CoWin platform being made open source and available to any and all countries: PM Modi
New Delhi, July 05
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said that CoWin platform is being made open source and available to any and all countries. In line with India’s philosophy of considering the whole world as one family, the Prime Minister said CoWin is being prepared to be made open source. He was addressing the CoWin Global Conclave as India offered CoWIN platform as a digital public good to the world to combat COVID-19.
Underlining India’s commitment for sharing experiences, expertise and resources with the global community, the Prime Minister also expressed India’s eagerness to learn from global practices. Emphasizing the importance of technology in the fight against pandemic, Mr Modi said that software is one area in which there are no resource constraints. That is why India made its COVID tracking and tracing App open source as soon as it was technically feasible.
He pointed out that with nearly 200 million users, the ‘Aarogya Setu’ app is a readily available package for developers. Having been used in India, the Prime Minister told the global audience that they can be sure that it has been tested in the real world for speed and scale.
The Prime Minister said that given the importance of vaccination, India decided to adopt a completely digital approach while planning its vaccination strategy. This helps people in proving that they have been vaccinated, expediting the normalcy in the post pandemic globalized world. Digital approach also helps in tracking the usage of vaccination and minimizes the wastage. Mr Modi stressed that today’s conclave is the first step to introduce this platform to the global audience.
The Prime Minister informed that through CoWin, India has administered 350 million doses of COVID vaccines, including nine million people in one day, few days ago. The Prime Minister also highlighted the customizability to the software as per the local requirements of the interested countries. He concluded with the hope that guided by the approach of ‘One Earth, One Health’, humanity will certainly overcome this pandemic.
Addressing the inaugural session of the Conclave through Video Conference, Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said, India has always upheld its belief in the ancient philosophy of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ which means the entire world is one family. He stated that this conclave is a shining example of the same philosophy.
The Minister said, CoWIN is the crown jewel of the Digital India initiative. He said, this platform shall go down in history for facilitating inoculation of a large percentage of the world’s population with ease, while simultaneously ensuring complete transparency. He added that the accolades the platform has been winning globally and the interest expressed by so many partner nations in seeking technology, expertise and know-how in this domain reaffirms his belief.
The Minister expressed pride that CoWIN is the bedrock of India’s vaccination drive that handles overall management of citizen registration, appointment scheduling, vaccinations and certification. The transparent system allows tracking of each dose of vaccine, monitoring of supplies at vaccination facilities to record the demand at a granular level. Dr Harsh Vardhan said, it has enabled vaccine accessibility and inclusivity for all. He said, India is inching closer to administering 360 million COVID vaccine doses. This is a feat achieved in less than six months since the launch of the vaccination drive. He said, government is committed to inoculating the entire adult population by December this year.