NITI Aayog unveils seven platforms developed as part of India tech garage

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday reviewed a set of technology solutions developed as part of government think-tank NITI Aayog’s India Tech Garage programme.

The India Tech Garage works on a public-private collaboration (PPC) model, NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India) said on the social media platform, Twitter. 

The posts do not explain how the platforms will partner with multiple government schemes for each of the sectors covered. 

The products and solutions showcased by NITI Aayog include:

• Unnati --  A technology platform upskilling blue and grey collar workers.
• KrishiNeev -- Agri platform for price forecasting, productivity, quality certification and traceability. The platform claims to use blockchain technology as well as artificial intelligence and machine learning to arrive at outcomes
•  ULIP (Unified Logistics Interface Platform) -- An integrated multi-modal platform for digitising supply chain issues to address the logistics sector.
• SamShiksha --  The platform has been conceptualised as an online university of the future and one-stop platform for higher education
• KYC Setu -- An integrated platform for digitally sharing KYC-data by individuals with new service providers. The app is being developed by a consortium which includes Ashish Kashyap, CEO of wealth management platform INDwealth and Sameer Nigam, CEO of digital wallet app, PhonePe. 
• Kashi -- The cash over internet service will provide low cost digital lending solutions to farmers and labourers on their direct benefit transfer (DBT) accounts.  The consortium for Kashi includes PineLabs CEO Amrish Rau in the panel.
• Swasth -- A telemedicine app with over 5000 registered doctors will focus on integrated services for health issues, including mental health and integration of hospitals and doctors. The app was developed by a consortium which includes Mukesh Bansal led Cure.fit as well the former executive vice chairman of Infosys and was launched in May. It has already raised Rs 10 crore. 

According to social media posts shared by NITI Aayog, the products developed as part of the India Tech Garage are built ‘pro bono’ by the participants. The IPR (intellectual property) of the product and its operation will be authorised by the Government of India.

However, it also states that “successful products handed over to a specialised entity for further scaling, operation and maintenance.” It does not mention whether the entity will be a public or private entity and if so, what will be the criteria for selection. 

The post by NITI Aayog claims that the technology platforms will work on open architecture and will be interoperable.