Covid: CoWin to be made open source, says PM Modi at global conclave

Emphasising the importance of technology in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday announced that India's COVID vaccination platform CoWIN is being prepared to be made open source.

Addressing the CoWIN Global Conclave, PM Modi said, "Indian civilisation considers the whole world as one family. This pandemic has made many people realise the fundamental truth of this philosophy. That's why, our technology platform for COVID vaccination - the platform we call CoWIN- is being prepared to be made open source."

PM Modi stressed that today's Conclave is the first step to introduce this platform to the global audience.

The Prime Minister informed that through CoWIN, India has administered 350 million doses of Covid vaccines, including 9 million people in one day, a few days ago. "Furthermore, vaccinated people do not need to carry around fragile pieces of paper to prove anything. It is all available in digital format."

The Prime Minister also highlighted the customizability to the software as per the local requirements of the interested countries. Underlining India's commitment to sharing experiences, expertise and resources with the global community, the Prime Minister also expressed India's eagerness to learn from global practices.

PM Modi said that software is one area in which there are no resource constraints. "That's why India made its Covid tracking and tracing App open source as soon as it was technically feasible."

He pointed out that with nearly 200 million users, the 'Aarogya Setu' app is a readily available package for developers. Having been used in India, the Prime Minister told the global audience, they can be sure that it has been tested in the real world for speed and scale.

The Prime Minister said that given the importance of vaccination, India decided to adopt a completely digital approach while planning its vaccination strategy. "This helps people in proving that they have been vaccinated, expediting the normalcy in the post-pandemic globalised world."

"Convey my sincere condolences for all lives lost to pandemic, in all countries. There is no parallel to such a pandemic in 100 yrs. Experience shows that no nation, however powerful that nation is, can solve a challenge like this in isolation," he added.

The Prime Minister concluded with the hope that guided by the approach of 'One Earth, One Health', humanity will certainly overcome this pandemic.

According to the National Health Authority (NHA), health and technology experts representing countries across the globe are participation in the virtual meet.

CoWIN was developed in India as the central IT system for strategizing, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating Covid-19 vaccination across the country.