HYDERABAD: Microsoft India and the State government have joined hands to help transform Telangana into a technology-enabled state.
“We are committed to the welfare of our citizens by expanding the opportunities for e-governance, citizen services and economic growth in Telangana. Developing smart cities is important to drive the state’s growth. With this focus, we are pleased to partner with Microsoft India to leverage its technology offerings and expertise to help transform Telangana into a sustainable and competitive state that cares for its citizens,” IT minister K T Rama Rao has said.
Addressing a gathering at an event here on Tuesday, Rao said the government had undertaken several initiatives to leverage on technology including a pilot project in Cyberabad to facilitate e-registration of vehicles.
He also released a concept note on “Accelerate India - Technology for Growth,” with solutions available for smart cities from 21 startups.
“Over the course of the next few months, we look forward to working with Microsoft and various start-up partners, on solutions across areas that will help us keep the citizen at the centre of our development and fulfil our smart city vision,” said Jayesh Ranjan, secretary, IT department.
Meanwhile, a slew of startups, government officials and Microsoft officials took part in a Smart City Startups Conclave to map smart solutions for cities in Telangana.
The discussion focused on solutions and apps in the areas of transport, healthcare, public safety, water and energy by startups from the Microsoft Ventures’ Portfolio which included Mybustickets.in, Celstream, iBot and FlamencoTech.
According to Neeraj Gill, General Manager, Public Sector, Microsoft India, the startup platform offers a fresh perspective from entrepreneurs to enable sustainable development and scaling of smart cities with simple, easy to implement and low-cost solutions within Microsoft’s CityNext programme.
“Through Microsoft Ventures, CityNext now offers an opportunity to harness the enormous potential of entrepreneurs and develop citizen centric solutions using Microsoft technology,” he said adding, “We eagerly look forward to supporting the government in its digitisation efforts as well as a budding startup culture in the state.”