Of
2019
Leveraging the Trinity of AUTOMATION – ANALYTICS – ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE towards Autonomous Governance
A
1
BEST OF TECH, 2019
Initiative
Of
2019 Leveraging the Trinity of Automation – Analytics – Artificial Intelligence towards Autonomous Governance
A
Initiative
Best of Tech, 2019 Coeus Age Š Copyright 2019 Coeus Age Consulting LLP All rights reserved. No part of this report shall be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without a written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Rs. 15000/- + GST
4
BEST OF TECH, 2019
OUR SINCERE THANKS TO
5
BEST OF TECH, 2019
DISCOVERING THE BEST OF DIGITAL LEADERSHIP I TECHNOLOGY I PERFORMANCE
6
BEST OF TECH, 2019
TM
DIGITAL
STATES OF INDIA
10
PREFACE Let’s Come Together to Build an Autonomous World
12
9 PREDICTIONS FOR 2019 The Trinity Of Automation - Analytics -Artificial Intelligence Is Setting In The Government Sector
17
GEMS OF DIGITAL THOUGHT LEADER Nurturing the Idea of an ‘Autonomous Government’ Autonomous IT Infrastructure for an Autonomous Government Embracing Non-Linearity: Moving Beyond ‘Business as Usual New Design Approach for New India – Reaching out to the Citizens Artificial Intelligence Will Prove to be the Game Changer Building Narrowly Focussed and Clearly Defined AI Use Cases Data and Analytics Should be Placed in the Hands of Everyone Analytics on top of PFMS Automation – Providing Real Time Visibility
‘Cloud First’ is Real – 360 Degrees Automation Is the Way to GO
29
THE ROAD AHEAD The Trinity of Automation – Analytics – Artificial Intelligence: Towards Autonomous Governance
Tech Waves in Government and Enterprise – A Comparison Envisioning the Future Model of IT in Government The Data First Paradigm – Shifting from Edge to the Center Five Essentials for Moving Ahead Principal Analyst 7
BEST OF TECH, 2019
T
echnology has been often leveraged to make governments more efficient and effective. There has been an increasing focus on the use of information and communication technology in delivery of services to citizens, close to home.
The ICT infrastructure setup under Digital India program has connected millions of Indians in smaller towns and villages of India and enabled them to leverage the power of technology to pursue their dreams. Though we have come a long way in making digital solutions accessible to billions of Indians, there is still a lot to be done. Language and literacy continue to be the barriers for many.
The approach so far, has been gradual and linear from centre to states to districts to talukas to citizens. The onset of Digital India program has brought in a paradigm shift by adopting a more ‘direct to citizens’ approach. Today citizens can connect to governments directly, funds can be transferred to beneficiaries directly, and services can be delivered directly to citizens on their mobiles. The availability of cloud computing infrastructure, mobility, and connectivity has enabled Digital India solutions to be platform centric and inclusive in nature.
Artificial intelligence and analytics are going to be key contributors to design of digital solutions of the next decade. Technologies like machine learning, voice interfaces, language translation, and speech recognition can help build a new generation of solutions. These solutions will not only help overcome barriers of language and literacy but also deliver an altogether new experience. Dr. Neeta Verma, Director General, NIC
9
BEST OF TECH, 2019
PREFACE
Let’s Come Together to Build an Autonomous World
10
BEST OF TECH, 2019
T
he world of technology is becoming interesting with
real. The future is going to be that of Hybrid IT and that of
each passing day. The emergence of data as a potent
seamlessly connected IT infrastructure belonging to multiple
source of competitive advantage and value is clearly
generations and from multiple suppliers, the real game will
becoming prominent. Do you know that 90% of the data
be defined by the degree of autonomy with which it can be
present today has been produced in the past 2 years alone?
managed effectively.
Variety of data, in volumes and coming at high velocity contains hidden patterns, meanings and insights that are
This journey towards building an autonomous world can
next to impossible for a normal human brain to handle.
be extremely frustrating if undertaken alone. The speed at
Hence, machine is coming to our rescue.
which new technologies are coming into the mainstream, disrupting the status quo and providing strategic advantage
With the earlier wave of digital represented by SMAC
to those prepared, is mind boggling. Coming together to
becoming mainstream today, a new wave that is capable of
learn is the way to make it interesting and meaningful.
handling volume, variety and velocity of data is fast evolving. Made up of a set of complementary technologies like Artificial
The Best of Tech aims at making the collaboration possible by
Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Natural Language
researching the latest developments and setting a discourse
Processing (NLP), Internet of Things (IoT), and Blockchain,
on the possible ways to deal successfully with them. I am
the new wave is opening plethora of opportunities to
extremely delighted to present this documentation of our
meaningfully exploit the data, both for designing innovative
learnings and that of the perspectives of technology experts.
products and services, as well as for gaining efficiency and
I am sure this will go a long way in defining a collaborative
effectiveness in their delivery.
framework that enables learning together.
While enterprises and governments are pulling their socks
I take this opportunity to thank all the thought leaders who
up for harnessing the data deluge, the core infrastructure
have given their valuable inputs into out research. I also
technologies are also evolving to support the drive. Hyper
thank Micro Focus and Tableau for their support, without
converged infrastructure, micro services, containerisation
which it could not have been possible.
and DevOps, all represent new tech aimed at providing speed, agility, and efficiency. By exploiting the power of
Dr. Kapil Dev Singh,
AI/ ML to manage the core infrastructure and applications,
CEO, Coues Age
autonomous IT services management is also becoming
11
BEST OF TECH, 2019
9 Predictions for 2019
The Trinity of
AUTOMATION - ANALYTICS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE is setting in the Government Sector A Coeus Age Research Analysis
12
BEST OF TECH, 2019
44%
71%
20%
BEST OF TECH, 2019
13
4% 2%
4%
2% 4%
CHANGE/ CAPACITY BUILDING
MODERNIZING INFRASTRUCTURE
ENSURING SECURITY/ BCDR
DESIGNING NEW MOBILE APPS
INVOLVING START UPS
0%
2%
DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES (SMAC+) – EVOLUTIONARY JOURNEY
39%
39%
20%
2%
FLIRTING
BUILDING
CONVERGING
TRANSFORMING
2%
INDUSTRY INTERFACING
2%
ROBOTICS PROCESS AUTOMATION 2%
NEW ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE
TOP PRIORITY
UNIFIED STORAGE/ SAN/ NAS 7%
4%
4%
END USER COMPUTING MANAGEMENT 10%
4%
7%
CONVERGED INFRASTRUCTURE SOLUTIONS 10%
STANDARDISING TECHNOLOGY/ DATA
13%
NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING 10%
9%
7%
CHAT BOTS/ VIRTUAL ASSISTANT/ VIRTUAL REALITY 12%
ANALYZING AVAILABLE DATA
9%
7%
SOCIAL MEDIA 12%
CITIZENS EXPERIENCE
11% 7%
HYBRID IT MANAGEMENT 15%
CITIZENS OUTREACH
2% 2%
BLOCKCHAIN 17%
MODERNIZING APPLICATIONS
11% 16%
MACHINE LEARNING/ COGNITIVE COMPUTING 17%
APPLICATIONS/ DATA INTEGRATION
13% 7%
VIRTUALIZATION/ STORAGE VIRTUALIZATION
EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES
16% 4%
DATA BACK-UP SOLUTIONS/ BCDR 22%
MIDDLEWARE/ APPLICATIONS INTEGRATION/ DATA INTEGRATION 27%
INFRASTRUCTURE OVERHAUL/ MODERNIZATION 27%
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE 27%
OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY
11%
INTERNET OF THINGS/ MACHINE TO MACHINE/ SENSOR BASED SOLUTIONS 27%
MOBILITY/ MOBILE SOLUTIONS/ MOBILE APPS 27%
APPLICATIONS OVERHAUL/ MODERNIZATION 41%
CLOUD
ANALYTICS/ BIG DATA/ DATA PRESENTATION/ DASHBOARDS 11%
TOP 2 PRIORITIES FOR 2019 2ND TOP PRIORITY
2%
0%
TECHNOLOGIES PLANNING TO ADOPT IN 2019
C I.
oeus Age research analysis is based upon a
Even after the feeder routes are made i.e. the smaller
holistic approach of triangulating three sources
pebbles are in place, very micro processes may remain
of information –
manual. E.g. a leave is approved by manually clicking. Many of these are rule based decisions, that can be
Survey of 52 tech leaders across governance
automated. These are like the route one takes from
multiple domains
home to reach the feeder route, often involving decision
II.
making on the mode of travel and which route to take.
Expert perspective of 12 senior government
tech leaders and
These are the sand grains, very minute yet multiple such
III.
processes. In this category Robotics Process Automation
Coeus Age repository of past research
or RPA will gain traction over time. The private sector By analysing the data from the survey with the backdrop
has already started embracing RPA in a big way where
of qualitative explanations from the experts and case
micro processes are being automated.
studies of 92 Gems of Digital India that Coeus Age had identified over the past 2 years, our analysts have
And finally, the water that binds all together. It represents
9 key predictions for 2019. Each prediction covers an
automating the minutest to the largest processes within
important aspect of technology.
and across domains, overlaying a digital fabric that connects people, data, processes and things in a unified
We present our holistic analysis in the form of 9
architecture. The tight binding makes it a cohesive and
predictions for 2019.
one system.
1. Focus on basic automation shall intensify
The data from 52 tech leaders clearly indicate that focus
Automation is a never-ending process. It follows the
on automation will only intensify in 2019. A significant
proverbial ‘big rocks – small pebbles – sand grains –
percentage of them indicate ‘operational efficiency’ by
water’ in a crucible metaphor as it unfolds over time.
automation as a top priority for 2019. This automation
The first focus of automation is always on the ‘big rocks’
drive will continue in both the cases – one where some
or the large applications that automates the bigger
work has already been done and two where it is yet to
processes. E.g. ERP or a Supply Chain Management
begin. In the former case the breadth shall increase
application are the bigger rocks. They are like the
whereas for the later it will be new start.
highways that connects two well defined points. 2. Cross domain integration shall gain stronger Despite the large applications, a lot may remain
traction
manual. Taking the highway analogy further, one
Data also clearly suggests that within and cross domain
still needs a feeder route to reach the highway. Many
integration between the islands of automation will also
smaller processes may remain manual before the large
gain traction in 2019. One out of four respondents
application is reached. E.g. a list is manually checked for
have clearly stated ‘application/ data integration’ as top
errors before it is uploaded for payroll to be processed.
priorities for 2019. These are domains where substantial
Many would remember the manual interventions to
automation (of the large rocks variety) has taken place
connect two processes. These feeder routes or smaller
and they are now looking at building bridges between
process automation are like the smaller pebbles. They
applications, either within domain or even across
sometimes also connect two highways, i.e. processes
domain (the pebbles and even sand grain variety).
that integrates two larger processes.
14
BEST OF TECH, 2019
3. Citizen experience will get its due consideration, yet
reveals a very interesting insight, data analytics is the next
the actions may remain limited
big thing, yet it’s not high on priority and most of the efforts
While there are increasing efforts to reach out to citizens
may be flirting in nature. In the more matured domains,
in the far-flung areas, the more matured domains have
it may also be building (39%) the pillar in isolation. The
also started thinking of citizens’ experience. So far, any
analysis suggests that analytics will be a high interest
form of interface would have done, but the realisation
topic in 2019, yet most of it will be flirting in small ways
that citizens are exposed to much better stuff in their day
or building it in isolation. This however also suggests that
to day use of digital, a more user friendly, aesthetically
more and more tech leaders will explore analytics, publish
better and integrated backward for effective and efficient
basic versions of data and learn the ropes before it can
delivery interface is being envisaged. Though limited
become mainstream.
to better web site design with standard look and feel, the focus on citizens’ experience will only become more
6. Artificial Intelligence will see green shoots, but may
intense with time. We believe the construct will emerge
not gain momentum
as an important issue and sporadic activities will also be
The logical step beyond automation and analytics is to
undertaken in 2019, the real work shall happen in the
build artificial intelligence, something that will be high on
coming years only.
hype in 2019. The hype will lead to activities to understand the technology domain, identify use cases that are high
4. The first wave of digital shall gain further ground,
on readiness and take baby steps by showing the power
especially mobility and cloud
of AI through building POCs. In short evangelising for AI
There are two distinct waves of digital visible today, a
will rule in 2019. It may take some time before it is broad
relatively more mainstream SMAC wave (social media,
based and deep in terms of its adoption. The first stop with
mobility, analytics and cloud) and a new and emerging
respect to AI will be chatbots that will provide a human like
AI/ ML/ IoT wave. Within the first wave mobility and cloud
experience to the citizens looking for information. Though
have gained good momentum as relative to analytics and
voice bots that support citizen queries/ grievances in their
social media. While analytics is high on adoption priority as
own language will be conceived and talked about, it will
discussed later, cloud is slated to gain good ground in 2019
take a while before they become real.
(44% respondents see it as one of the top 2 priorities). 7. The recursive cycle of automation – analytics – artificial A multi cloud scenario, a hybrid of private and public cloud,
intelligence will kick in, yet their play will largely remain
will take roots. This is evident from 15% of respondents
discrete
stating Hybrid IT management as a priority for 2019. A
The trio of automation, analytics and artificial intelligence
hybrid cloud is a reality and what is critical amid this reality
will evolve in cycles. In each cycle, the relationship between
is the ability to manage the multi cloud environment for
the three essential aspects will also evolve. In the initial
a seamless data play and user experience. Many of the
cycles, the trio will remain mostly isolated with a clear
new technologies like hyper converged infrastructure,
distinction between them. But as they evolve over the later
micro services, containerization and use of AI/ ML is IT
cycles, the distinction shall give way to a more cohesive
management are evolving to support an environment
and converged play.
that is built for speed, agility, reliability, experience and security. Though in 2019, it may not see huge traction,
In the first cycle, automation will playout at the level of
green shoots have started emerging and it will get firmer
the larger applications and smaller applications that build
over time.
a bridge between them (the rock and pebbles metaphor), analytics will be mostly about data presentation regarding
5. Analytics is emerging as the next stop, though focus
key parameters and AI will be restricted to providing POCs
may remain shallow
in select use cases.
Let’s triangulate three pieces of data – data analysis as a top priority (11%), analytics as a technology focus (71%)
Later, at a more advanced cycle, the distinction between
and 39% flirting with emerging technologies (SMAC+). It
automation, analytics and AI will become blurred and a
15
BEST OF TECH, 2019
smart entity will be born that thrives on autonomy at a
9. Focus on crowd sourcing and GovTech start-ups will
systemic level, automation that is driven by intelligence
remain marginal
and requires minimal human intervention. Humans will
Though industry role in eGovernance is present, it is
play their role mostly in designing the system and periodic
largely restricted to large product and service providers.
recalibration to train the system on the latest data. It’s a
These are larger rocks, but as the focus moves beyond
grand vision, a reality that will unfold over time.
the larger rocks towards smaller grains of sand and water, a highly effective mechanism to interface and
8. Amid slow-paced search for a new enterprise
collaborate with large number of GovTech start-ups and
architecture, ground softening shall happen
smaller players must evolve. The data does not suggest a
The need is latent, the voices in favour are few and feeble,
high level of focus in 2019 on this aspect, something that
yet it is being stated by one out of 10 respondents as a
must be developed as we progress ahead. Government
priority for 2019. Enterprise Architecture is a subject that is
has the might, but it alone cannot build a large and
not taken up every year. It’s a transformative step, when a
cohesive ecosystem of interrelated domains that thrive
new blueprint to cope with the demands on one hand and
on continuous innovation, a paradigm that thrives on data
make way for better assimilation of emerging technologies
and data driven services. There are isolated activities like
on the other becomes a necessity. What one must also
Hackathon where start-ups work on government data for
note, alongside the big bang redesigning of the enterprise
designing innovative services or Digitize India Platform
architecture, are the relatively smaller yet quite relevant
and MyGov that leverages crowd souring of efforts and
and complimentary steps of standardizing technology
ideas, but it will require a much more integrated and well-
and data, modernizing applications and infrastructure
choreographed play for providing an effective outreach to
and capacity building. It’s the time to reimagine the core
the GovTech start-ups.
IT platform for a new blueprint to emerge over time.
16
BEST OF TECH, 2019
TM
Gems of Digital
Thought Leader
17
BEST OF TECH, 2019
Nurturing the Idea of an ‘Autonomous Government’ Shri Golok Kumar Simli, Principal Consultant and CTO, Passport Seva Project, Ministry of External Affairs
P
assport Seva Project and Madad are two high
deploying world class transformational initiatives in the
impact initiatives of the Ministry of External affairs,
passport and consular services domains, there are three
Government of India. The core applications,
essential requirements for building an autonomous
process reengineering, and successful deployment has
system.
been achieved for both. We are now taking a series of incremental refinements like cross domain integration,
1. Everything Automated, especially on Mobile for anytime,
reduction in scope of paper use, geo spread and
anywhere transaction and information consumption
simplification of usage.
2. Ubiquitous Analytics for real time insights into process and system behaviour, the analytics engine
Even after doing so much, we are continuously
is embedded into the process engine instead of being
challenging ourselves by posing the question ‘what next?’.
separate
There is no end point in a technology driven initiative,
3. Artificially Intelligent for system to learn and automate
eGovernance is no exception. We believe the next leap
routine decision making, throw exceptions without fail
could be building a system that is capable of not only
and highlight hidden parameters that are relevant for
maintaining but also learning and evolving itself, without
decision making
much human interference, in an autonomous manner. It may be conceptualized as having the capability to learn
By focussing on the trio of Automation, Analytics and AI,
patterns and auto-correct, trigger exceptions and enable
an intelligent and autonomous governance system that
humans for taking key decisions. It is not only smart, and
spans across people and processes can be created. Such
intelligent but also reliable and secure.
systems will be needed in future and it is quite possible to build one.
What will it take to build such an autonomous system? Well, based upon our experience of designing and
18
BEST OF TECH, 2019
Autonomous IT Infrastructure for an Autonomous Government Shri Saurabh Saxena, Country Director, Micro Focus India
B
usiness
are
1. Simplify the existing IT infrastructure and applications
struggling to cope with the relentless speed of
2. Modernize the legacy applications and account for
change.
Enterprises Though
and
Governments
information
technology
has
cloud-native ones
helped them in the past in becoming more efficient and
3. Improve
effective, the pace of emergence of digital technologies
software
development
and
delivery
mechanisms and processes
is continually putting pressure on their IT infrastructure
4. Enhance
and services management. Competing agendas, like
the
cybersecurity
posture
across
all
processes, and
speed and security, need to be addressed together. It’s
5. Generate adequate insights about business operations
like juggling many balls together and do so adeptly. The
for efficiency as well as discovery of newer business
traditional designs and methods of managing the IT
models
infrastructure and services are becoming irrelevant in meeting the growing and competing demands on IT.
With an extensive suite of applications developed internally, and through acquisitions (most notable of
Hybrid IT has become the new reality. It is disrupting
which was the merger of the Hewlett Packard Enterprise
many processes in IT organizations and contributing to
[HPE] Software business in 2017), Micro Focus envisions
its complexity – it brings with it a complex combination
to serve organizations in four distinct areas: Enterprise
of traditional and cloud computing, along with IoT and
DevOps, Hybrid IT management (including IT operations,
edge computing. To enable the disparate entities work
and cloud management), Security, Risk and Governance,
in tandem and seamlessly with each other, organizations
and Predictive Analytics.
have to take a holistic, analytics-driven approach. They have to master hybrid IT with new agility—bridging traditional
and
transformational
IT
services
•
Enterprise
DevOps—Build
and
deliver
better
from
software faster: To win the race to innovate requires
mainframe to mobile, from corporate to cloud while
a high-speed approach and our solutions in this field
securing what matters most – i.e, identities, applications,
unleashes the power of DevOps across the hybrid IT
and data.
landscape, quickly bringing innovative ideas to life at the pace of business to securely deliver high quality
That’s the biggest challenge the tech leaders are
software and services faster and smoother.
facing today, for which a digital transformation drive is undertaken by many. What they need is an automated
•
Hybrid IT Management — Run and transform:
and simplified IT Infrastructure and services management
Information technology is evolving at a very fast pace
platform that can help them meet the big ask. There are
– that include IT Infrastructure, services and even
five key technology imperatives that such platform must
purchasing models. Maximizing business value and
help the tech leaders achieve -
accelerating outcomes provokes enterprises to find
19
BEST OF TECH, 2019
new ways to extend existing investments and take
•
•
Security,
Risk,
and
Governance—Secure
what
advantage of new platforms – from containers to public
matters the most: With the rise in technology usage
clouds to IoT. We, at Micro Focus help organizations
and data security – as a major concern, cyberthreats
run ITOps at the speed of DevOps, delivering services
have escalated at an exponential level. Aging apps
on demand and generating operational and business
and processes (along with new ones) are full of
insights, all while helping corporates address
unforeseen risks and privacy and compliance
security, compliance and governance requirements.
requirements are mounting too. Micro Focus
OpsBridge, our IOps platform, is the world’s first
provides the industry’s broadest set of integrated
containerized, service-oriented, and autonomous
security, risk, and governance solutions, with an
monitoring solution that is enterprise-grade, highly
analytics-driven approach to securing what matters
scalable, and comprehensive.
most – identities, applications and data.
Predictive Analytics—Analyze in time to act: Data
By delivering a complete set of customized solutions
lakes can be valuable only if businesses can surface
that can be integrated together and with existing legacy
the insights hidden within its depths. Micro Focus
systems, we have differentiated ourselves by constantly
helps leverage ML to transform unlimited and
matching the current and future reality of Enterprise IT.
huge amount of data into accurate, actionable and
The breadth of the portfolio, depth of enabling analytics
automated insights at the speed of any business.
and proven ability to protect the organization’s most
It helps corporates to be in a position to make
important assets gives customers the confidence they
predictions and influence business outcomes quickly
need to transform their business rapidly on their own
and efficiently with comprehensive and relevant real-
terms and conditions. At the end, it’s all about greater
time intelligence.
speed and flexibility with lower overall risk, in short meeting competing demands adeptly.
20
BEST OF TECH, 2019
Embracing Non-Linearity: Moving Beyond ‘Business as Usual’ Shri Vishnu Chandra, DDG, NIC
1. Breaking the Walls of Data Siloes– AI, ML, Big Data Analytics are forcing government entities to standardize the data for it be uniformly understood across application domains. Take for example, in an outreach drive in the MSME sector, we found variety of industry classifications by different government departments. Nothing much
T
can be done without building a common or standard classification
he world is moving beyond simple and linear automation
across
the
concerned
departments/
ministries/ stakeholders. The problem is present in
required for carrying out basic transactions. A more
almost all the initiatives that involve multiple entities
complex, non-linear and converged world driven by
to provide a unified and converged service to the end
data is taking shape. And it is happening quite rapidly. The
users.
need of the hour is to build a holistic approach towards
2. Conceptualizing Capacity as an Integral Part – It is
creating a system where even smaller events can lead to
almost an established fact that IT teams alone cannot
bigger implications. New wave of digital can do that and if
drive eGovernance. It may have a bigger role in defining
not exploited in the right way, that will be a gross waste of its
guidelines, driving adherence and ensuring security of
potential.
data. But beyond that a more open approach to handle and analyse data and drive micro services for the citizens
Government is not immune to this new reality that is disrupting
may be required. Let me elaborate upon one area, that
the ‘business as usual’ approach and forcing policy makers
of capacity building. Technology can help in capturing
to come to terms with it. New technologies like Artificial
the tacit knowledge of process owners, both government
Intelligence and Machine Learning are exposing the areas of
and non-government, which may be used meaningfully.
unpreparedness in exploiting data meaningfully and steering
Conceptualizing capacity as separate structures of
us towards a more contemporary and nonlinear version of
consultants may be relevant as a add on approach in the
eGovernance. The realization may be latent as of now, but
‘business as usual’ linear thinking, but it must become
it will dawn upon us very fast. That’s the way the world is
an integral part of the core governance structures in
evolving today. We need to be ready when that happens and
the nonlinear reality that is emerging. How can that be
the time for preparing ourselves is NOW.
done? Can platform-thinking help in encoding policy and processes as integral parts ensuring adherence
The new paradigm makes it quite imperative to build a data
and security yet involving all. Without taking a holistic
layer that can be enhanced by using cloud computing, is
approach, government may always lag the technology
amenable for broader and deeper analytics, and can drive
curve, losing the potential for better governance.
micro services in the form of apps. In the current scheme
3. Defining Policies that Support the New Reality – New
of things, it may be extremely difficult for a single entity to
policies that allow for both sharing of data and ensuring
handle all the four essential aspects i.e. data layer, cloud
its security and privacy is the need of the hour. What
enhancement, analytics and apps. Capacity building as we
must also be addressed is the flow of data across
know today may be apt for a linear world, but innovative ways
governance siloes, a common data language and ability
may be required for coping with the demands of a non-linear
to combine or recombine data to form new data points.
reality.
The GIS platforms today are in a way driving lot of convergence
Building upon the learnings from the GIS domain, I think there
yet may need impetus in the form of the three essential
are three key areas to focus upon for building capacity for
aspects as discussed, for the user departments/ ministries/
handling and exploiting data.
stakeholders to meaningfully exploit data.
21
BEST OF TECH, 2019
New Design Approach for New India:
Reaching out to the Citizens Shri Pratik Srivastava, DDG, NIC
I
ndia is changing and digital is playing a crucial role
The design in future must be push driven where the
in that. The new generation is exposed to the latest
government proactively reaches out to the citizens for
generation of technologies and are getting used to
sharing relevant information and allowing them to act on
a certain level of experience. Their demands cannot be
that. That will be a big shift in design thinking. But it will
effectively met with traditional methods. Governance also
need strong efforts to build a standardized and secured
must evolve in tandem with the broader technological and
data layer cutting across governance domains.
societal shifts. And surely it is evolving in that direction. New digital technologies like AI, ML and IOT are being Speaking from the experience of driving initiatives around
adopted in small ways in almost every domain, but their
government scholarships, a lot has been done yet a lot
exploitation towards leveraging the data layer can open
more can be done. The design so far has been driven by a
newer possibilities that support the new design thinking.
pull strategy where the citizens come to a physical centre, a web site or a mobile app for information or availing a service. Many may miss out the opportunity if they are not aware of it.
22
BEST OF TECH, 2019
Artificial Intelligence Will Prove to be the Game Changer Shri Girish Kumar Gaur, DDG, NIC
is citizen interface with the government. The overarching goal is to build an effective interface for the citizens to interact with the government in their vernacular language. Using the Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Deep
T
Learning technologies, the idea is to build a system that can understand natural language, translate the grievance/
he volume and velocity of data produced in the
request into a pre-defined category and answer the query
world today is phenomenal. A vast amount of that
if the situation is predictable or push it to the concerned
data is lying underutilized, which can be used for
authorities to act upon. The difference that AI can make is
understanding the systemic behaviour and harnessing it for
in terms of handling the back-end complexity of government
making things better. Take for example the process control
processes that are working towards servicing the citizens,
systems (such as in power sector) are continually producing
mostly in isolation today. Their mutual interaction is the
data to monitor health of the systems and detect abnormal
cause of difficulties, which the citizen often must resolve
behaviour. Similar scenario exists in many other domains like
herself. AI can help address that complexity for a much
agriculture, health, rural and urban development, judiciary,
better experience for the citizens. It requires both the quality
education etc. where huge volumes of process data are
of interfaces as well as the backend integration for creating
available. To further add complexity to the growing data
the desired experience.
stream, there is also the increasing variety - structured as well as unstructured data like video, audio, image and text.
The journey has just begun, and it may take time before a significant impact is visible. The immediate objective for the
The new generation of digital technologies like the Artificial
CoE is to build awareness among the user departments to
Intelligence, Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing,
identify, formulate and conduct Proof of Concepts (POCs) in
Image Processing and Deep Learning (lets collectively refer
their respective domains. The approach to AI cannot be the
to them as AI) provide a strong ability to process the volume,
same as traditional software development. While the latter
variety and velocity of data for creating new knowledge about the respective systems.
is top down, AI inherently must be a bottom up approach.
The government is aware of the potential of AI in solving
quality of data is the first step to start the journey. The CoE
The use case in terms of specific context, key objective and is mandated with supporting the use cases with appropriate
myriad of problems towards building a much capable
technologies, frameworks and methodologies. Without a
system to serve the citizens. That’s the reason why it is
collaborative approach between the technical experts and
investing in building skills, knowhow and capability to
domains experts, AI project cannot work.
encourage the application of AI in various government domains. The mandate for the Centre of Excellence (CoE) in
We are currently focusing on domains such as urban &
Artificial Intelligence at the National Informatics Centre (NIC)
rural development, power, education and judiciary. The
is to propagate the usage of emerging AI technologies in the government sector.
consistent efforts in identifying more and more use cases
Though there are multiple use cases that are possible around
become a big force, but it is certainly going to be a game
and supporting them with AI technologies may take time to changer and a disruptive force in the long run.
AI, one area that has immense potential for AI intervention
23
BEST OF TECH, 2019
Building Narrowly Focussed and Clearly Defined AI Use Cases Shri Sunil Kumar, DDG, NIC
T
to a physical centre or connect over the phone or web, all
he journey of eGovernance is clearly transcending
requiring human intervention. Now, though the number
from automation to analytics. The next logical
of interactions is huge, there are fewer and manageable
milestone will be to build systemic intelligence by
number of ‘type of issues’ that are covered during the
exploiting emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence,
interactions. The process of identifying the generic question
Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Natural Language
‘types’ and their standard answers, processing query in
Processing, Virtual Reality etc. How more and more complex
natural language and providing answers also in the natural
tasks are automated with built-in intelligence will determine
language can be automated using appropriate technologies.
how much effectiveness and efficiency is achieved in serving the citizens.
A machine learning engine can work at the back end to
But AI and other related fields can have a very broad
can work at the front end, both to receive the query and
decipher and match the query, a natural language interface address the same with an appropriate response.
spectrum of applications, ranging from narrowly defined tasks to a broader and deeper usage. To begin with, it’s the
The use case will have very strong implications as the
narrow end that will get more attention and efforts. That’s
citizens can now interact and get response in their own
only logical, it’s very important to build large number of use
natural language. Their multi-purpose mobile phone in its
cases around narrow applications of AI, as it will take time for
simplest form can be used for voice query. The initiative
right conditions to evolve for a broader and deeper adoption
will enhance both the effectiveness and efficiency of service
of the newer technologies. The perspective one gets from
provisioning, the extent depending upon the degree to
these use cases can help scale them up, include adjoining
which the application is integrated with the back-end service
processes within domain, broad-base the usage to multiple domains, and mainstream AI in governance.
provisioning engine.
That’s the philosophy with which we have decided upon
We are exploring this application in Reproductive and Child Health Scheme (RCH), Central Government Health Scheme
using ‘chatbots for frequently asked questions (FAQs)’ by
(CGHS), and Online and Registration System (ORS) of
harnessing natural language processing as a use case for
eHospital. The same can be explored in many other domains
AI. Many citizens are interacting with government, either
of governance.
to enquire about their service requests or register their grievances or seek relevant information. They currently go
24
BEST OF TECH, 2019
Data and Analytics Should be Placed in the Hands of Everyone Shri Anand Ekambaram, Country Manager, India, Tableau
I
are vast. We are at the dawn of the age of analytics ubiquity
t’s no secret that emerging technologies are changing the
where data and analytics should be placed in the hands9+-
way people live, work and play. Disruption is creating a
of everyone to truly benefit from the data we have.
wave of transformation and data underpins that.
For this to be effective, strong collaboration within the ecosystem in India, from the government, private sector and
This delivers the potential of improving public services as
educators is imperative to enable the workforce of today
people question and draw insights from data. From optimized
and tomorrow to be data-savvy.
transport systems to improved patient outcomes and better public education planning and results, the opportunities
25
BEST OF TECH, 2019
Analytics on top of PFMS Automation Providing Real Time Visibility Shri Nagesh Sastri, DDG, NIC Shri Dipankar Sengupta, Senior Technical Director and HoD, NIC
T
he Public Finance Management System (PFMS)
provides information on various system related KPIs,
has evolved over the time from being discrete
growth of schemes, bank integration growth on PFMS. To
systems into a holistic and integrated platform for
reduce float in the Government exchequer it also provides
managing the public finances of the central government.
information on the amount of unutilized funds available
The individual domains of budgeting, allocation and
with banks and different Agencies. Bank Integration being
disbursement are being weaved together for greater
the fulcrum of PFMS, the dashboard provides detailed
speed, accountability and speed. The different layers
analysis of banks and trends for different KPIs. It also
of automation at intra applications, inter applications
ranks Banks for each monthly period based on their
and inter domains have resulted into a holistic financial
performance with respect to Key Performance Indicators
management platform.
of PFMS.
While automation and integration are continuing, we are
A PFMS android mobile app for monitoring bank
seriously building in analytics capabilities to make real
performance has also been developed and deployed on
time visibility into the processes possible. This would
Google Play Store that is meant to be used by Scheme
help the decision makers at the ministry, department or
Managers of different Ministries of the Government of
scheme level to be in the knowing of the budget versus
India as well as Bank Nodal Officers of Banks Integrated
allocation performance and take timely actions.
with PFMS.
PFMS Dashboard, an Analytics Platform for Public Finance
We are sure that after 360 degrees automation and
Management System provides various trends for secretary
analytics on top of that, we will have the right context
dashboard for SBE based Budget and Expenditure trends
for exploring machine learning, deep learning or artificial
as well as state Nodal Officer’s Dashboard for PFMS to
intelligence for further accentuating the automation and
provide insights on Treasury Integration and scheme
analytics drive.
implementation in various states. The dashboard also
26
BEST OF TECH, 2019
‘Cloud First’ is Real – 360 Degrees Automation Is the Way to GO Shri Vijay Kumar Vishwakarma, Scientist- F, NIC Shri Ashok Kaul, Scientist- F, NIC
N
IC National Cloud, set up as part of Ministry
projects such as e-Vidhaan, e-Hospital, PM-Kisan, Manav
of Electronics and Information Technology’s
Sampada,
e-Transport,
Aadhaar
Enabled
Biometric
ambitious initiative Meghraj, offers services to
Attendance System (AEBAS), Swachh Bharat Mission,
various government ministries, departments, and district
National Portal of India, Jeevan Pramaan, CCBS, NREGA,
administrations to host websites, portals, and web
MyGOV, Digital Locker, JoSSA (Counselling), ORS, National
applications. There has been exponential demand from
Scholarship, e-NAM, mFMS, Cyber Swachhta Kendra,
the government sector for NIC Cloud Services since its
AirSewa, Digital India Portal, Shram Suvidha Portal, Prime
launch.
Minister Office website, eNAM, Govt. Websites, e-Sahaj, UMANG, etc.
Various ministries and departments are now focusing on service delivery instead of devoting their time and energy
Cloud based services are providing a scalable platform
in procurement and management of IT infrastructure.
for hosting government applications to reach citizens
Cloud has provided a huge support in the government’s
across the country. It has resulted in significant reduction
progress towards digital transformation, and now
in time to go live. Other benefits include OPEX in place
government applications on cloud are focusing on mobile
of CAPEX, rapid deployment, optimum utilization of IT
first to reach the citizen.
infrastructure, environment friendliness, and higher compliance.
With the establishment of cloud services and adoption of ‘cloud first’ policy by the government, there has been
The future evolution of the NIC Cloud will see 360 degrees
a major shift in the data centre hosting patterns. New
automation of various processes for management and
applications are now being hosted on the cloud and
provisioning of the cloud services. The applications
existing applications are being gradually moved to the
in future will require greater agility, responsiveness,
cloud.
reliability, scalability and security. Moreover, a complex array of multi-vendor, multi-generation technologies and
National Cloud Services are being offered from National
multi-location cloud environment will make the task of
Data Centres of NIC. Hosting services from NIC National
management more challenging in the future.
Cloud are being provided for various critical e-Governance
27
BEST OF TECH, 2019
DISCOVERING THE BEST OF DIGITAL LEADERSHIP I TECHNOLOGY I PERFORMANCE
28
BEST OF TECH, 2019
TM
DIGITAL
STATES OF INDIA
The Road Ahead
29
BEST OF TECH, 2019
The Trinity of Automation – Analytics – Artificial Intelligence: Towards Autonomous Governance
T
he three pillars of Automation, Analytics and Artificial
by time and space. But as they evolve and attain maturity,
Intelligence are poised to evolve towards building
they shall converge together. E.g. machine learning triggering
an autonomous system. An autonomous system is
an auto decision that provisions a service to a citizen, an
defined as one having the freedom to govern itself or control
example of AI driven automated rendering of service.
its own affairs. It can manifest at multiple levels – at a specific process level (e.g. issuance of driver’s license), domain level
The road ahead will involve enabling and supporting the
(e.g. the transport department) or a higher system level (e.g.
three As and eventually their interplay for an autonomous
city development).
system. Currently we are in the initial stages of the game, but as automation spreads from ‘big rocks to pebbles to grains
In the initial cycles of the interplay, the three aspects of
to water’, the role of analytics and AI shall become more
automation, analytics and AI shall evolve in silos, separated
pronounced.
AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS
Broad and Deep Systemic Application
Micro-Process Automation Application Integration
Narrow and Shallow Point Application
Islands of Automation
AUTOMATION
What if? Simulation
Predictive Modelling
Simple Querying
Dashboards
MIS Reports
ANALYTICS 30
BEST OF TECH, 2019
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Tech Waves in Government and Enterprise A Comparison
A
comparison
of
tech
priorities
in
the
The recursive cycle between automation, analytics
Government and the Enterprise segments
and AI has advanced in the enterprises.
clearly reveals that while the Enterprises are
clearly into automating the minutest of the mundane
The idea is not to show the superiority of one over the
tasks, including regular decision making (through
others, but to draw key learnings from the enterprise
Robotics Process Automation), exploring artificial
space that is experiencing a new cycle of automation
intelligence and its various avatars like chat bots/
– analytics – artificial intelligence interaction. Cloud
VA/ VR, and preparing for sensor led operations,
seems to be equally high for both, yet the enterprise
the Government sector is still dealing with basic
space has a more complex environment to deal with.
automation in the form of middleware for integration,
This is reflected in its choice of Hybrid IT Management
applications overhaul and are just stepping into the AI
(23%) as an answer to deal with the same.
GOVERNMENT (N=52)
31
BEST OF TECH, 2019
5%
17% 16%
19%
Blockchain
12%
Social Media
20%
27%
Middleware/ Applications Integration/ Data Integration
Applications Overhaul/ Modernization
23%
41%
ENTERPRISE (N=120)
15%
Hybrid IT Management
27% 26%
Infrastructure Overhaul/ Modernization
34%
27%
Mobility/ Mobile Solutions/ Mobile Apps
38% 27%
41%
Internet of Things/ Machine to Machine/ Sensor Based Solutions
17%
Machine Learning/ Cognitive Computing
43% 2%
43%
Robotics Process Automation
12%
Chat Bots/ Virtual Assistant/ Virtual Reality
44% 44%
54%
Cloud
27%
Artificial Intelligence
58%
71%
Analytics/ Big data/ Data Presentation/ Dashboards
domain. A lag of tech waves exists between the two.
Envisioning the Future Model of IT in Government
A
future model of IT design, deployment and use
centric, open architected, collaborative, seamless, secured
shall evolve for enabling governments to serve their
and cloud and data centric model must evolve in order to
citizens, both efficiently and effectively. As we usher
serve the citizens.
into an era of increased accountability, optimum utilization of resources and enhanced transparency, the earlier
The journey has just begun, the contemporary model
models of IT will not be enough. The traditional model of
elements are clearly visible today especially in terms of
IT has outlived its relevance and its rigidity does not leave
speed, quality and reach being the thrust. There are also
much room for manoeuvrability. The contemporary model
traces of future model evolving, e.g. discrete domain
built to provide discrete services is certainly better but can
platforms emerging. Yet in terms of core infrastructure,
be limiting as the focus increases on data driven services.
there are still traditional model elements present. A new
Both innovation and dynamism will be restricted in the
and modern cloud centric, seamless, secured and managed
longer term with the current approach. A more platform
infrastructure must evolve faster.
Elements Design focus
Design framework
Traditional Model
Contemporary Model
Future Model
IT as base components - computing, storage, network
IT as discrete services - infra, development applications
IT as platforms with a functional data layer and autonomy built in
Closed architecture – needs periodic upgrade
Semi closed yet complex architecture, needs periodic overhauling
Open architecture, needs continuous evolution
Supply source
Mostly inhouse
Mostly inhouse but roles bifurcated
Government – private enmeshed
Outcome metric
Cost/ Efficiency
Speed/ quality/ reach
Citizens experience/ trust
Leadership focus
Controlling
Enabling
Collaborative
Operating Structures
Few and rigid
Many and rigid
Many and fluid
Policy thrust
Technology
Process
Data
32
BEST OF TECH, 2019
The Data First Paradigm Shifting from Edge to the Center
A
s the trio of automation, analytics and artificial intelligence plays out over time, a data first paradigm shall evolve. With a wide variety of data – transactional, operational and social is openly available and tamed, data will trigger processes and transactions. This paradigm requires a functional data layer, that
uses standard definitions, maintains security and privacy and is yet available in suitable form for broader set of stakeholders to put it to good use.
PROCESS
DATA
TRANSACTION
PROCESS
DATA
TRANSACTION
33
BEST OF TECH, 2019
Five Essentials for Moving Ahead
A
collective take on the path forward seem to be
3. Artificial Intelligence is a very broad term. It’s best to
emerging. Based on Coeus Age research and
start with well defined, focussed and point use cases.
thought leadership of the experts, five ‘must be
Evangelize, as users need to take the lead in discovering
taken’ steps have been identified–
the use cases. Start looking for pieces that can be automated by Artificial Intelligence (using various
1. Don’t lose sight on automation, it’s never complete till it
technologies that make this broad field).
reaches the minutest process in the value chain (don’t know if ever there will be an end!). Automation of ‘big
4. Imagine how the trio of automation – analytics – artificial
rocks’ to intra and inter domain integrating ‘pebbles’ to
intelligence can redefine the base of IT infrastructure,
decision making ‘sand grains’ to a digital fabric ‘water’
applications and development. The underlying IT
automation is a long and arduous road. Stay focussed
services will also need to become autonomous to
and automate every bit.
support agility, speed, reliability, scalability and security demanded by the users.
2. Analytics must be taken to everything that is automated and to every individual who is a stakeholder in the value
5. As automation, analytics and artificial intelligence
chain. It may start with piece-meal point initiatives,
converge together (over the time), the supporting
but in the long run a holistic approach to data and
structures will also need to evolve in tandem. They
analytics much evolve. To help the drive, the policy on
cannot remain in silos in a converged play.
data privacy, sharing and usage may become a reality soon.
34
BEST OF TECH, 2019
Principal Analyst
Dr. Kapil Dev Singh, CEO, Coeus Age Dr. Kapil Dev Singh is the Founder & CEO at Coeus Age Consulting. Dr. Singh has rich research experience and has headed IDC in India for close to 8 years as the Country Manager. He has been tracking the ICT industry for two decades now. He is currently spearheading path breaking research on digital in enterprise and government domains. Dr. Singh is passionate about driving a new discourse among the contemporary business and government leaders on managing in the digital age. He is also advising them on the change aspects related to embracing the paradigm of digital. Dr. Singh is an Engineer, and an MBA. He is also a doctorate from Management Development Institute, Gurgaon, India. He regularly writes blogs and articles, which are read by business leaders across the globe. He has also authored eight books – Looking Inward, CIO Leading Change, 21 Jewels of Digital, The Platform Edge, 41 Gems of Digital India, LEADDDING, Thriving in a Data Economy, and 51 Gems of Digital India .
35
BEST OF TECH, 2019
DISCOVERING THE BEST OF DIGITAL LEADERSHIP I TECHNOLOGY I PERFORMANCE
TM
DIGITAL
STATES OF INDIA
www.coeusage.com | www.leaddding.com 5F, Ocus Technopolis Building, Golf Course Road, Sector – 54, Gurgaon- 122002 | +91 9811771187 Copyright @ Coeus Age, 2019