Digital India in Action

Message - VC & CEO, Nihilent 2015
MESSAGE
Vice Chairman and CEO, Nihilent Technologies
‘eGovernance - An indispensable pillar of the Digital India dream’
The Digital India initiative is arguably one of the most ambitious campaigns by the
Government towards bringing good governance to the citizens and creating a
knowledge economy. Recently, our Hon’ble Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi
had tweeted that the digital age offers an opportunity to transform people’s lives in
ways it was hard to imagine decades ago. This very fact finds resonance in the
concept of eGovernance, which is ever so closely linked to the Digital India
initiative.
The time hasn’t been better for eGovernance, which is being complemented by
huge investments in digital infrastructure like 4G in mobile telecom, the smart
cities initiative among others. In addition, technologies like Social, Mobile,
Analytics and Cloud are accessible to Governments, corporations and individuals
alike, which is enabling a very interactive and interoperable digital landscape. The
Internet of Everything, another key component of digital transformation, is finding
major application in the Smart Cities endeavour. At the same time, The Pradhan
Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana for financial inclusion, MyGov.in for crowd sourcing
ideas for Governance from citizens, are among others, key platforms wherein
governments, corporations and individual entrepreneurs can come together to
contribute towards better governance.
An important goal for any eGovernance program should be to play an influential
role in the economic development of the country, reaching out to the remotest
corners. As American psychologist and author B.F.Skinner said, “The real problem
is not whether machines think but whether men do”. However, a digitally literate
nation will translate to a forward looking economy. The CSI-Nihilent eGovernance
Awards (CNEA), now into its 13 th year has since inception, been a coveted
recognition of stellar eGovernance initiatives in the country. Over the years, the
Awards program has witnessed rapid evolution of ICT driven citizen centric
initiatives. From public utilities to disaster management to gender equality, several
initiatives have been awarded by CNEA, many of which leverage digital
technologies including cloud, social, mobile and analytics. This year’s record
number of Expressions of Interest - 222 in total -the highest in the journey of the
awards to date, speaks volumes about high regard for CNEA. Interestingly, this
year there is a huge number of Government-to-Citizen projects, a measure of the
direct impact of the undertakings to the common man.
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