The highest honor bestowed on open-source software that can aid in achieving the SDGs is Digital Public Good. The “CoronaSafe Network” enables an entire district or state’s pandemic management to be digitally transformed. The National Health Mission is now using the software network as well (NHM).
Key Highlights
- The “CoronaSafe Network’ enables an entire district or state’s pandemic management to be digitally transformed.
- The Kerala government first adopted the software network for COVID management and is now also used by the National Health Mission (NHM)
- It was created as a voluntary response by over 300 software professionals in India.
- The All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and its educational technology partner Pupilfirst.org jointly called a fellowship program to select and train the brightest engineering students.
New Delhi: “CoronaSafe Network,” an open-source pandemic management software system co-developed by software industry volunteers and a group of Indian engineering students, has been named a Global Digital Public Good by the United Nations.
DIGITAL PUBLIC GOOD IS the UN’s highest distinction for open-source software that can help accomplish the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially in low- and middle-income countries.
The Kerala government first adopted the software network for COVID management and is now also used by the National Health Mission (NHM), It was created as a voluntary response by over 300 software professionals in India. It enables the digital transformation of pandemic management of an entire district or state.
The All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and its educational technology partner Pupilfirst.org jointly called a fellowship program to select and train the brightest engineering students in modern software engineering skills and continue software development for tackling future pandemic waves shortly after the first wave of the pandemic.
“A total of 50,482 students from 2,734 institutions across 35 states and Union Territories applied for the fellowship program, and 24 students were selected for a 10-week industry-guided training program under full scholarships supported by Micheal and Susan Dell Foundation, Wadhwani Foundation, and ACT grants,” according to the AICTE.
After completing the intensive training led by industry professionals, fourteen students were placed in six-month internships. They were responsible for constantly updating the open-source software that now runs the war-room in Kerala’s Ernakulam district and select districts Maharashtra and Haryana.
The fact that open-source software actively maintained by Indian engineering students has met all global technical standards such as open data, open AI models, open standards, and adhering to privacy and other applicable best practices in the eyes of the UN is a source of pride for AICTE, according to chairman Anil D. Sahasrabudhe.
#EONews Kerala, India is using #OpenSource tools to combat #COVID-19 Read about how this forward-thinking state used open geospatial, healthcare & demographic data to create CoronaSafe network which includes an interactive map & COVID-19 literary mission https://t.co/yqXSQelj3u pic.twitter.com/LBWntai5Pi
— Radiant Earth Foundation (@OurRadiantEarth) March 27, 2020
Call for engineering volunteers for corona safe network. CoronaSafe Network is a an open-source public utility designed by a multi-disciplinary team of volunteers along with the Government of Kerala.https://t.co/Hr3sDzBRnk#BreakTheChain
— Nidhin Damodaran (@nidhin_nambiar) March 23, 2020
