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India’s technology and digital landscape are witnessing significant advancements with the introduction of programs such as Digital India BHASHINI, an AI-led language translation platform. The Ministry of Electronics and IT recently conducted a dialogue with researchers and start-ups to discuss the scope and future of this initiative.
Digital India BHASHINI: An Overview
Digital India BHASHINI aims at making Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) accessible to MSMEs, startups, and individual innovators. The platform is part of the National Language Translation Mission, striving to facilitate internet users’ access to global content in their local languages.
The Significance of Digital India BHASHINI
Digital India BHASHINI can play a crucial role in promoting digital inclusion by connecting citizens to the country’s Digital Initiatives in their own language. This will not only aid in understanding but also encourage active participation of start-ups. The mission is poised to foster an ecosystem involving Central/State government agencies and start-ups, working jointly to develop and deploy innovative products and services in Indian languages, thereby realizing the goal of a digital government.
The platform also intends to substantially increase the content in Indian languages on the Internet, specifically in public interest areas such as governance-and-policy, science & technology. This will promote internet usage in native languages, enhancing accessibility for all.
India’s Digital India Vision
Promoting digital entrepreneurship, the government through its Digital India programme, has established 3.7 lakh Common Service Centres across India. These centres aim to improve access to digital services for the common man. Moreover, unique digital identities (Aadhaar) have been provided to 129 crore people, resulting in the largest population with a unique digital identity.
Digital Services in India
Digital services have had a significant impact on ease of living for citizens. Services like e-Hospital, BHIM-UPI, online scholarships, DigiLocker, Umang app, e-Courts, Tele Law, eWay Bills etc. have become integral to many people’s lives.
India Stack and National Digital Educational Architecture (NDEAR)
IndiaStack is a set of APIs that helps governments and businesses to utilize a unique digital Infrastructure to address India’s challenges towards presenceless, paperless, and cashless service delivery.
The government has also placed substantial emphasis on strengthening the country’s digital infrastructure for education by setting up a National Digital Educational Architecture (NDEAR). This digital architecture will support teaching, learning activities, educational planning, governance administrative activities of the Centre, and the States/ Union Territories.
National Digital Health Mission (NDHM)
The NDHM is another crucial initiative that aims to develop the backbone necessary to support the integrated digital health infrastructure of the country. It is focused on offering a seamless online platform for health services.
Conclusion
Digital India BHASHINI, as part of the broader Digital India mission, represents a significant step towards improving content in Indian languages on the internet. It feeds into the larger goal of making India digitally inclusive while enhancing accessibility and participation across all levels of society. The digital journey of India, with its various initiatives, is shaping a future where technology is at everyone’s fingertips, connecting them to world and making life a lot easier and efficient.
