Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi addressed the CoWin Global Conclave on Monday and offered the Indian vaccine registration and tracing application CoWin as a “digital public good” for the global community. The application is to be made open-source, thereby making it available to all countries.
The meet, organised by the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Ministry of External Affairs, and the National Health Authority, saw the participation of over 400 individuals from 142 countries, 20 embassies, and the United Nations offices in India. Among these were ministers, health officials, and experts from across the world. In the run-up to the conclave, around 50 countries, including Canada, Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, and Ukraine, expressed interest in the platform.
The Indian PM began his address by expressing condolences for the lives lost during the COVID-19 pandemic. A press release by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs stated that the PM said there is “no parallel to such a pandemic in [a] hundred years and no nation, however powerful, can solve a challenge like this in isolation.” Hence, to protect “humanity and the human cause,” he said that India was committed to working together as a global community and bringing an end to the pandemic.
In addition, he applauded India’s “experiences, expertise, and resources” and vowed to share them with the world and learn from global experiences and practices. To achieve this, he said that countries should focus on using their technological resources. “That’s why India made its Covid tracking and tracing App open source as soon as it was technically feasible,” he added. For this, he applauded Indian contact-tracing application Aarogya Setu, which has over 200 million users, for its ability to expand its “speed and scale” to unify the global community.
Moreover, the PM also underscored the importance of adopting a “completely digital approach” to vaccine strategy worldwide. He said this would help provide universal proof of vaccination, which will, in turn, expedite normalcy in travelling and conducting business in the increasingly globalised world. To achieve this, he offered the CoWin application to global audiences. Highlighting the application’s success, the PM said India, through CoWin, has administered 350 million jabs and said it provides an alternative for a “fragile piece of paper” as proof of vaccinations. He also applauded the customisability of the application, which allows it to be modified as per each country’s requirements.
The CoWin application was introduced in January to expand PM Modi’s Digital India Initiative, which completed six years in 2021. Through this initiative, he aims to expand the outreach of technology to the entire Indian population to improve access to information, welfare schemes, and health infrastructure.
PM Modi Offers CoWin Platform as Global “Digital Public Good”
Addressing the CoWin Global Conclave, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered its local vaccination registration app, CoWin, to the global community to digitise vaccine strategy.
July 6, 2021
SOURCE: INDIAN EXPRESS