NITI Aayog along with AWS has established a Frontier Technologies Cloud Innovation Center (CIC) to help address societal challenges through digital innovation. This will be the first AWS CIC in India, the 12th around the world, and the first AWS CIC that will address societal challenges at a national level. Other countries which has a CIC are Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Germany, South Korea, and United States.
The press briefing was attended by Max Peterson, Vice President – International Sales, Worldwide Public Sector, Amazon Web Services, Inc., Anna Roy, Senior Adviser, NITI Aayog, Rahul Sharma, Regional Head, AISPL Public Sector, AWS India and South Asia, among others.
The AWS Cloud Innovation Centers Global Program provides an opportunity for government agencies, nonprofits, and education institutions, to collaborate on pressing challenges, apply design thinking methodology, test new ideas, and access technology expertise from AWS.
“We are seeing public sector organizations around the world use cloud technology to innovate in a fast and agile manner, address problems at scale, and transform public services for citizens,” said Peterson in the press briefing. He further added that the CIC program is designed to be a catalyst for innovation in the public sector. “We are excited to collaborate with NITI Aayog, and support its public sector mission in India,” he added.
“Through the CIC program, we have the opportunity to experiment with the latest technology and access world-class innovation expertise that will help us advance citizen services, and better understand how frontier technologies can address the unique needs of our country,” said Roy. She hopes that the NITI Aayog CIC with AWS will bring together government stakeholders, startups, and local organizations in India to innovate and create new approaches to solving problems.
The cloud innovation center will allow collaboration with local leaders, including subject matter experts at the state and district level, to solve critical societal challenges. It will allow local enterprises, startups, researchers and universities to experiment and build prototypes on AWS Cloud and contribute along with the global CIC community dedicated to accelerating societal innovation.
“We are deeply committed to help public sector organizations in India achieve transformational economic and societal impact, and look forward to sharing our global experiences to accelerate digital innovation in the country,” said Rahul Sharma.
