News Analysis India

Tag: CoWin Global Conclave

  • India to make CoWIN platform available to all countries: PM Narendra Modi

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: India’s technology platform for COVID vaccination – CoWin -is being made open source and soon it will be available to all countries, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday, asserting that India has been committed to sharing its expertise and resources with the global community in combating the pandemic.

    Addressing the CoWIN Global Conclave via video conference, Modi said that experience shows that no nation, no matter how powerful, can solve a challenge like this pandemic in isolation. “Right from the beginning of the pandemic, India has been committed to sharing all our experiences, expertise and resources with the global community in this battle. Despite all our constraints, we have tried to share as much as possible with the world,” the prime minister said.

    Noting that technology is integral to India’s fight against COVID-19, Modi said luckily, software is one area in which there are no resource constraints. “That’s why we made our COVID tracing and tracking App open source as soon as it was technically feasible,” he said.

    Asserting that vaccination is the best hope for humanity to emerge successfully from the pandemic, Modi said right from the beginning, “we in India decided to adopt a completely digital approach while planning our vaccination strategy”.

    He said that Indian civilization considers the whole world as one family and this pandemic has made many people realise the fundamental truth of this philosophy. “That’s why, our technology platform for COVID vaccination – the platform we call CoWIN- is being prepared to be made open source so (that) it will be available in any and all countries,” Modi said.

    About 50 countries, including Canada, Mexico, Nigeria, Panama and Uganda, have shown interest in adopting CoWIN to run their vaccination drives, Dr RS Sharma, the CEO of the National Health Authority (NHA), had said recently, adding that India is ready to share the open-source software for free.

  • PM Narendra Modi to address CoWin Global Conclave on Monday

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be sharing his thoughts at the CoWIN Global Conclave to be held on Monday as India will offer the CoWIN platform as a digital public good to other countries to run their own COVID-19 inoculation drives.

    About 50 countries, including Canada, Mexico, Nigeria, Panama and Uganda, have shown interest in adopting CoWIN, a digital platform, to run their vaccination drives, Dr R S Sharma, the CEO of the National Health Authority (NHA), had said recently, adding that India is ready to share the open-source software for free.

    The prime minister has directed officials to create an open-source version of the platform and give it to any country that wants it for free, Sharma had said.

    “We are elated to announce that Hon’ble PM @narendramodi would be sharing his thoughts on #CoWINGlobalConclave as India offers #CoWIN as a digital public good to the world to combat #COVID19,” the NHA said in a tweet.

    Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan will inaugurate the virtual conclave.

    Others expected to speak at the event include Foreign Secretary H V Shringla, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan and Sharma.

    The virtual meet will see participation from health and technology experts representing countries from across the globe.

    The conclave aims to share India’s experience with regards to universal vaccination to fight COVID-19 through Co-WIN, the NHA said in a statement posted on its website.

    India developed Co-WIN as the central information technology (IT) system for strategising, implementing, monitoring and evaluating Covid vaccination.

    Recently, many countries have shown interest in using the platform, the NHA said.

    “India is excited to join hands with the world to win over COVID-19 together with Co-WIN.

    “Join us as we unfold the story behind the development of a scalable, inclusive and open platform called CoWIN, the tech backbone of India’s vaccination drive,” it said.

    The virtual conclave is a joint initiative by the Union ministries of health, external affairs and the NHA.