CHENNAI: In a bid to promote a citizen-driven governance model with a focus on ‘Tamil First and Voice First’ and to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the state governance and administration, Chief Minister MK Stalin launched the Tamil Nadu Digital Transformation Strategy on Thursday.
The strategy, which plans to bridge the digital divide and is not Chennai-centric, will act as a guide for all government departments to design, develop and implement digital transformation programmes and projects to achieve the vision of state-wide digital transformation.
With the state planning to come out with a ‘Makkal Number’ which enables a unified database of all citizens in the state, the strategy aims for transparency, efficiency and accountability to citizens and government departments by making contactless, paperless and presence-less governance using new age technologies like artificial intelligence and blockchain.
The focus will be on strengthening the ecosystem and developing the talent pool and incubation centres to make the state a hub for innovation and entrepreneurship. It will also strengthen the process of digitisation in the state and empower citizens with required digital infrastructure across the state including remote locations.
The state aims to enhance digital connections with Tier-II and Tier-III towns by ensuring that government services are available to citizens conveniently through apps, websites, kiosks etc. It also focuses on developing a conducive ecosystem of disruptive technologies and provides incentives for governmental adoption to improve government-to-business and government-to-consumer service delivery, besides developing a digital-ready workforce by training college graduates and upskilling government staff and citizens.
The vision envisages creating access to all services to citizens in their locality through a digitally unified service delivery channel, thereby ensuring transparency, security and reliability of services. The vision has three key pillars - promote a citizen-driven governance model by encompassing new-age experience while empowering citizens to manage, access and control their data.
The other two pillars include supporting the economy by providing necessary digital tools and platforms to foster digital payments and encourage innovations that can lead to growth and generate jobs; and developing a statewide digital e-governance services ecosystem that supports citizen needs and provides coverage in a transparent, inclusive, and affordable way.
Minister for Information Technology and Digital Services, Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, Chief Secretary Shiv Das Meena and senior officials took part in the event.