A UK based NGO, apolitical, has released its list of 100 most influential people in digital government and India’s Union Minister for Electronics and IT and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje have featured in it. Ravi Shankar Prasad has made it to top 20 list for his ministry’s contribution on a new data protection framework for India as well as digital inclusion and cyber security.
The ministry has recently launched unified mobile app, UMANG (Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance) which provides a single platform access for all Indian citizens to access pan India e-governance services ranging from central to local government bodies. Prasad was also instrumental in promoting digital development in the rural areas of India by creating a network of about 300,000 village level digital entrepreneurs who are operating digital service delivery kiosks known as the Common Service Centers across India. This has not only ensured the availability of digital services in rural areas but has also created job opportunities for rural youth.
Other than Prasad, Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje also featured in the top 100 of the list. Raje’s government has shown the way in going digital by being the first state in India to implement an integrated and unified e-governance framework and architecture, known for leveraging technology and digital government. The Rajasthan government also runs one of the largest direct benefit transfer scheme in the country. In 2015, Rajasthan government even launched the Startup Policy [pdf], much before the national launch of Startup India Policy in 2016.
Other leaders included in the list include Prime Minister of Australia, Malcolm Turnbull, President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo and other world leaders.
Apolitical Foundation is a ‘global network for government, helping public servants find the ideas, people, and partners they need to solve the hardest challenges facing our societies’. It is also supported by the E.U horizon fund 2020 grant.
