The latest initiative of SAP Labs India intends to propel the country’s digital government strategy by upskilling officials in the public sector.
SAP Labs India continues to be an exemplar of driving innovation in partnership not only with private institutions but also with government offices based on its recent collaboration with the National e-Governance Division (NeGD), an Independent Business Division (IBD) established by the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY). Under the leadership of Sindhu Gangadharan, SAP Labs India’s senior vice-president and managing director, SAP’s second largest Research and Development (R&D) center outside Germany launched the SAP Center for Digital Government (SCDG) in Bengaluru this week.
SCDG is focused on ramping up the implementation of Digital India’s projects in the public sector with an emphasis on capacity building as well as program management. Digital India is the Government’s flagship and umbrella program that involves multiple Government Ministries and Departments to support the nation’s ambitious transformation into a “digitally empowered society and knowledge economy”.
Commenting about SAP Labs India’s government-centered project, Abhishek Singh, president & chief executive officer of NeGD said during the center’s inauguration:
“The potential and application of technology for an inclusive growth has been a game changer for India. To leapfrog further, cross-stakeholder industry-government collaboration is becoming more important than ever. The collective initiative of the National e-Governance Division and SAP will support innovation and capacity building to enable the next wave of Digital India’s inclusive and transformational initiatives.
Supporting India’s Digital Government Strategy
More than ever, SAP Labs India has been expanding collaborative partnerships with both public and private sectors specifically centered on digital upskilling since Gangadharan took over the R&D institution in 2019. Just this year, prior to SCDG, SAP Labs India established joint initiatives with Delhi Skill and Entrepreneurship University (DSEU) and the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) to deliver comprehensive training programs designed to respectively engage students and managers in emerging technologies.
Today, the SAP R&D unit in India continues to deliver on its commitment to driving innovation to support India’s digital government strategy with the establishment of SCDG anchored on three key pillars: innovations in technology application for government service delivery, capacity building, knowledge sharing and thought leadership, including policy consultations.
“The center aims to promote the adoption of technology-based solutions in India’s public service sector through specially curated digital upskilling programs for public/government officials,” stated Gangadharan. “At SCDG, our technology experts will directly engage with public service professionals to provide strategic mentorship through training programs, workshops/roundtables, and innovation showcases.”
SCDG sees to fast-track e-governance adoption among government officials in India by providing them with regular training programs to boost technical knowledge and future-skilling for the digital economy. Aside from MeitY, the new center will also be working with commerce and industry ministry and the education ministry to scale and ensure long-lasting outcomes in line with the digital transformation of all central and state governments.
SAP Asia Pacific and Japan vice-president for Government Affairs Lovneesh Chanana stressed that the Government now has two critical responsibilities to tackle amidst the fast-evolving digital technology, which are creating an enabling ecosystem and adopting technologies for public services. Elaborating on the tech giant’s latest initiative in the country, he added:
“Through this collaboration, we look forward to a platform for multi-stakeholder engagement that would support the ambition of a digitally intelligent India.”
