NITI Aayog along with AWS has established a Frontier Technologies Cloud Innovation Center (CIC) to help address societal challenges through digital innovation. This will be the first AWS CIC in India, the 12th around the world, and the first AWS CIC that will address societal challenges at a national level. Other countries which has a CIC are Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Germany, South Korea, and United States.

The press briefing was attended by Max Peterson, Vice President – International Sales, Worldwide Public Sector, Amazon Web Services, Inc., Anna Roy, Senior Adviser, NITI Aayog, Rahul Sharma, Regional Head, AISPL Public Sector, AWS India and South Asia, among others.

The AWS Cloud Innovation Centers Global Program provides an opportunity for government agencies, nonprofits, and education institutions, to collaborate on pressing challenges, apply design thinking methodology, test new ideas, and access technology expertise from AWS.

“We are seeing public sector organizations around the world use cloud technology to innovate in a fast and agile manner, address problems at scale, and transform public services for citizens,” said Peterson in the press briefing. He further added that the CIC program is designed to be a catalyst for innovation in the public sector. “We are excited to collaborate with NITI Aayog, and support its public sector mission in India,” he added.

“Through the CIC program, we have the opportunity to experiment with the latest technology and access world-class innovation expertise that will help us advance citizen services, and better understand how frontier technologies can address the unique needs of our country,” said Roy. She hopes that the NITI Aayog CIC with AWS will bring together government stakeholders, startups, and local organizations in India to innovate and create new approaches to solving problems.

The cloud innovation center will allow collaboration with local leaders, including subject matter experts at the state and district level, to solve critical societal challenges. It will allow local enterprises, startups, researchers and universities to experiment and build prototypes on AWS Cloud and contribute along with the global CIC community dedicated to accelerating societal innovation.

“We are deeply committed to help public sector organizations in India achieve transformational economic and societal impact, and look forward to sharing our global experiences to accelerate digital innovation in the country,” said Rahul Sharma.

The National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog) said on Monday that it had established a Frontier Technologies Cloud Innovation Center (CIC) with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to help address societal challenges through digital innovation.

This is the first AWS CIC in India, the 12th around the world, and the first AWS CIC that will address societal challenges at a national level.

“We are seeing public sector organizations around the world use cloud technology to innovate in a fast and agile manner, address problems at scale, and transform public services for citizens,” said Max Peterson, Vice President, International Sales, Worldwide Public Sector, Amazon Web Services, Inc.“Our Cloud Innovation Centers (CIC) program is designed to be a catalyst for innovation in 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,” he said.

The centre will work to accelerate innovation in the areas of agriculture, healthcare and skill development.

The AWS Cloud Innovation Centers Global Program works with government agencies, academic institutions and non-profits to apply design thinking methodology to test new ideas and collaborate on challenge.

“The NITI Aayog Frontier Technologies Cloud Innovation Center (CIC) with AWS will bring together government stakeholders, startups, and local organizations in India to innovate and create new approaches to solving problems,” said Anna Roy, Senior Adviser, NITI Aayog.

The CIC addresses a core mission to identify and deploy leading edge technologies to drive continuous innovation in delivering citizen services. The 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.

“We are deeply committed to help public sector organizations in India achieve transformational economic and societal impact, and look forward to sharing our global experiences to accelerate digital innovation in the country,” said Rahul Sharma, Regional Head, AISPL Public Sector, AWS India and South Asia.

The CIC joins a global network of AWS Public Sector Cloud Innovation Centers across Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Germany, South Korea, and the United States.