Andhra Pradesh | Return of 'CEO' Naidu

Naidu is aiming to build a comprehensive drone ecosystem in the state and make Amaravati the future Drone City of India

ISSUE DATE: Nov 18, 2024

Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu is back in his tech-savvy avatar. Credited with transforming Hyderabad into a tech hub during his tenure as CM of undivided Andhra Pradesh from 1995 to 2004 and thereby earning the moniker “CEO” of the state, he is now leveraging technology to advance public service delivery as CM of the residual Andhra. His government’s latest initiatives include a strategic partnership with Meta to deliver government documents via WhatsApp, and the use of drone technology to ensure public safety, among other services.

According to the October 22 memorandum of understanding (MoU), the government will, in the first phase, introduce the top 100 services via WhatsApp by November-end. Meta’s WhatsApp Business Solution and advanced open-source generative AI technologies like Llama will enhance operational efficiency. “This is a historic milestone in addressing the challenges faced by the youth in obtaining various certificates,” said Nara Lokesh, minister for education, information technology, and electronics. “I have witnessed firsthand the difficulties students and unemployed individuals face when obtaining various certificates during the Yuva Galam Padayatra [his 226-day, 3,132-km march in 2023 across 100 of the 175 assembly seats].

Meta views the MoU as an exciting opportunity. “We hope to integrate AI with WhatsApp’s application programming interface, enabling everyone to access the services they need and allowing the AP government to leverage our digital technology for enhanced service delivery,” says Sandhya Devanathan, Meta’s India vice-president. WhatsApp will also facilitate real-time notifications, with a capacity of one million alerts per hour.

In addition, Meta’s generative AI will support the development of e-governance solutions, initially targeting education and skilling, with the potential for further expansion into other domains such as bill payments. The initiative also aims to enhance transparency and security by mitigating the risk of document-tampering.

On the day the MoU was signed in Delhi, Naidu pledged to develop Andhra Pradesh as the country’s drone hub and announced the allocation of 300 acres near Kurnool for the facility. While inaugurating the Amaravati Drone Summit in Vijayawada, he rolled out the red carpet for investors. “While other countries use drones for war, we will use them for peace and security by monitoring criminal activities and ensuring public safety,” the CM said, while promising to release a “drone policy to establish a business-friendly environment for manufacturers and innovators”.

The CM is planning to build a comprehensive drone ecosystem in the state and make Amaravati the future Drone City of India. “We are inviting drone companies to give us their use cases, so we can test them here. Further, we are planning to issue 20,000 drone pilot certificates to build a skilled workforce and achieve 80 per cent indigenisation in drone manufacturing. The government is also planning to train 35,000 drone pilots,” the CM said. It’s back to a tech-first approach to governance.