MAIT announced the unveiling of two topical white papers

The Digital India Action Group (DIAG), a think tank established for ideating and monitoring policy initiatives to support the Indian Government’s mission of Digital India, set up by Manufacturers’ Association of Information Technology (MAIT) announced the unveiling of two topical white papers – “IoT for Effective Disaster Management” and “Aadhaar Enablement: A Framework for Citizen-Centric Services”. The first white paper aims to create awareness and appreciation about the potential use and applications of IoT for different aspects of disaster management. The second white paper outlines how deploying an Aadhaar authentication framework, using a facility like e-Sign, governments can move towards a phased improvement in administrative processes, residents’ experience of public service delivery and achievement of larger human development objectives.

The white papers were unveiled by Hon’ble Minister of State for Home Affairs, Govt. of India, Shri Kiren Rijiju and Ms Debjani Ghosh, President, MAIT. Also present on the occasion were senior Government of India officers Dr. V K Saraswat, Member, NITI Aayog; Mr R K Jain, Member Secretary, NDMA; Ms S Radha Chauhan, President & CEO, NeGD, and Mr Ameya Abhyankar, Director-IT & Secretary to CM, Govt. of Goa as well as leadership teams from MAIT and the IT industry.

Launching the white papers, Shri Kiren Rijiju, Hon’ble Minister of State for Home Affairs, Govt. of India said, “Information Technology has played a key role in changing the face of our country and noteworthy initiatives like Digital India are encouraging us to push the boundaries of innovation. I am happy that industry bodies such as MAIT have taken the lead in helping the government devise proactive policies and plans, and suggest ways to most effectively deploy Information and Communication Technologies to mitigate the effects of disasters and improve effectiveness of service delivery for the government’s social welfare schemes.”

According to Ms Debjani Ghosh, President, MAIT, “For the Digital India vision to be successfully realized, it is crucial that we recognize and leverage the potential of emerging technologies such as IoT in disaster management, so as to avoid or minimize the negative impacts of unforeseen events on citizen lives and the economy. IoT is equally relevant for public transportation, government supply chain management, and  centrally-managed citizen information repositories such as the one created for Aadhaar, where connected devices can enable efficient, timely and targeted delivery of government healthcare and educational services to citizens.”

“By seamlessly integrating cloud, analytics, and mobility solutions with IoT deployments and the Aadhaar database, the ICT industry can play the role of a trusted partner to the government in achieving the country’s developmental goals,” Ms Ghosh concluded.

IoT in Effective Disaster Management

The National Disaster Management Act was passed in December 2005 and envisaged the setting-up of a national, state and district level multi-agency structure headed by the Prime Minister of India, with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) as the nodal ministry. The IoT white paper recommends a ‘Seven-Point Action Plan’ to shift from a ‘relief and recovery’ model to ‘risk and vulnerability assessment’ and address key issues and challenges related to management of natural and man-made disasters in India. In this hyper-connected era, Internet of Things (IoT) plays an important role by interconnecting intelligent devices for the purpose of sharing information. It also provides early warnings through sensor based technologies, thereby creating innovative and effective systems for disaster management.

The white paper also highlights the importance of real-time information management for effective preparation, planning, response and mitigation of disasters. It places emphasis on the IoT as a technology domain, which can pave the way for a radical and pioneering approach to minimize losses caused due to disasters.