The central government think-tank Niti Aayog in association with cloud technology giant Amazon Web Services (AWS) has set up a Frontier Technologies Cloud Innovation Center (CIC) in India.

Currently running from Niti Aayog premise in New Delhi, the AWS first Cloud Innovation Centre in India aims to focus on the use of next-generation technologies to address the challenge faced by sectors such as agriculture, health and education among others.

While talking to reporters in a virtual press meet, senior executives from AWS and Niti Aayog said that the newly launched Cloud Innovation Centre will bring together government stakeholders, startups, and local organisations to experiment with the latest technology for advancing citizen services delivery.

“With this programme, we have the opportunity to experiment with the latest technology to advance citizen services, and better understand how frontier technologies can address the unique needs of our country,” said R Ramanan, Additional Secretary and Mission Director, Atal Innovation Mission, Niti Aayog.

AWS said that the Niti Aayog Frontier Technologies Cloud Innovation Center is the first AWS CIC in India for them. They already have twelve such centres across Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Germany, South Korea, and the United States.

The new centre has been launched under ‘AWS Cloud Innovation Centers Global Program‘ which focuses on government agencies, nonprofits, and education institutions, to collaborate on pressing challenges, apply design thinking methodology, test new ideas, and access technical expertise said the company.

“Our Cloud Innovation Centers (CIC) program is designed to be a catalyst for innovation in the public sector by bringing together technology experts to address challenges. We are excited to collaborate with NITI Aayog, and support its public sector mission in India,” said Max Peterson, Vice President, International Sales, Worldwide Public Sector, Amazon Web Services.

According to Rahul Sharma, Regional Head, AISPL Public Sector, AWS India and South Asia, the newly launched centre will work to identify and prioritize projects as well as collaborate with local leaders, including subject matter experts at the state and district level, to solve critical societal challenges. 

“Local enterprises, startups, researchers, and universities in India will experiment and build prototypes on AWS Cloud, and contribute along with the global CIC community dedicated to accelerating societal innovation,” he said.