forestry and environment, industry, health, education, budget and treasury, fiscal resources, transport, water resources, court management, rural development, land records and property registration, culture and tourism, import and exports facilitation, social welfare services, micro-level planning, etc. All these constitute the building blocks of the smart city concept. Many citizencentric services are also being rendered electronically at the district level, such as income certificate, caste certificate and residence certificate, etc., along with other services like scholarship portals, permits, passes, licenses through the applications developed by NIC.

How do you find the use of ICT in various government departments? Some departments have done exceptionally well in adopting ICT and the best practices in their working and they are providing uninterrupted services to all the stake holders, including citizens. One of the major projects that I initiated in Uttar Pradesh as the State Informatics Officer was the eScholarship project that not only helped the students in getting scholarships directly in their bank accounts without hassle, but also helped the State Government in saving nearly `400 crores every year by limiting the bogus and fake scholarship applicants. There are many similar cases across the country where the adoption of technology has led to a win-win situation for all stake holders. Nevertheless, a lot needs to be done and I think it’s time for integration of various services and Central and State Governments are working towards it. We have also created application repositories like eAppStore at the national level that will provide the different applications in the NIC domain to be available to all the State Governments, ministries and departments wishing to implement similar projects.

December 2015 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

TECH PLATFORM

PRASAD KOLTE

Bridging Rural-Urban Digital Divide MahaOnline has done a wonderful job in bringing the government closer to the citizens. Opening avenues for rural citizens as well, now MahaOnline has introduced a self-service portal, where they can create their login and apply for government services online, informs Prasad Kolte, COO, MahaOnline, to Poulami Chakraborty of Elets News Network (ENN)

MahaOnline has been a massive IT-centric venture by the Government of Maharashtra to promote and monitor the several initiatives of IT. How effective has it been in its motive to be connected to the citizens, ever since its inception? MahaOnline was formed in the year 2010, and is a joint venture of Tata Consultancy Services and the State of Government. The main objective of setting up this venture is to promote eGovernance and facilitate citizen service delivery. MahaOnline it has helped the State Government roll out IT implementation of various kinds of projects and services in quick, agile, flexible and robust manner. There are various examples of such services and projects such as CSC portal, RTS portal, eChallan for Traffic Cops, LMS for Labour Department, Services of Revenue, Rural Development, Home, Water Resource, Industries etc. Apart from such citizen services MahaOnline has also rolled out various G2G applications such as eService Book, HRMS, Online Roster (BinduNamavali), Govt. Quarters Management Solution etc. MahaOnline has also worked on digitisation of general insurance policy servicing. It has brought complete

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transparency in all projects under execution. We have set up platforms for online recruitment application, online auto or taxi permit allotment through lottery, and university applications for online admissions, among others. CSCs and SETUs are using MahaOnline portal for citizen service delivery. Last year, MahaOnline worked on innovative concept called ‘Digital Locker’ and extended all necessary help to the central government for its mega launch.

Please tell us something about the ePRI venture. Implementation of ePRI suite (Electronic Panchayati Raj Institution) applications is one of the major success stories of MahaOnline and State Government. It was a mission mode project (MMP) under NeGP. MahaOnline took this project in challenging conditions. We set up the cluster model of VLEs at each Panchayat, supervisors and experts at block level and district level. We achieved every milestone of this project – digitisation of Gram Panchayat data through data entry into 10 NIC softwares (ePRI suite), software for citizen services delivery for various certificates, supply of consumables to confirm the end touch point of service delivery, capacity building of Gram Sevaks etc.

MahaOnline has successfully implemented IT in the rural parts

of the State. Please share with us the challenges it faced while operating in these areas. When MahaOnline was formed, it was the year when CSCs were trying to set up themselves. When it was decided that every SCA should use MahaOnline portal, the denial was apparent. However, with the support of IT leadership of the State, acceptability for MahaOnline increased. Now, every CSC is using MahaOnline portal. A similar situation is now with SETUs. Though IT Department has made mandatory use of MahaOnline portal, in some of the districts, SETUs are using their own portal. Challenges are not new. Resistance for any change is a default behaviour. We followed this mantra and continued our IT implementation.

Since 2010, how has been the journey of MahaOnline? MahaOnline journey of the last five years evolved slowly but steadily. We started our portal with citizen services through CSCs and SANGRAM. Now, we have launched citizen self-service portal where citizen can create their login and apply for government service online. Citizen can submit documents online and pay the fees online. Our focus is to bring transparency and simplification in every government process through eGovernance.

SMART CITIES

NIKHIL GANDHI

Local Urban Spaces with Global Outlook In our Smart City, we want to present the best of business, living, learning, recreation, health and environmental conditions to the citizens, says Nikhil Gandhi, Group President, SKIL Infrastructure Limited, in an interview with Kartik Sharma and Sneha Mejari of Elets News Network (ENN) Smart City has created a lot of buzz in the country today and the Government of India is keenly working on it. How do you view the concept of Smart Cities? Smart City is one of the most powerful policy tools as far as our country is concerned. If even 20 to 25 Smart Cities are raised, it will add two percent to the GDP. The meaning of a Smart City has to be understood in totality, including in terms of development perspective. If a Picasso painting is given to you, and you are asked to re draw it, you cannot do it. Similarly it becomes difficult to convert an existing city into a Smart City. Even to extend a road or a bridge, we face thousands of problems. Hence the meaning of Smart City needs to be understood in totality that it is a Greenfield development. I visited a place called Songdo 15 years ago, which was a barren land then, and Jerry Heings spoke to me about building a Smart City there. It was the first time

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I heard the concept of Smart City. After 14 years, when I visited the place again, I was surprised to see the magnificent development that had taken place. After discussing with various stakeholders like Singapore Company called JTC and German company called Siemens, I suggested my friends in the government that we should also have Global Cities with Smart Solutions. According to me, Smart Cities mean cities creating new jobs, creating new infrastructures, etc. Creating such Smart Cities will also help the neighbouring tier I and II cities become vibrant.

What according to you are Smart Solutions? Smart solution is connected with smart security. For an example, if you are staying in South Mumbai, in a top class apartment and you leave for office, you are not sure whether your family is safe. The concept of smart security does not exist. So, we plan to provide a one-touch machine which will solve problems like this. These very onetouch solutions are smart solutions that help you when you are on the go. Our group has a legacy of building the first world class sea port, first world class railway, roads and SEZs, and the largest world class infrastructure to build submarines and

NIKHIL GANDHI

SMART CITIES

warships as well. We will do the same while building a Smart City.

Brief us about the concept of ÂĄOrange Smart CityÂŠ, which is your Smart City project. We are planning to build a world class Smart City spread over 200 thousand acres of land, which is already in our possession, and it is located very close to New Mumbai. This land is close to a port and airport and hence convenient. I am glad that the policy is in place and a serious intent on the part of the government is in place, so we are about to close a world class partner for the same project. This is a project which will create a path for many others to follow.

How different is it for a Government to build a Smart City and a private player to do it? I am a migrant to the city. When I migrated to the city, the population was nearly four million and now it is 19 million. People want to migrate to Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, etc., in search of better opportunities, which is lacking in their own cities. So, now we need to build new cities to decongest the existing cities and also to make them vibrant. The more the merrier. The biggest issue is acquisition of land. The policy of Smart City is out, the vision of the

When I came here, the population was nearly four million and now it is 19 million. People want to migrate to Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, etc. Now we need to build new cities to decongest the existing cities and also to make them vibrant Prime minister is clear and so is the vision of the Chief Minister, but now we have to implement it. Somebody has to start. We are one among them and I am sure there will be many. I am happy to experience as powerful a concept as Smart City in my life time.

What do you think about foreign players showing interest in the Indian Smart Cities projects? It is nothing unusual. The people who have developed a Smart City or are working on a Smart City or those who are users of Smart City or a contractor in some Smart City project have their experiences. Each stakeholder brings in a lot of experience. Such people coming on board alone will make the idea of Smart Cities a reality. I presume that the government should

monitor such developments and leverage it for own benefit. The interest that the foreign delegation is taking in India is a good sign for India as well as the development of the concept of Smart City.

How important is the technology in the development of Smart Cities? Technology is the only medium, which can make the concept of Smart City possible. We are talking to Israel because they have a phenomenal understanding of the infrastructure. So, we have taken all sides on board and will keep all technology providers in focus. While doing this, we should also understand that just making a world-class city is not enough, running them is more crucial.

December 2015 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

URBAN DEVELOPMENT

DR. M RAVI KANTH

Shaping India’s Tomorrow Over the past four-and-a-half decades, the Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited (HUDCO) has gained experience and expertise in new and satellite towns, SEZs, IT parks, industrial infrastructure and providing design consultations for redeveloping towns, writes Dr. M Ravi Kanth, Chairman & Managing Director, HUDCO

he world today has become more urban than ever before, and this wave of urbanisation is not going to abate in the near future. This means that providing quality, affordable shelter for the millions of people streaming into our cities is among the most pressing challenges we face. Since shelter is a basic human need, the provision of housing to its citizens is a major obligation of India, being a welfare state. India faces a huge backlog of affordable housing and if left unaddressed, this could impede the social mobility of a generation and have a paralysing effect on the economic development of the nation. Dr. M Ravi Kanth

Quick Facts t As per the report of the technical group on urban housing shortage for the Twelfth Plan, the housing shortage was 18.78 million units in 2012, three-fourth of it bein in the economically weaker sections of our society. t To address this housing shortage, we need to provide for a mix of affordable housing options, good rental housing for migrants, slum redevelopment, and housing for urban destitute and homeless. Even building at full capacity, the major house builders will be unable to build the number of houses we need. There is an urgent need to leverage resources from the states to combine with the resources of the Central Government. Therefore, all stakeholders, including the private sector, banks and financial institutions and civil society, need to be involved in this task.

Reaching the unreached HUDCO has contributed immensely for developing housing in the country. We are constantly striving to ‘reach the unreached’ sections of the population to make the housing dream a reality for everyone. During the last 45 years, HUDCO has sanctioned 16.25 million houses, and we are proud that every 16th house in the country has been constructed with HUDCO’s support. Though we lend for middle-income and higher-income housing,

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HUDCO continues to place a significant emphasis on housing for the EWS and LIG categories, and over 95 per cent of the houses sanctioned by us have benefitted EWS and LIG households. Towards improving access to housing for all sections of the society, especially at the Bottom of Pyramid (BoP) of the society, HUDCO is trying to develop various products to cater to the needs of different segments of society. The ‘Rent-to-Own scheme’, and our equity support to SEWA Grih Rrin are important steps in this direction.

Profitability with social justice

With a motto of “Profitability with Social Justice”, HUDCO is the largest housing finance central public sector enterprise in India, addressing the housing and related infrastructural needs of the poor. Since inception, HUDCO has been promoting affordable housing, with an allocation of significant quantum of its housing funds for the economically weaker sections and lower income groups, a relatively lower interest rate (even below our average cost of borrowing), higher extent of unit cost extended as loan, and a relatively longer repayment period, HUDCO makes houses affordable for the urban and rural poor segments, by cross subsidising the economically weaker sections and lower income groups. In addition to its direct-lending programmes through projects and individuals, HUDCO acts as the nodal agency on behalf of the government for implementation/monitoring the Government of India’s actionable programmes, such as the Integrated Low Cost Sanitation Programme (ILCS), Two Million Housing Programme, the National Network of Building Centres, Night Shelters, Swarna Jayanthi Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY) for training component, etc. HUDCO has actively contributed to the implementation of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) in respect of the components of Basic Services for the Urban Poor (BSUP) and the Integrated Housing and Slum Development

DR. M RAVI KANTH

URBAN DEVELOPMENT

Programme (IHSDP) for project report preparation, appraisal, monitoring, capacity-building as well as funding the viability gap requirements. It is worth mentioning that the CSR activities of HUDCO also aim at improving the quality of life of the deprived sections through various projects relating to health, education and economic infrastructure in urban and rural areas. HUDCO has extended support to urban local bodies for construction of night shelters, community/pay and use toilets, among other projects to improve the living conditions of the deprived.

Building assets for the nation Over the four decades of its existence, HUDCO has gone from strength to strength and has been a key partner with the government in building assets for the nation. Over these years, HUDCO has financed over 2000 infrastructure projects with a cumulative disbursement of over `64,000 crore. We also provide design consultations for inner-city redevelopment and rehabilitation of disaster-affected areas. HUDCO has financed projects not only in small and large towns, but even in rural areas in the aftermath of natural disasters. In fact, HUDCO’s work extends from Kashmir in the north to Kanya Kumari in the south and from Kutch in the west to Kohima in the east.

HUDCO is the only financing company which funds land acquisition and its integrated development

Infrastructure projects t The integrated railway projects at Navi Mumbai t Construction of a road bridge across Thane Creek at Airoli, Navi Mumbai t Construction of airports at Cochin & Calicut in Kerala t Borai water supply scheme on BOOT basis t National Games Village at Bengaluru and Manipur t Film City in Chennai t Rain-water harvesting for Santhigiri Ashram at Thiruvananthapuram t We are proud to be partners in the financing of innovative infrastructure projects like the metro rail projects and the Sabarmati riverfront development

Important initiatives HUDCO is supporting important initiatives through its equity partnership in the Delhi–Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), and its subscription to the Infrastructure Debt Fund (IDF). Through IDF, HUDCO will support the country’s infrastructure needs by catalysing capital formation for infrastructure development in the country. Today, HUDCO is the only financing company which funds land acquisition and its integrated development. With the new government initiative for the development of ‘Smart Cities’ throughout the country, HUDCO’s role would continue in the fields of project funding, project monitoring, evaluation studies and also support to the urban local bodies in conceiving city-specific

business plans for sustainable infrastructure development.

The way forward India is taking rapid strides towards an urban future, where by the year 2030, urban areas are expected to house 40 per cent of India’s population and contribute 75 per cent of India’s GDP. This obviously requires large-scale investments and effective planning to ensure comprehensive development of physical, institutional, social and economic infrastructure and housing for all. On 25th June, 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched three schemes, ‘Housing for All by 2022’, ‘Smart Cities’, and ‘Atal Mission For Rejuvenation And Urban Transformation (AMRUT)’, to generate momentum and propel the urban development efforts in the country towards ensuring an improved quality of life in urban areas. In this context, the Smart Cities programme aims at helping cities acquire better infrastructure, including water supply, electricity, sanitation, mobility, digital connectivity, sustainable environment, safety and security, health, education and good governance. Similarly, AMRUT also aims at creating basic urban infrastructure like water supply, sewerage network, storm water drainage, urban transport and green spaces and parks, and the Affordable Housing Mission seeks to address the housing requirements of urban poor, including slum dwellers through its four programme verticals. HUDCO’s Corporate Plan-2020 envisages a major focus and thrust on social housing in order to achieve the national goal of affordable shelter for all. Besides, HUDCO has been identified as one of the central nodal agencies for the Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme component of the Affordable Housing Mission.

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SMART CITY

AJOY MEHTA

Mumbai Under TRANSFORMATION Promising to make the life of Mumbaikars easier, Ajoy Mehta, Commissioner, Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, is working on projects that aim to transform the city. In an interview with Kartik Sharma, Sneha Mejari, and Akanki Sharma of Elets News Network (ENN), he highlighted the challenges coming his way Mumbai is a developed city as compared to other cities in India. In that context, how far is it from becoming a smart city? Once we say that we have to become a smart city, we have to look at doing things not only in a better way, but also in a way which makes the life of the citizens easier. Going smart is doing something in a better way, in a way that it makes the life of the citizens easy. So, we are working on projects that lead to the better development of the city.

Do you see any scope of some coastal roads or new roads to be added? Road transport has two aspects- to improve the existing transport and increase the number of corridors. Unlike Delhi and Hyderabad, Mumbai is a linear city which is quite important for north-south corridors. Today, there are two north-south corridors on the railway, i.e. western and central railway and there are two north-south corridors on the road, which are the eastern express and the western express. So, these are four corridors for better connectivity of the city. Now, the time has come to open up a fifth corridor as its need is felt. But, there are a few challenges. One is the engineering challenge and the second is the challenge of

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mitigating environmental issues. However, do we make a road that reduces and mitigates environmental issues? The third big challenge is that your road should be done in such a way that management is facilitated. Apart from road, metro is now more prevalent. Delhi is a very good example of metro transport. Metro is coming up as a very big option; it is a big high-speed and environment-friendly option coming up. Mumbai is working on various metro lines and the whole transport system is being integrated. It is being done by the MMRDA. Metros will have the mass rapid transit system, which is environment-friendly.

Talking about an easy life for citizens, transport becomes an important factor. Though Mumbai's transport is much advanced, do you still see any scope of improvement in city's transport? We are going to put up a passenger information system under the smart cities so that everything becomes streamlined. The fundamental principal of any public transport is to time yourself as per the timings of the public transport and tap its frequency. So, we are now looking at

bringing in much more predictability at bus stands through passenger information.

Apart from transport, some utilities also add to the smart city. If you talk about water, Mumbai has always witnessed lack of it. So, what mechanism are you adopting for water harvesting to avail sufficient water in the city? Today, 50 per cent of Mumbaiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sewage is going untreated. There are two things that are happening- one, we are damaging the sea and second is, the water which could have been treated and reused for nonportable purposes, is lost. So, if that water is treated and is brought to the level pollution control board wants us to, then that grey water can be used for washing, cleaning, flushing, among many other uses. This reduces the requirement for fresh water and the moment it is reduced, we need less storage capacity and less land for building a dam. We are going to set-up some new watertreatment plants in the next four years. The tender process has already started and the waste-water treatment plants will be set up along the coast, so that the water is treated and pumped back for reuse.

TECHNOLOGY

DEB DEEP SENGUPTA

Govt Operations Stand SAP-ed Over the years, SAP has facilitated smooth operation of lot many government establishments, and with the launch of ICT-enabled programmes, like Digital India and Smart Cities, we look forward to playing a greater role in these initiatives, says Deb Deep Sengupta, Managing Director, SAP India, in an interaction with Elets News Network (ENN) What is your vision about SAP©s contribution to flagship schemes of the incumbent government, viz. Digital India, Make in India and Smart Cities? SAP strongly supports emergence of India as a ‘Digital Economy’. The initiatives like Digital India, Smart Cities and Make in India are the building blocks to achieve this. These flagship schemes offer tremendous transformational potential through enhanced collaboration across multiple stakeholder groups. The key to success of these initiatives would be integration of various aspects of these programmes, like objectives, programme management structures, ICT solutions and outcomes. And, this is precisely where the strength of SAP lies as a technology partner. Our experiences with the Indian Government organisations have really been encouraging. We have been able to showcase the strength of our technology and software applications in manufacturing as well as services industries. We foresee an increasing role for us in improvement of G2C, G2B, G2G and G2E (government-to-employee) service delivery. We aim to effectively address the

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issues of complexity and integration of disparate government ICT initiatives.

What do you feel are the key enablers for governmentindustry collaboration for success of ICT initiatives in government? The industry-government collaboration can definitely play a very effective role to ensure the success of government’s ICT initiatives and flagship programmes. One of the key enablers for this can be early involvement of different industry segments like OEMs, system integration partners and others, preferably at the stage of project conceptualisation itself. Industry involvement at the stage of preparation of detailed project reports can definitely help in ensuring optimal redesign of business processes for government organisations. This can also help industry stakeholders understand the process requirements well in advance. The other key enabler can be improvement in procurement processes for ICT products and services. It is heartening to learn that many states have already initiated the process of developing separate procurement guidelines for ICT products and services. Industry can also

collaborate with the Indian Government in the larger capacity building programmes on ICT.

Which are the current government ICT initiatives being supported by SAP in India? SAP is supporting numerous initiatives covering sectors like municipalities, railways, defence, and utilities, etc. Many PSUs use SAP solutions as their enterprise application and decision support backbone — SAP systems are integral to their functioning. Our solutions have been deployed and used by the central and state governments for delivering practically all types of services. To illustrate the scale of government operations being supported by SAP, the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) has deployed SAP enterprise resource planning solution as their technology platform. SAP touches millions of citizens and covers more than a lakh of MCGM employees. SAP software generates millions of unreserved railway tickets per day and drives efficiencies across rail coach production every year for the Indian Railways. Then, we are powering the cooperative milk-marketing revolution

DEB DEEP SENGUPTA

in India, supporting the production of millions of litres of milk each day and connect lakhs of farmers. Major public ports and governmentowned ship-building yards have reposed their faith in SAP solutions to drive operational efficiencies. PSU organisations in the oil and gas sector have chosen SAP to enable exploration and refining processes. SAP helps generate competitive advantage for these organisations.

What will be your recommendation for infusion of new technologies like IoT, analytics and mobile into the government functioning and delivery of services? Technology-driven innovation can facilitate huge performance improvements by ensuring real-time availability of quality information for optimal delivery of government services. We are witnessing rapid adoption of analytics-based ICT solutions in the government ecosystem in fiscal, social and other sectors. IoT has been identified as a focus area for the government’s ambitious Digital India programme. I see an increasing appreciation of the role that these technologies can play in reforming the government service delivery processes in India. Many states have rolled out innovative mobile applications for citizen usage. I feel that this is the right time for state and Central Government departments to pursue the adoption of these technologies through structured plans and ICT adoption roadmaps. Industry

collaboration at this stage can support the government organisations to take the right path for adoption of these technologies.

How is SAP contributing to the skill building initiatives in the country? What is your strategy for helping the larger Skill India initiative? SAP’s University Alliance programme aims to contribute to skill development through linkages with academia. Globally ,SAP is involved in various innovative skill-building programmes, which assist a country’s youth by providing them a platform for skill development as well as employment. The recently concluded ‘Africa Code-Week’ is an excellent example of such an initiative. SAP’s focus on skill and capacity building in India is also reflected through our involvement in the National Digital Literacy Mission (NDLM) as a part of our CSR charter. We recently partnered with

Our experiences with the Indian Government organisations have really been encouraging. We have also been able to showcase the strength of our technology and software applications in manufacturing as well as services industries

TECHNOLOGY

NASSCOM Foundation to run centers as a support to the NDLM. We are supporting more than 40 labs in urban slums and rural areas. Around 10,000 youth have been trained on computer literacy. We have trained close to 3,000 tribal youth on vocational skills and computer literacy. We have also trained 90 children with autism spectrum disorder. SAP is also involved in empowering the startup ecosystem through our entrepreneurship building and startup accelerator programme exclusive to India.

SAP©s growth story in India has really been impressive. Can you take us through the strategic elements of your growth strategy in India? SAP has an amazing story of driving growth through innovation in India. We are the second largest, young, talented and dynamic subsidiary for SAP worldwide. SAP India’s diverse employee base is a catalyst for innovation. With over 400 partners, SAP in India has a strong ecosystem that is working towards strengthening the economy with digital-prowess. SAP’s Cloud and platform business verticals are at the centre of our growth story. The digital transformation of Indian businesses is well supported by SAP’s rich and diverse solution portfolio. I am proud to state that SAP’s solution portfolio is the most complete in terms of supporting the digital transformation journeys of organisations and governments. We are fast progressing on our strategy to become the Cloud company powered by SAP HANA. We will transition our software consumption model to the Cloud through which we will be able to deliver end-to-end solutions and own the business outcomes for the customers. With government investments centred on building countrywide IT infrastructure and Make in India initiatives, SAP solutions for sustainability, manufacturing, public services, supply chain, renewable energy, healthcar,e etc., are poised to address a broader range of customer requirements.

December 2015 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

SMART BANKING

V SWAMINATHAN

Digital Banking for Inclusive Society The Kotak Mahindra Bank believes that digital banking should not be restricted to high-end smartphones alone, and that it should help build an inclusive society by making the facilities available even on low-end, more affordable handsets, says V Swaminathan, Senior Executive Vice President – India, Kotak Mahindra Bank, in an interaction with Manish Arora of Elets News Network (ENN) How does the Kotak Mahindra Bank perceive the concept of Smart Banking in Smart Cities?

a smart city can avail out of smarter banking services?

A smart city offers a variety of solutions that simplify various aspects of life – from transport to communication to banking, etc. This enables citizens to engage better with Governments and other public service-oriented bodies for continuous growth and development. One of the critical features of a smart city is cashless and technology-driven payment solutions. The Kotak Mahindra Bank stands committed to offering world-class banking solutions backed by unparalleled service.

Banking has evolved over the last a few years, with technology playing a vital role in enabling service delivery. Today, customers can perform a wide range of banking services, such as cashless transactions, paying utility bills, tax payments, transfer of funds, etc., in a simple and secure manner, merely at a click of a button.

What according to you is smart banking? Smart banking means integrating technology with every aspect of business to increase customer satisfaction, drive operational efficiencies and create new business opportunities. Customers get access to more contact points with their banks, wherein every interaction delivers a customised experience, tailored as per their needs.

What are the various opportunities that citizens in

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How can the urban poor be brought in the smart banking network? Digital banking is not restricted to high-end smartphones alone, rather it can be inclusive for society at large. To cite an example, we have launched Kotak Bharat, a multi-lingual mobile banking app which works on basic Android handsets and does not require internet connectivity. One can do over 23 types of transactions using this app. Further, with zero-balance account, people from different sections, particularly the urban poor, can now avail of facilities like ATM card, phone banking and cheque book free of cost.

What is your message for the participants of eIndia? India’s transformation into a digital economy has started. Penetration of smartphones in India is helping digital adoption in big way. Let’s make the most of the opportunities before us to transform the country into a digital India in the true sense of the term.

ANALYSIS

APPOINTMENTS

The New

‘Movers & Shakers’ of GOI

The Government of India recently appointed 22 new Joint Secretaries in its different departments. A closer look at the appointments suggests that it wasn’t just another routine transfer and posting exercise; instead their selection was done keeping in mind the kind of expertise they bring along to benefit specific departments. A report curated by Akanki Sharma of ENN

n the corridors of power, it’s widely quoted that the desk of the Joint Secretaries acts as the rudder of the corresponding department of the Government of India. Armed with ample multi-faceted experiences from working in the State Governments, the Joint Secretaries are assigned the task to steer formulation of policies and programmes having far reaching implications. A Joint Secretary represents the typical image of a workaholic, file smitten bureaucrat taking long strides to reach his desk well in time to handle a deluge of work.

Last month, the Government appointed as many as 22 Joint Secretaries across various departments. The most interesting part was the breaking of the glass ceiling of the conventions followed so far. Several of these Joint Secretaries have been paratrooped from other specialised services, probably with the intention of utilising their vast experiences and skill sets for an increasing specialised function. At eGov, we thought of welcoming these new movers and shakers by introducing their careerlines to our readers who are always amply curious and eager on this count.

THE LIST IAS

Sanjiv Kumar (1992, IAS, UT): Department of Revenue Vandana Gurnani (1991, IAS, Karnataka): Department of Health & Family Welfare Manoj Joshi (1989, IAS, Kerala): Ministry of Micro Small Medium Enterprises U K S Chauhan(1986, IAS,Kerala): Ministry of Home Affairs T V S N Prasad (1988, IAS, AP): Ministry of Home Affairs I S Chahal (1989, IAS, Maharashtra): Ministry of Panchayati Raj Pankaj Jain (1990, IAS,Assam-Meghalaya): Department of Financial Services Pravir Krishna (1987, IAS, Madhya Pradesh): Ministry of Shipping Sandeep Saxena (1989, IAS, Tamil Nadu): Election Commission of India Ravi Agrawal (1988, IAS): Department of Disinvestment Amrit Abhijat (1995, IAS, UP): Ministry of Housing & Poverty Alleviation Kalpana Awasthi (1990, IAS, UP): Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion A J V Prasad (1986, IAS, HP): Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries. Rachna Shah (1991, IAS, Kerala): Department of Food & Public Distribution

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Other Services

Satyendra Garg (1987, IPS, UT): Ministry of Home Affairs Pradeep Gupta (1985, IOFS): Ministry of Home Affairs Abhay Damle (1989, IRS): Ministry of Road Transport and Highways Ashwani Kumar (IRS, 1988): Ministry of Defence (Finance) T C A Kalyani (1991, ICAS): Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment M C Luther, (2000, CSS): Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs Kiran Puri (1998, CSS): Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances Anita Chauhan (1998, CSS): Department of Science & Technology

APPOINTMENTS

Sanjiv Kumar

ANALYSIS

PAST EXPERIENCE u Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas u Social Welfare Department u Women and Child Development Department u Environment and Forest Department u Irrigation and Flood Control Department u Information and Publicity Department

Sanjiv Kumar, an Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer of 1992 batch and Union Territory cadre, has been appointed as the Joint Secretary in the Department of Revenue under the Ministry of Finance. Prior to it, he has worked with several other ministries and departments, including Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Social Welfare Department, Women and Child Development Department, Environment and Forest Department, Irrigation and Flood Control Department, Information and Publicity Department, among others. Kumar holds the experience for managing land revenue twice, firstly from 1994-95 and then from 2004-2006 as the sub divisional admin and divisional admin respectively. He has also served in the New Delhi Municipal Council from Dec 1, 2002 to Jan 14, 2004.

Furthermore, he enhanced his skills while working as a Labour Commissioner in New Delhi. Kumar has been transferred 22 times till now. He has delivered his services in a number of states, including Puducherry, Andaman & Nicobar and New Delhi. Hailing from the capital city of India, Kumar has done his graduation in Accountancy.

Iqbal Singh Chahal

Umesh Kumar Singh Chauhan

Iqbal Singh Chahal, a 1989 batch IAS officer of Maharashtra cadre, is currently given the role of a Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Panchayati Raj. From holding the post of Additional Commissioner to Collector, Iqbal has worked in the Land Revenue Management and District Administration for several years. He holds specialisation in the Urban Development as he had spent two years in the sector from 2005-2007. Chahal has also served in the Department of Finance and Department of Home under the Ministry of Home Affairs. Before working as a Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, he worked as a Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Women and Child Development too. Chahal has mostly worked in Maharashtra region. Furthermore, he has worked on Dharavi Redevelopment Project, under which the size of the redeveloped tenements was supposed to be reduced to 300 sq ft, as against the longpending residentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; demand for 400 sq ft houses. Chahal holds a degree in Engineering holding first division with distinction. He belongs to the city of Rajasthan and knows many languages like English, Hindi, Marathi and Punjabi.

A 1986 batch IAS officer of Kerala cadre, Umesh Kumar started his career with Personnel and General Administration training, unlike others. However, after gaining one year experience in the domain, he worked for Land Revenue Management and District Administration, first from 1988 to 1990 and then from 1994 to 1997. Some of the ministries Umesh has worked with are Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. He has worked in Uttar Pradesh and spent around five years there while serving in areas like Water Resources, Tourism, Finance, Information and Broadcasting. He has also served in Kottayam, Pali, Kerala and Wayanad. From 2010 to 2012, he has also worked as a Resident Commissioner (Additional Secretary Level) in the Kerala House at New Delhi. Umesh belongs to the State of Uttar Pradesh. He is well-versed with Malayalam, besides English and Hindi languages. He is a Graduate in Zoology, Botany, Chemistry with second division. He has also done Post Graduation in Botany and Hindi, securing first division.

PAST EXPERIENCE u Department of Finance u Ministry of Home Affairs u Ministry of Women and Child Development

PAST EXPERIENCE u Ministry of Home Affairs u Ministry of Agriculture u Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution

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ANALYSIS

APPOINTMENTS

Pravir Krishna

Pankaj Jain

A 1987 batch IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, Pravir Krishna has also been assigned the role of a Joint Secretary lately in the Ministry of Shipping. Prior to it, he was Prl Secretary (Additional Secretary Level) in the Ayurveda Department. From 1989 to 1991, Krishna gained experience in Land Revenue Management and District Administration. Later, he was appointed as the Planning Officer in the Ministry of Rural Development. Subsequently, he took experience in Land Revenue Management and District Administration for eight years. The geographies he has worked in are Surguja, Bastar, Nagrik Aapoorti Nigam, among others. He has also worked as a Director in the Cabinet Secretariat and holds experience in Personnel and General Administration. The Ministries he has worked with in his career comprise the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (2007-2009), Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (Jan 23, 2009 to Feb 15, 2009). He has also worked as Prl Secretary (Additional Secretary Level) in Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation Department from April 13, 2012 to Nov 02, 2015. Krishna hails from the State of Bihar and has done his Graduation and Post Graduation in Economics, attaining first division.

Recently appointed as a Joint Secretary in the Department of Financial Services, Pankaj is a 1990 batch IAS officer of AssamMeghalaya cadre. He has spent a long time (nine years) holding experience in the Land Revenue Management and District Administration. In addition to it, he has worked under the Ministry of Small Scale Industries. He also holds experience in Planning and Programme Implementation, Agriculture and Cooperation, Cooperatives and much more. In the State of Meghalaya, he has worked in West Garo Hills, along with the Community and Rural Development Department of the State, Infotech and Community and Rural Development, among others. Also, in the Meghalaya House of New Delhi, he has served as a Resident Commissioner (Joint Secretary Level). Apart from it, he has worked in the Power Department and Planning Department as Prl Secretary (Additional Secretary Level) as well. Hailing from Delhi, Pankaj has studied Commerce during Graduation, while he has done his Post Graduation in Management. He also holds a PG Diploma in Cost Accounting with first division.

PAST EXPERIENCE u Ministry of Rural Development u Ministry of Health and Family Welfare u Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports

Manoj Joshi A veteran and an IAS officer of 1989 batch, Kerala cadre, Manoj Joshi also began his career in the administrative services by holding experience in Land Management and District Administration. His overall experience in this area is five years. He has spent most of his time with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. His journey there started as Deputy Secretary in the year 1999 and he later became the Director in the year 2003. Then in the year 2004, he headed towards the post of Counsellor in the same Ministry and maintained it till the year 2008. He has also worked in the Health and Family Welfare Department, Ports Department and Public Works Department. Besides, the ministries he has worked with include Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. Currently holding the post of Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, he was earlier holding

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PAST EXPERIENCE u Ministry of Small Scale Industries u Power Department u Planning Department

the same post in the Ministry of Finance. Manoj belongs to the city of Rajasthan and his academic qualification includes Graduation in Mechanical Engineering, Post Graduation Diploma in Management System Analysis a nd a certificate in Financial Management Chartered Financial Analyst.

PAST EXPERIENCE u Ministry of Commerce and Industry u Health and Family Welfare Department u Ports Department u Public Works Department u Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions u Ministry of Finance u Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. u Ministry of Finance

APPOINTMENTS

ANALYSIS

Sandeep Saxena

Vandana Gurnani

Sandeep Saxena, a 1989 batch IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre, has been appointed as Deputy Election Commissioner (JS Level). Currently a part of the Election Commission of India, he has earlier worked with various departments under several ministries. Like any other beginner, Saxena also started his career gaining experience in Land Revenue Management for a period of five years. During his five-years tenure, he worked in the southern cities of Coimbatore, Dindigul and Salem. After that, he worked in the State of Madhya Pradesh in the Department of Health and Family Welfare. In addition, he has also worked in the Department of Revenue as Additional Secretary. The other areas he has served comprise Small Scale Industries, General Administration, Agriculture and Cooperation, Law and Justice Elections. Till date, Saxena has been transferred 25 times and has worked in various domains. His academic qualifications reveal a bit about various interests he possess as he is a graduate in Civil Engineering, holds a Masters Degree in Water Management and a Post Graduate Diploma in Financial Management.

A 1991 batch IAS officer of Karnataka cadre, Vandana Gurnani has been appointed as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Micro Small Medium Enterprise (MSME). In her career of 12 years, she has assumed a number of designations in several departments. She started her career as an Assistant Commissioner in the year 1993 and worked in Raichur for two years gaining the experience for Land Revenue Management and District Administration. Apart from it, she has also worked in the Department of Women and Child Development as a Managing Director for about three years. Further, she has worked as the Project Director for AIDS Prevention and Control. She has also worked as an Executive Director as well as a Project Director in the University of Manitoba located in Canada. Currently appointed in the Department of Health and Family Welfare, Gurnani has earlier worked in the same department from 2009 to 2010. In addition, she has worked as a Resident Commissioner in Karnataka Bhawan, New Delhi. She has worked in several places, including Bangalore, Dharwad, among others. She belongs to Delhi and has completed her Post Graduation in Economics with first division.

PAST EXPERIENCE u Department of Health and Family Welfare u Department of Revenue

TVSN Prasad A 1988 batch IAS officer of Hyderabad cadre, TVSN Prasad has also lately been appointed as Joint Secretary. Spending two years in the Revenue Department of Haryana, he gained experience in the Land Management and District Administration from 1990 to 1992. Later, from 1992 to 1995, he worked as Additional Deputy Commissioner in the Development and Panchayats Department in the same State. Thereafter, he also worked in the Land Revenue and Disaster Management Department in Kurukshetra from 1997 to 1998. In his overall career of 15 years, he has been transferred 31 times and as a result worked in several ministries and departments. These involve the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Power Department, Revenue Department, Land Records Department, Land Acquisition Department, Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department, Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation and the Ministry of Home Affairs. The prominent areas he has worked in are National Rural Health Mission; Harvard University, USA and World Bank. He hails from the State of Andhra Pradesh and knows various languages like French, English and Hindi, apart from his mother

PAST EXPERIENCE u Department of Women and Child Development u Department of Health and Family Welfare

tongue Telugu. He is a Bachelor of Technology with first division from Jawahar Lal Nehru Technology University, Andhra Pradesh; Master of Public Administration from Harvrad University and also holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Public Management and Policy from Harvard itself.

PAST EXPERIENCE u Revenue Department of Haryana u Development and Panchayats Department, Haryana u Land Revenue and Disaster Management Department, Kurukshetra u Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions u Power Department u Revenue Department u Land Records Department u Land Acquisition Department u Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department u Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation u Ministry of Home Affairs

December 2015 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

ENERGY

R D DHIMAN

Towards Power-ful Himachal Pradesh With availability of unlimited and uninterrupted power supply, The Himachal Pradesh Government is looking at turning the hill state into an ideal place for setting up large industries. Efforts are on to make it happen, says R D Dhiman, Principal Secretary, Industries, in conversation with Priya Yadav of Elets News Network (ENN) Himachal Pradesh has introduced a string of measures to attract investors in the State. How are things being done differently now? We have aggressively identified the problem areas that the industry was facing and have brought about procedural changes to assist the industry and provide an easy access to the State. One of the main initiatives is that earlier an entrepreneur had to buy or take land on lease and develop it entirely by himself. This was a cumbersome job as it involved several clearances and permissions from various government agencies. Now, we have identified clusters of land and are developing them first â&#x20AC;&#x201C; providing all facilities like sewerage, laying power lines, developing roads, etc. and then offering it to the entrepreneur. This has made things far easier for entrepreneurs and is giving good results.

What are the incentives industry can expect in Himachal Pradesh that are not there in other states? Being a hill State with large reserves of water, Himachal Pradesh has several hydel power plants which afford an unlimited power

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supply that is quite cheap as compared to other states. The rates of power in Himachal Pradesh are 20 to 30 per cent lower than bordering states and this will act as a fillip to industry in the State. As such it is an ideal place for power intensive industry that requires uninterrupted power and has high consumption. We are in the process of setting up state-of-the-art industrial towns in Kangra and Solan districts for which `120 crore each has already been allocated.

How is the response of the various investor summits that the state has been organising? We have held several investor summits, the last was held in October. Several top companies, including Walmart, Tata Group and Microtek International proposed investments worth `10,000 crore in Himachal Pradesh. The meet saw more than 1400 investors participating in it and several proposals discussed for setting up industrial units to manufacture products in Himachal Pradesh. Proposals discussed including those belonging to sectors like retail, housing, defence, solar energy and healthcare.

What are the other incentives being offered to the industry? We have offered attractive incentives, concessions and facilities to attract investments in HP. The industrial and certain tourism units are entitled to 15 per cent investment subsidy on their plant and machinery. Industrial units are also getting 75 per cent freight subsidy for transportation.

What measures are being taken for ease of doing business in the State? Various government departments are coordinating to ensure high degree of ease of doing business in the State. We have set up one of the most efficient and hassle-free systems for approvals. We have started online and time bound clearance of applications. Rules have been simplified and for industry that falls in the environment-friendly category, the rule to get clearance from Pollution Control Board has been done away with. This has ensured that needless wastage of time can be checked and an environment created that is friendly to the entrepreneur.

SPECIAL FEATURE

TELANGANA

DIGITISING Rural TELANGANA ‘Real India’ lives in the villages. The flagship programme of Indian Government - Digital India cannot be realised unless the rural spaces of the country are empowered digitally. On the same lines, the Telangana Government seems to be surging in the right direction with its ambitious project ‘Digital Village’ under its initiative ‘Digital Telangana’, writes Sudheer Goutham of Elets News Network (ENN)

igital Telangana initiative is much more ambitious than that of Digital India indicate the functionaries of Telangana Government. And looking at the results of initial roll- outs, targets and outlines of the plan, the officials seem to be ‘walking the talk.’ Telangana Information Technology and Panchayat Minister KT Rama Rao, said, “Digital Telangana is aimed at enabling digital empowerment of citizens, facilitating digital infrastructure as a utility to every citizen and providing governance as well as services on demand.” Leveraging on the portfolios he is holding, KT Rama KT Rama Rao

52 egov / egov.eletsonline.com / December 2015

Rao and his team is working towards bringing the perfect sync to enable villages with the modern technologies. The Telangana Government, in its plan to improve digital literacy and providing infrastructure, is laying Optic Fibre Cable to each household using the water grid trenches to a whooping 8.5 million households. Telangana IT Secretary, Jayesh Ranjan shared, “This connectivity provides 4G services in the entire State, Wifi in major cities and towns. The ePanchayat scheme of the plan will function as a one stop shop kiosk in each Panchayat.”

SPECIAL FEATURE

Digital Telangana stands on two pillars - supply and demand. On the supply side, the goal was ‘Internet for all’ and on the demand side, it was among others, to ensure that each household had at least one member who could be termed ‘digitally-literate.’ “Taking advantage of our Government’s Drinking Water Mission programme, we will provide Internet to 8.5 million households,” said the IT Secretary. As part of the digital plans, the school computer literacy programme to teach every child from Class VI onwards the basics of computers, expansion of meeseva services are being planned by the State Government. “Our benchmarks are higher and we wish to ‘catch them young’ by having an interesting computer education from Jayesh Ranjan Class VI onwards to digitally prepare the citizens of tomorrow. And by using broadband, 4G and WiFi together, we wish to take the number of citizens’ services we offer digitally, up from the present 320 to over 400,” said Ranjan.

ePanchayats The Telangana Government has opened ‘Digital Telangana Centres’ managed by women in 100 panchayats across the State and plans to open such Centres in 1,000 others by January 2016, an initiative in which several banks and insurance firms have evinced interest. The ‘Digital Telangana Centres’ or ‘ePanchayats’ programme of the State Government, which offers eGovernance facilities to villagers, was launched on October 2 in Nalgonda district and it currently runs at 100 panchayats. And the government plans to add another 1000 such centers by next year. These Centres will be managed by women, who are trained in using computers and software to operate the ePanchayat programme. Each Centre will have PCs, laptops, printers, scanners and largesize LED TVs. `2.5 lakh is being spent on each Centre. “In Telangana, there are 8,750 gram panchayats (GPs) and our goal is to start one ‘Digital Telangana Centre’ in each panchayat. Each Centre will be managed by a local woman, who will be called the Village Level Entrepreneur (VLE). So far 100 women have been trained and they are working at 100 Centres since last month. Their performances are under assessment and we will start imparting training to another 1,000 women in the next one-to-two months, who will manage the new Centres at 1,000 panchayats,” he said. “Each ePanchayat will have these ‘Digital Telangana Centres’ where all kinds of facilities/services will be made available digitally i.e. electronically at the doorsteps of rural people,” informed the Telangana IT Secretary. “Citizen services, government services, payments of social welfare pensions and wages for rural employment, will be made available through these Centres, which will also be converted into banking and insurance centres,” he added. Already several banks which have branches in our State have agreed to convert these Centres also as their rural branches which will facilitate the account holders in the villages, who can get their banking work done at these Centres. State Bank of Hyderabad,

TELANGANA

Telangana Gramin Bank and Andhra Bank have already extended their services at the 100 Centres. Likewise, insurance firms are also coming forward to adapt these Centres into insurance centres. “Future Generali was the first insurance firm to extend its proposal to link their insurance services. The government also has plans to expand the scope of services offered by these Centres to include training for farmers and coaching for students,” said Ranjan. The LED TVs at these Centers will be leveraged by relaying the State Government’s own television channel - Mana TV. Through the channel, training programmes will be relayed for farmers at fixed slots. Similarly, coaching programmes on various examination subjects for students who are appearing for the Public Service Commission exams will also be shown. “Telangana IT department officials in the districts will impart one-week training to the selected women, who are educated women from the villages. In this way, the government plans to cover entire 8,750 GPs in a phased manner over the next two-to-three years,” informed Ranjan. The 8,750 women will be managing these ‘Digital Telangana Centres’ turning them into entrepreneurs. These women will not only be providing a very valuable community service, but they will also be improving their sources of livelihood through user fees and other revenue streams,” he added.

First Village Level Entrepreneur The Telangana Government digital literacy programme is simultaneously running with that of Government of India’s and Intel’s initiative ‘Ek Kadam Unnati Ki Aur’ meaning ‘A Step Towards Progress’. Vanga Nageshwari, the daughter of a farmer in Telangana, became the first ever head Vanga Nageshwari of Intel’s Digital India centre, under this programme. Unable to continue her studies due to the poor economic background, Nageshwari borrowed money to start a computer training institute with eight PCs at Nadimpalli village. Later she decided to convert the institute into a CSC (Common Services Centre) and began to offer Mee-Seva, or eGovernance services. Soon her efforts caught the attention of Velugu, a World Bank-supported poverty-alleviation programme, which was pooling candidates for Telangana’s ePanchayat programme. Her name was suggested by the Telangana IT department when the Intel wanted to roll out its GoI’s programme as pilot project in a village of Mahabunagar district in Telangana. She, along with her sister Nagarani, tours villages with three computers in tow. The duo spends a month in a village, making the people there digitally literate. “It is a 10-day course, but it takes time to make them understand how to use a computer and a phone to access digital services,” said Nageshwari. So far, Nageshwari has trained about 800 villagers, of whom about a quarter have passed a digital literacy exam conducted by the Centre. For every student who clears the exam, Nageshwari earns `500.

December 2015 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

AGRICULTURE

BALAJI D MANJULE

Taking Technology to Andhra Farmlands Information Technology is the need of the hour to accelerate the growth of Agriculture sector, and the Government of Andhra Pradesh is trying to leverage technology to reach out to maximum farmers to deliver services in more efficient manner, says Balaji D Manjule, Deputy Agriculture Secretary of the State, in an interview with Sudheer Goutham and Arpit Gupta of Elets News Network (ENN) How are you making the officials and farmers technology familiar that they need to use? We have distributed tabs to each field level functionaries i.e. Multipurpose Extension Officers (MPEOs) and Agriculture Officers (AOs). The officers collect all kinds of information from the farmers and update it online which can be further monitored by the higher authorities. We are getting good response from the farmers as well as the officials. It has been more than a year since we implemented it. Besides, Kisan Call Centre is also available to help the farmers. We are connected with the eFile system, which enables us to share files and information online. We are planning to link our system with the CM Dashboard soon so that the exchange of information and communication becomes faster and more transparent.

Do you feel IT can overhaul the operations in the department? IT and technology-based solutions play a vital role to improve the efficiency of all departments. Similarly, we require more and more mobile and tab applications to reach out to the farmers and mitigate their problems. Like education, health and any other sector, IT is very much needed

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in agriculture sector too. The process of monitoring the schemes through tab has been made possible in the State with the help of IT. Our field level functionaries update their daily activities online and also assist farmers learn modern technologies in agriculture. Meanwhile, the government still needs to educate the farmers so that they can reap the benefits of technology. Sooner will be the communication, faster will be the solution.

What digital initiatives have been undertaken by the Agriculture Department and how fruitful have they proved? In Agriculture Department, many technology-driven initiatives have been implemented by the Andhra Pradesh Government. One of the major initiatives includes issuance of the Soil Health Card. The state has implemented computerisation of soil test reports and communication of these reports with the farmers, along with appropriate fertiliser use recommendation, online or through mobile phones. The Soil Health Cards are being issued to the farmers based on the laboratory reports of the soil collected from their

fields. Firstly, soil samples are collected from the field and then the analytical reports are sent to the respective farmers. We have created a database of the farmers in the State to inform them about their soil health report through SMSs. As soon as the analysis is done, we shoot a message to the concerned farmer on their mobile numbers. As per the status of the soil, we also provide the solutions.

What are the other plans underway to make the Department more high-tech? We are planning to come up with a Remote Sensing Crop Booking application in the future. Remote sensing application helps monitor of both the meteorological conditions and the agronomic condition. With this, the Department will exactly know how much area is covered under what all crops. It will also provide realtime information on prevalence, severity level and persistence of agricultural drought in the State. We are vigorously working on this project. We would be able to assess the loss in the disaster, if any, and also resolve the irregularities in compensation. For better and effective planning in agriculture department, it is required.

SIDHARTH MALIK

CLOUD TECHNOLOGY

CLOUD Canopy for Global Connectivity Delivering services to large and small enterprises in India, Akamai Technologies sees the Cloud market reaching over $3 billion by next year, an almost ﬁve-fold increase from 2012. Sidharth Malik, Vice President & Managing Director, India, Akamai Technologies, in an interview with Bhawna Satsangi of Elets News Network (ENN), speaks of the grey areas that the government should focus on How can Cloud technology be put to use to improve citizen-centric services? In a country as big and diverse as India, which is still in the early stages of adopting computing technologies, Cloud Computing provides an excellent platform to foster greater collaboration and innovation for delivery of a wide array of citizen services. Using Cloud-based approaches, the government can aim to improve efficiency while delivering citizen services at the national, state and local municipal government levels which will help make a vast difference in the quality of lives of its citizens.

What are the Cloud-related services that you offer? The successful delivery of citizen services via the cloud requires a focus on both the underlying computing infrastructure (i.e., data centers) and the quality of delivering those services over the public Internet. Given the challenges in the public Internet, the right delivery platform is important to address the high user and citizen expectations. Akamai powers the hyper-connected world with a complete Cloud solution portfolio, designed to accelerate the delivery of services over the public Internet by making it fast, reliable and secure. Akamai reduces the complexity and

chaos of the connected world, keeps up the agility, and engages and delights the citizen with the most secure, high-performing user experiences anytime, anywhere, on any device.

Can you tell us about some of your Cloud technology-based deployments in India? In India, we are working with both large and small enterprises who have adopted Cloud technology. Most recently, we partnered with Pepperfry, a leading online furniture and home marketplace with over 2 million customers. Being an online retailer, they faced challenges in maintaining a consistent performance of their website at all time. Pepperfry approached us and we were able to deliver their web content 2X faster approximately 70 per cent of the time. Around 85 per cent of Pepperfry content was offloaded to Akamai’s servers which helped Pepperfry substantially save on infrastructure costs as well.

Compared to the global standards, where does India stand in terms of Cloud technology adoption? According to a recent report by Gartner, Cloud Computing will constitute the bulk of IT spending by 2016. In India alone, it is predicted that the Cloud market will reach over $3 billion by next year—an almost five-

fold increase from 2012. However, there are some barriers that are restricting the adoption: Internet connectivity in India: The connectivity in India varies across the nation and improving the connectivity would be one of the influencing factors. Security and performance concerns: Increasingly connected nations have presented new technology challenges for the government as they strive to deliver secure and fast content and applications to the citizen.

What are the grey areas, according to you, which you would like the government to focus on? There are three key areas government could look upon: Delivering services that build a greater citizen–government connect, through a citizen centric approach rather than duplicating services available from private party players. Taking the lead on, and deploying a national cyber security platform that will allow both governments and private parties to provide everyone with the required cyber security Identifying the key partners who have the experience and expertise to help in Cloud adoption. They will help governments deliver on the promise of a secure and fast digital future for the citizens of the country.

December 2015 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

SPECIAL FEATURE

SOCIAL MEDIAÂ

INDIAN RAILWAYS Riding the Tech Bandwagon Adopting a Generic Communications Platform for Effective Governance If there is one organisation in the public sphere which stands tall for its size and scale, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s unequivocally the Indian Railways. The complexity of numbers dealt by them is simply humungous and from a computational standpoint it gets intractable at times if not approached from a well thought out strategy and action plan. The recent experiment at the Indian Railways adopting Twitter as a predominant tool of interfacing with the public at large, enthused the Elets News Network (ENN) to dig a bit deeper and bring about the key learnings and outcomes of the same. Bhawna Satsangi went on to unravel the Twitter Governance at the Indian Railways

56 egov / egov.eletsonline.com / December 2015

SPECIAL FEATURE

hey say, it all lies in execution. Whatever be the technology, whatsoever be the underlying processes, it’s the implementation that counts at the end of the day. The due deployment of Twitter Governance at Indian Railways across its 16 Zones and corresponding divisions is a case in point which validates the veracity of this age-old wisdom and gives a cue to the very many struggling configurators of technology in the annals of Government departments. The General Managers across Central (@gm_crly), Eastern (@EasternRailway), East Central (@GM_ECRly), East Coast(@gmeastcoastrly), Northern (@GM_NRly), North Central (@GMNCR1), North Eastern (@gmner_gkp), North East Frontier (@gm_nfr), North Western (@GMNWRailway), Southern (@GMSRailway), South Central (@Gmscrailway), South Eastern (@GM/SERAILWAY), South East Central (@Gmsecr), South Western (@gmswr), Western (@Gmwrly) and West Central (@Gmwcrailway) Zones have got their respective twitter handles.

The Railway Minister has asked all the DRMs and GMs to have their own Twitter handles and he keeps on repeating on Twitter to tag DRMs and GMs in case of any problem A closer look would however, suggest that this account creation was an entirely distributed exercise as you can’t see an underlying pattern or uniformity of structure having a due logical recall value. This is good to see a speedy implementation and buying by all the stakeholders across the country who still struggle in technology. However, the design is a bit sub-optimal which can be plugged in by Twitter itself by providing specialized domain handles for organizations like Indian Railways. An analysis of the engagement of these twitter handles carried out on 16th of November show that 24962 people follow these81 handles which have issued some 10373 tweets. The aforesaid statistics nowhere match with those of the official twitter account @RailMinIndia which has a whopping following of over 523K and has an engagement of 5644 tweets. The zones have certainly to catch up with their ministerial counterpart. Nevertheless, it seems to be a great headstart. “In a span of one year, we have added 5 lakh 17 thousand followers to our Anil Saxena

SOCIAL MEDIA

twitter account. As a ministry we stand at second position in using social media and are trying to take it to the next level. We are using social media judiciously in many ways. We are using social media to educate our people about safety issues, trying to communicate with our stakeholders, and the railway minister has asked all the DRMs and GMs to have their own twitter handles and he keeps on repeating on twitter to tag DRMs and GMs in case of any problem,” informs Anil Saxena, Additional Director General Public Relations, Ministry of Railways (Railway Board). For the betterment of passenger services, amenities and overall management, Railways is in the forefront of leveraging technology to the optimum. Delighting India’s digital natives, Ministry of Railways have notched sizeable followings. The ministry is taking the twitter penetration to the next level. “Through this platform we are empowering our customers, at the same time discrepancies are resolved in a short span of time, we are effectively using social media because we get good feedback

East Central Zone ranks highest on the popularity index of these Twitter handles with 3,228 followers ZONE

FOLLOWERS

East Central

3228

Southern

2944

East Coast

1845

Eastern

1670

Western

1653

North Western

1647

South Western

1550

South East Central

1408

Northern

1360

North Central

1334

South Central

1290

West Central

1253

South Eastern

1193

Central

1135

North Eastern

936

Northeast Frontier

912

Statistics: Sumant Kumar Singh,

analytics

December 2015 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

SPECIAL FEATURE

SOCIAL MEDIA

North Central Zone tops the chart of engagements with 1,656 tweets ZONE

TWEETS

ZONE

TWEETS

North Central

1656

Northern

624

Southern

1448

Eastern

525

South Central

915

East Coast

367

Northeast Frontier

783

North Eastern

363

East Central

718

Central

328

North Western

709

South Western

257

Western

687

South Eastern

196

South East Central

652

West Central

145 Statistics: Sumant Kumar Singh,

A closer look would however, suggest that this account creation was an entirely distributed exercise as you can©t see an underlying pattern or uniformity of structure having a due logical recall value. This is good from a speedy implementation and buying in of all the stakeholders across the country who still struggle in technology from the people using this platform. The minister has the pulse of each and every movement in the ministry. We are using Twitter for communicating with the passengers, taking their feedback on the day today working,” adds Saxena. “This is a feedback practice. We have open twitter account to see the complaints and suggestions which is being handled by DRMs and GMs. Any information given by passengers is dealt by the highest authority in a short span of time,” informs Ved Prakash, Director, Information and Publicity, Ministry of Railways. The social media accounts of Indian Railway also contain latest updates and information such as starting of new trains, special trains, change of schedules of trains due to unforeseen circumstances, facilities being provided to the customers etc. is posted on Twitter or Facebook to make it available to its passengers on real time basis. Social awareness messages, videos etc. are also being uploaded for

58 egov / egov.eletsonline.com / December 2015

analytics

the safety and knowledge of the customers. The matrix of business is changing. Brands are conscious about the level of engagement and not the size of the audience. Public sentiment too is a winning indicator of customer acquisition. Following the mandate, the initiative run by the Indian Railways has helped the ministry in generating another source of revenue through social media. “If you satisfy the passengers’ needs, they get attracted to the services and the modes of communication. We are also highlighting campaigns through social media and help our passengers and customers to be a part of the railway business,” explains Prakash. As Raheel Khursheed, Head of News, Government and Politics, Twitter India puts in, “Twitter changes the way Indian consumers and brands connect through live, public conversations about topics that matter most to them. People come to Twitter to discover what’s happening in the world right now, to share information instantly, and to connect with people and businesses around the globe. With hundreds of millions of users and over 500 million Tweets being sent each day, Twitter has today become an ideal platform for real time conversations.” The initiative is a well meaning one spearheaded by none other than the Minister Railways himself. How far shall it go would however depend on the larger support ecosystem galvanized around this unique experiment.

SPECIAL FEATURE

SOCIAL MEDIA

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December 2015 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

SPECIAL FEATURE

SOCIAL MEDIA

Communicating for GOVERNANCE From a generic communications platform to a series of specialised adaptations like #MakeinIndia emoji and #Twitter Samvad, Twitter is evolving both in technology and usage. Raheel Khursheed, Head of News, Government and Politics, Twitter India, talks about this ensuing Twitter transformation In what all ways Twitter is being adapted for effective Communications for Governance It is interesting to note that the governments are among the first to have understood the impact of social media. With primary focus on a digitally connected India, our country’s government is very well connected with the people through Twitter today. Realising its potential, majority of the governments have integrated the social media platform in their governance plans. Digital Governance has been high on the agenda of the Modi Government since the start of his campaigning for the general elections. PM Modi launched his visionary Digital India programme on Twitter using Periscope. His ambitious campaigns like #MakeInIndia, #SwachBharat, #MannKiBaat and #SefieWithDaughter are some examples of how the Prime Minister has used Twitter to reach and connect with the citizens for development and progress. Available in more than 35 languages, Twitter has more than 320 million monthly active users. India was the fastest growing market for us in 2014. In the last one year, we have seen a number of interesting engagements and moments on Twitter, for instance PM Modi’s (@narendramodi) ‘Selfie with Daughter campaign’, Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj (@

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SushmaSwaraj) when during the Yemen crisis used Twitter to help a mother and her 8-month-old son. These are some examples of how the platform is connecting communities across the world and how the power of social media is being utilised to its best.

What all new features has Twitter introduced for Government of India initiatives? Twitter continues to play the role of central conversation platform when it comes to politics and elections in India. Governments increasing engagement on Twitter is very evident from the recent Bihar election campaigns on the platform (#BiharElections, #BiharResults). These elections showcased how Twitter provides front row access to unfolding conversations. With 1.2 million Tweets over the election month, Twitter proved to be the place to see the breaking news, to discuss a diverse range of topics, and to watch the political heat wave rise as the campaigns unfolded. Recently, PM Narendra Modi’s umbrella initiative #MakeInIndia, one of the largest economic development initiatives planned by the government, became the first non-US brand to launch its own Twitter emoji to a worldwide audience. The #MakeInIndia emoji symbolises the

success of the brand campaign on Twitter with nearly 500 million impressions this year to promote India as a great place for foreign direct investment to transform the country into a global manufacturing hub. In March last year, we started working with the government’s Digital India initiative through a service we call Twitter Samvad that enables any Indian with a mobile device to receive real-time information from their political leaders and government organisations. A simple missed call to an assigned phone number for each government partner means you will be able to receive each Tweet from the partner as an SMS, even if you are offline.

What differentiates Twitter from other Social Media Platforms? At Twitter, our mission is to give everyone the power to create and share ideas and information instantly, without barriers. We’ve seen growing momentum from brands and agencies to use Twitter to connect with their audiences in realtime for major events as well as everyday moments in India. By including ‘Twitter for Business’, the platform has enabled brands to leverage both its strategic limits and new features to drive campaigns and regular conversations.

WRITE TO US: info@orangesmartcity.com

WEBSITE: www.orangesmartcity.com

EVENT REPORT

CLOUDGOV 2015

2nd CloudGov Summit 2015

Game on Cloud

Changing the

Cloud technology has revolutionised the way governments reach out and take their services to the masses, and businesses across the world park their data online in a shared but secure environment and zero in on their target audience using data analytics. And what’s more, all this can be achieved without making much investment. Unlike previously, now there is no need for heavy investment in infrastructure to enjoy the benefits of Cloud Computing. Also, the technology has facilitated the pace and scale of communication like never before. In the Indian context, Cloud Computing becomes all the more significant as the country treads the path of Digital India. The government has undertaken several initiatives and is consistently trying to find the ways on how best Cloud Computing can be used for ensuring better delivery of citizen-centric services. With a view to shed light on and recognise the various landmark initiatives of the government as well as outstanding contributions by the private players, Elets Technomedia organised the“2nd CloudGov Summit 2015” recently at Le Meridien, New Delhi. The summit saw key stakeholders in various spheres of Cloud Computing— Cloud & Virtualisation, Big Data and Analytics, Security, Disaster Management, Internet of Things, mGovernance, Cloud for BFSI sector, etc—deliberating on the technology and suggesting ways to exploit its full potential to the advantage of masses. We reproduce the speeches delivered by the key speakers in a nutshell here.

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CLOUDGOV 2015

EVENT REPORT

Cloud for Good Governance Challenges & Opportunities - The Road Ahead Hitting the Cloud

NEETA VERMA Deputy Director General and Head – Data Centres and Web Services, National Informatics Centre (NIC), Government of India Each one of us understands the potential of the Cloud and how it can benefit people at large. The government also understands and appreciates the technology, and it is also making use of Cloud in a big way. We, at NIC, have been operating data centres since 2002, though we officially started using Cloud about a year ago. In terms of technologies, which enable the Cloud, including virtualisation, was there with us for quite some time. We adopted virtualisation in 2008, and started implementing the same for all examination results for the children using shared infrastructure. All the online counselling, whether the children go for admission to professional courses, including engineering, medical and management courses, are also being done through a kind of virtualisation. In a way, the preparedness for technology and its understanding had been there. In February 2014, following an initiative of the Government of India, the Meghraj policy was launched by our department. We officially launched the first National Cloud under the Meghraj policy on cloud.gov.in platform. We have slight edge over the normal Cloud technology providers, because when we make any virtual machine on the Cloud, and before that machine goes into production, it has to comply with all security guidelines. Security to a certain extent is assured when a person starts using services on the Cloud.

Edging out the traditional

UPENDER JIT SINGH Managing Director, West Bengal Electronics Industry Development Corporation Limited (Webel) Cloud Computing is the biggest wave sweeping the industry. It’s going to change the whole dynamics of how business is done by various IT companies. If you look at the traditional way of applications being implemented on-site and customers’ premises, the challenges are that when the software goes obsolete, it needs to be updated at high costs. Likewise, there are numerous other challenges related to hardware. But Cloud Computing provides new services via delivery models. It offers integration, automation management, problem resolution and security management facilities in a cost-effective way, based on actual usage. So, in terms of characteristics, the various heterogeneous systems and applications can utilise the strength of different platforms and software components, modifiability (important, as modifications need to be carried out every now and then) in a short time, scalability to handle many clients, integrated data access, et al. The data can be accessed from several sources. So, various types of eGov applications—administration, control monitoring and distribution for G2G services, tenders, contract management, commercial taxes and eProcurement, for G2B services; and registration, land records, revenue services, health and agriculture services, etc., under G2C services category—can be operated through this technology. Moreover, Cloud architecture is based on service-oriented architecture principle. eGovernance applications face data outburst and Cloud Computing can be scaled better. It can also support eGovernance for providing efficient management of disaster recovery.

December 2015 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

EVENT REPORT

CLOUDGOV 2015

Look before you leap

CHERIYAN MATHEW Practice Head, Dimension Data India Ltd

There are certain parameters that one needs to look into before choosing Cloud services, and when there is a Cloud platform to be hosted, there are five or six major parameters which need to be considered and analysed, based on the NIST Cloud Computing standards. Firstly, it has to offer the service one requires. Secondly, one should be able to pay charges for the Cloud platform based on actual usage. Thirdly, it has to be scalable and elastic, as the biggest advantage of the Cloud platform is that it is scalable and asks one to build own applications, business, citizen-engagement, etc. The fourth point of consideration is that it has to be shared, or else one would not be able to utilise the platform on a broad network. It has to be available to varied forms of connectivity. Moreover, Cloud brings in an automation platform monitoring what all people do there or what an administrator usually does with the help of a software. The automation of data is what exactly the Cloud is all about despite being in a shared environment, so that one gets cost-effectiveness, scalability and sharing on network facility in the least possible time using automation.

BSNL, the ICT services provider

R P SHARMA Senior General Manager - FBI, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited

64 egov / egov.eletsonline.com / December 2015

The benefits of Cloud Computing can reach the masses only when we have proper connectivity within organisations, and here lies our strength. We, at BSNL, are actually present in every nook and corner of the country and connecting Cloud with various organisations. We are the leaders in landline as well as broadband connectivity. Also, we are working closely with the National Informatics Centre (NIC) in extending their applications across the country. We feel the Digital India dream can be realised only after proper integration of the Cloud platform with the customers through robust connectivity channels. For extending these services, we have also got a strong Multi-protocol Label Switching (MPLS) network, which is required for connecting different institutions across the country. At present, we already have around one lakh customers on our MPLS network. All the government organisations and even the banking system are totally working on our MPLS network and we are further strengthening it through large-scale expansion. Looking at the requirement of the country, the MPLS network is being doubled. Another strength of BSNL is that we have the largest optical fibre network in the country. BSNL was largely known as the telecom service provider for the landline services only. We are now transforming it into an ICT services provider and adding more services. For this, we have joined hands with Dimension Data, who are a proven global leader in Cloud Computing in the data centre business.

CLOUDGOV 2015

EVENT REPORT

Securing Cloud Infrastructure Data security a major concern

Easy to create, easier to use

ANUBHAV TYAGI Senior Solution Specialist - India and SAARC, Gemalto There is a lack of clarity about the security aspect of the Cloud technology. People in general are not sure whether their data would be secure if they adopt the services on Cloud. We have lost over two billion records since 2014. Also, we are spending about USD 80 billion under the head of security spend. So, something different needs to be done if we want that number to be at lower level. Benefits of Cloud are being realised these days. However, all these benefits are driven by sharing, which means that we need to have our information on the Cloud. So, when we talk about sharing, we almost lose control over our data, and that is where security and compliance come into picture. In other words, when we avail services from the Cloud, security and compliance become important. The security and compliance concerns emerge from a situation where the technology lacks in visibility, control over data, risk of data breach, etc. So, we need to understand how we maintain the ownership and control of our information. Last but not the least, whatever data instances are there in the Cloud, are they secure? If not, how can they be provided the security cover? A major solution being used in most of the data centres is encryption. At Gemalto, we comply with the security policies and we can know the access history of the data. The hardware security module can also be used. If you want to share something and then you want to un-share it, encryption is the key technology.

S B SINGH Deputy Director General, National Informatics Centre, Government of India Most of the communications are happening through Cloud today. If you want to secure your data or any application or your infrastructure, it has to happen at three levels: network, data centre and servers. All applications of the Government of India today are hosted on the Cloud and the public feels safe and secure. NIC has the experience of managing the data. We have been a leader in automation and most of the government services, being offered either through private sector or by NIC, have been hosted in our Cloud only. The Government has come up with an order that no manual records will be maintained. For the past 10-15 years, everything has been hosted on Cloud—from Government’s budget to finance data—and we are not finding any problem in storing data on it. For the Digital India programme, digitisation of the records was done through Cloud sources and it was hosted on the NIC Cloud. It is so easy to create the Cloud environment and even easier to use. It is so very easy to build an application and move the same to some other environment, or to create one’s own environment. NIC is shifting from data centre to Cloud environment, which will take some time. Meghraj came very fast, because we had the expertise. NIC has created an environment and Meghraj is the model for the country, it is the most secure Cloud environment — easy to operate, easy to set up.

December 2015 / egov.eletsonline.com / egov

EVENT REPORT

CLOUDGOV 2015

Special Presentation Rajasthan exploits Cloud power

TARUN YADAV Joint Commissioner, Department of Information Technology, Government of Rajasthan We have established two data centres in our State â&#x20AC;&#x201C; one was established 10 years back and the other is currently being set up. We are going to plant various technologies in Cloud Computing. We have recently started Cloud architecture in our State data centre. Most of our projects are for eGovernance, one of the prominent ones being eMitra in Rajasthan. We are planning to connect it with Cloud, for which we are in talks with the Government of India. We are using several models in our State data centre for Cloud storage. Another project in our scheme of things is land records modernisation programme. In the Cloud Computing technology, there are different Cloud Computing layers, application services, application platforms, server platforms, HTML platforms, etc. In virtual workspaces, execution environment can be dynamically available to authorised clients through the use of well-defined protocols. Cloud storage is gaining importance these days. Several large web companies are also exploiting the fact that they have data-storage capacity that can be hired by others. The use of Cloud provides a number of opportunities and the advantages include low computer cost and improved performance, among others.

66 egov / egov.eletsonline.com / December 2015

IoT & Cloud Computing Is it the Future? Cloud for better passport services

GOLOK KUMAR SIMLI Principal Consultant and Head - Technology, PMU - Passport Seva Project, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India Passport service is one of the services where we have seen wonders taking place. Given the way we are handling our data analytics, we visualise almost 25-30 per cent increase in volumes every year. And, if that is the growth rate, in another five to seven years, we will probably hold the number one rank in issuing passports and the volume could be around 15 million per annum. If this is the volume growth we are talking about, it is hardly 10 per cent of the overall population. Now, talking about 20 per cent of the population, the kind of scalability we are looking at in view of the demand, the traditional data centre is not going to help. In such a scenario, we need a platform like Meghraj, where we can connect instantaneously to a scalable platform. This year, in Uttar Pradesh alone, we came across 40 per cent increase in demand. Now, whatever planning you do, it simply goes haywire. So, it is essential to have a platform in the government, where you can have an on-demand connectivity to address problems and the applications. On one side, we came up with these traditional data centres, and on the other side, we need to come up with an infrastructure, which is scalable on demand, so that any government department, Central Government or State Government, can enjoy the benefits of a scalable platform. Going forward, we will see that man-tomachine communications are going to decrease. We will see more of machine-to-machine communication happening, for which there will be requirement of the Cloud environment.

RNI NO - UPENG\2008\25234

UP/GBD - 71/2015/2017