eMudhra enables paperless transformation for state governments, Biju Varghese: SVP, Enterprise Solutions, SAARC & APAC, eMudhra

Given the government’s focus on digital India, what kind of engagements have eMudhra done with the Government ?

At the dawn of the digital age, the Government of India recognized the need to transform India using technology initiatives and in the process ease citizen lives and improve the way of doing business. And as part of the Digital India initiative, they went about bringing in quick, effective and transparent process of enabling large scale financial inclusion (Banking, Welfare Schemes, and Insurance) through the use of technology linked innovation to promote ease of doing business in India.

One of such use cases include, enabling paperless transformation of a State Government which has been following paper-based administration of their internal office, resulting in voluminous paper flow. For any activity to be carried out such as leave request, tour request, citizen services, project related approvals, notifications, office orders, etc., required intensive paper trail along with approvals at various levels of the organisational structure including multi departmental approvals. The physical movement of files for approvals from one place to another along with the availability of authorized signatory had become a bottleneck that was negatively affecting the creation of an efficient administration. To fast track the process and service delivery mechanism and to provide trustworthiness, the Government opted to implement an eOffice powered by emSigner, eMudhra’s paperless office solution that is enabled with digital signatures, and in the process completely eliminate physical paper movement and ensure accountability. Apart from this solution integration, eMudhra being a Licensed Certifying Authority in India, also helped the state government to issue Digital Signatures to various officers across Government departments in all districts of the state.

Many of the State Governments in India including Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Kerala are using eMudhra’s solutions and they have reaped significant benefits which include:
Ensuring document integrity and reducing process delays; Eliminating the use of papers and printers thus saving cost of approvals from anywhere and anytime; Faster turnaround time in decision making and meeting various compliance and regulatory requirements; Going green and reducing carbon footprint in line with the vision of the country

As far as the Governments are concerned, are your solutions provided on-premise, or are they cloud based?

The solutions provided by eMudhra to Government is primarily on-premise. The solutions are installed in Government data centers. But eMudhra provides on-cloud solutions also.

Which acts, regulations and laws do you have to adhere to when working with the Governments?

The Digital Signature technology works on the Public Key Infrastructure framework which uses a Cryptographic Key Pair – Private and Public Key for secure access and transmission of Information. The Public Key Infrastructure framework is prescribed in a model law provided by UNCITRAL (A United Nations body) for International Trade and Commerce which is governed by Information Technology Act in India and regulated by Controller of Certifying Authorities, Govt of India.

Overall, how has been your experience in participating in the tender process? Where do you have the edge, when you have beaten your competitors ?

eMudhra participates in the Government tender process directly or through partners. With the ‘Made in India’ tag, and the state-of-the-art technology, eMudhra brings solutions to the Government departments at cost effective prices. eMudhra’s solutions have achieved global certifications like Common Criterial EAL 4+ and also recognized by the market analyst companies like Gartner and IDC. eMudhra is Webtrust compliant and recognized by Microsoft, Adobe, Google, Mozilla applications. eMudhra is also part of international forums like FIDO alliance, CA Browser forum and Cloud Signature Consortium.

Please discuss the number of partners you have in India ? and what are some of the best practices, they follow when working in the Government space ?

eMudhra has partnered with large partners like Infosys, TCS, Wipro, L&T Infotech, IBM etc. for the Central Government projects and local partners for state government projects.