Since the onset of COVID-19 pandemic around the country, we have experienced unprecedented challenges and situations that were never seen before. Last four months have been tough for each one of us in one way or the other. Even after so much of development, ways and means around us, we are witnessing such uncertain times. Throughout this situation, Technology has demonstrated its potential in addressing some of these challenges and devise novel solutions.
As technology partner of the government, NIC has provisioned IT driven solutions for Central & State governments. With a state-of-the-art infrastructure, we have established a number of digital platforms which cater to online delivery of wide variety of citizen services. During the pandemic, NIC has also developed number of new mobile applications to cater to the specific needs of different departments in centre as well as state. Our ICT infrastructure is also supporting the Department of Health & Family Welfare as well as ICMR in their pursuit to manage the pandemic through Testing, Treatment & Tracing. To ensure integration of various systems and secure exchange of Data among different IT systems of the Government, we have also established Central Data Hub. NIC’s robust and scalable cloud infrastructure has supported many of the government platforms and services to function seamlessly during the COVID-19 period.
NIC is also supporting Government officers in Working From Home with platforms and services like eOffice, Video Conferencing, Messaging, and VPN Services. Integration of digital payments & direct benefit transfer in many government schemes has helped direct transfer of benefits to people in need. We could witness large scale adoption of such systems during the pandemic making services cashless, paperless & contact less. Through these digitally enabled systems, the need for citizens to visit government offices can be considerably eliminated.
Aarogya Setu app has proved to be an important instrument in our fight against Covid-19. It provides technology solution to data driven contact tracing and alert the citizens with their probable risk of Infection. This helps in preventing the spread of corona virus and keeps people safe. With over 150 million downloads, it is also the most downloaded government application in India as well as the most popular contact tracing app in the world.
It is commendable that, during this period, NIC teams across India, have been at their best in providing seamless support to the Central Government, State Government and District Administrations. I am hopeful that together we will be able to win the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. I am also confident that NIC will continue to leverage its strengths to contribute substantially in shaping up a brighter future for the Nation.