As the Prime Minister termed the decade as the ‘techade’, with a belief of transforming government process and bureaucratic silos, Primus Partners, India’s leading strategy firm with nation-building at its core, organized a two-day (November 17 – 18) Digital Transformation Thought Leadership Program 2022 in association with the Capacity Building Commission to demystify cloud adoption, the need for leveraging cloud technologies to drive public health and finance, to ensure efficient governance through capacity building for civil service officials, to ensure data safety and shape the future of emerging technology.
The event, graced by the chief guest Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar the Hon. Minister of State, Ministry of Electronics and IT, saw panel of eminent personnels’ leading the initiatives under Government’s vision to promote Digital Transformation and delivery of citizen services. Some of the key speakers included Mr. Adil Zainubhai, Chairperson, Capacity Building Commission, Mr Praveen Pardeshi, Member Administration, Capacity Building Commission, Mr. P.K. Singh, CEO GEM, Mr. Manu Srivastava, Principal Secretary, Government of Madhya Pradesh, Ms. Choy Peng Wu, Director, Government Transformation APJ/ASEAN AWS, Mr. Santhosh Mathew, Country Lead, Public Policy and Finance, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. They created an open dialogue forum to discuss the pivots for government’s digital transformation and to brainstorm on the increasing demand for cloud computing along with its challenges and solutions for an enhanced awareness that will inevitably shape the future of the country during this ‘techade’.
“With the world at the brink of the fourth industrial revolution, capacity building is the need of the hour. Each sector will have a different role to play which will require unique capacity training based on the three pillars of technology, skills and attitude. With more than 3M civil service officials, PM Modi’s Karmayogi initiative focuses on their capacity building journey to modernize their thinking approach and improve their skill set,” explained Hemang Jani, Secretary, Capacity Building Commission.
The government agencies are becoming digital, doing the work to embed digital technologies and processes deeper into their organizations and the consequent rise of capacity building in the government for improved, seamless and integrated governance. The two day sessions reflected on the historic pivot point for government’s digital transformation and how COVID-19 vaulted government headfirst into the next stage of digitization.
With the pandemic being the laboratory of innovation, which underlined the rapid growth of cloud computing, Sameer Jain, Managing Director, Primus Partners said, “This is the best time for government institutions and business leaders to come together to highlight the growing needs of the industry that allows each one to perform their role. Whether the demand is policy creation and implementation or innovation and data security, there is no doubt that India has embarked upon the journey of adopting cloud technology. Therefore, it is imperative for stakeholders to create widespread awareness, establish the right set of tools for upskilling and training the youth in futuristic technologies, bridge the gap between capacity building and reaffirm the trust between new-age technology and the citizens of the country. With more than 30 experts offering strategic solutions in the last two days, we, at Primus Partners, organized the program to focus on making cloud services mainstream in India, bridge the gap between capacity building and make cloud services an integral part of system designing and data solutions .”
Furthermore, the various panels outlined the urge to facilitates capacity-building efforts at scale. How it helps policymakers, regulators, technical advisors and civil servants assess their digital transformation competencies and find relevant learning resources to support their needs. These solutions include the government’s commitment to expand enhanced performance and scalability, cost efficiency, data security and compliance with data-localization requirements in public clouds. The experts addressed the general misconception that cloud is merely a storage platform by emphasizing on the overarching benefits of the technology such as converting capex to opex.
Highlighting India’s opportunity to consolidate its position in the era, Nilaya Varma, CEO and Cofounder Primus Partners said, “As the transformative role of digital technologies becomes mainstream in an increasing number of government sectors, it is rapidly reaching all policy work streams and elevating citizens’ expectations across public service efficiency, inclusiveness, convenience and sustainability. This requires governments to prioritise digital policy planning, design, development, implementation and monitoring. Besides adapting their institutional settings and legal and regulatory frameworks, increasing efforts need to be mobilised to strengthen the necessary public sector capacities for seizing the opportunities and tackling the challenges of digital transformation”
Migrating from the legacy of IT infrastructure and data storage to cloud services resulted in enormous benefits for governments such as increasing the integrity, quality and speed of citizen delivery services, availability of cybersecurity features and access to advanced analytical tools. Through the pillars of efficiency, effectiveness, reliability, transparency and accountability, cloud services aim to reshape the future of digital transformation.
