MeitY set to revamp National Informatics Centre, make it 'future-ready'

The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) on Friday signalled a complete revamp of National Informatics Centre (NIC) to make it ‘future-ready’ with new mechanisms for a better operating model, revenue streams, and human capital management at all levels.

The 46-year-old agency is a technology partner of the government and has developed multiple digital governance platforms including MyGov, PM-Kisan, National Power Portal, and e-Shram. It also caters to government agencies by providing infrastructure services, research, and solutions focused on emerging technologies for the effective delivery of Digital Government services.

Major changes may include new Public Private Partnerships (PPP) for outsourcing certain operations and augmenting the hosting infrastructure. The ministry also wants the agency to shift to the operating expenditure (OpEx) model from the current capital expenditure (CapEx) model for major investments in digital infrastructure and services in the country. The revamp plan also eyes at a revised service delivery mechanism with suitable revenue models.

“Every organisation has to evolve for growing needs and scope of work. The IT landscape has drastically changed since the NIC was formed. It is good to have a review after a certain time,” a government official said.

MeitY, through the Digital India Corporation website, has invited applications to offer consultation for the restructuring exercise. The ministry said NIC needs to undergo an organisational restructuring to evolve at the same pace as the growing need for digital technologies in India.

“With an imperative to digitalize functions, governance, and services, operational models are going through a disruptive transformation and the Indian digital space is in a liftoff phase,” MeitY said in the request for proposal document. 

The ministry said NIC would play a critical role to help India take the next leap in the digital sector. “To position NIC to fulfil the rising expectations of the citizens from Digital Government services and the requirement for a national-level digital ecosystem for 21st-century Digital India, there is a need to suitably restructure NIC for achieving the desired objectives.”

Digital India Corporation would commission a consultant to study best global practices and suggest a roadmap for transformation within four months.

NIC presently has around 4,000 team members on its projects and assignments and is associated with Ministries, State & District Centers, and Judiciary.  It also maintains National Data Centers in Delhi, Pune, Hyderabad, Bhubaneswar, Assam, Bhopal, and 37 small Data Centers across the country.

The consultant firm, once appointed, would assess the current organization structure, processes, infrastructure, and capabilities of manpower of NIC to introduce new skilling initiatives for employees of NIC.