It is early one summer morning in the year 2015. Daivik and Samriddhi, a brother and sister duo living in Delhi, are on their way to work.. On the way, Daivik stops outside the Metro Terminal of Jan Path, where Samriddhi will catch the next train to Gurgaon. She quickly checks the schedule on the dedicated Metro Rail application loaded onto her mobile’s SIM card. The next train is on time, about to arrive in 170 seconds. She hits the sequence of buttons on her mobile phone that would reserve her seat, and pays for it with a quick data link from her mobile to the payment transaction machine installed at the entry gate of the Metro station. She is filled with appreciation for the visionary officers at Metro Rail Corporation who realized the potential of mobile based applications early on to make the ticketing and traveling on Metro Rail so convenient for the passengers of the city. Almost everyone in the city has a mobile phone with pre-installed applications for public services.
An hour later, Daivik is standing in line at the Post Office’s customer service desk. He remembers with the sense of pride that three years back, the then IT minister had taken a decision to upgrade the Post offices and equip them with the latest communication tools to handle the demands of the fast growing Information Society. Daivik is in the post office to upgrade his physical post box to a digital one. The officer at the customer service desk will take half an hour to upgrade his post box after verifying his credentials based upon his National ID card details and accessing relevant information from Secure National Citizen Database that caters to the information needs of all the central and state government agencies. After the up-gradation is carried out, he will be able to have all his post, including bills, bank statements and official notices, stored electronically, and he will be able to get access to it via his Internet connections at home and the office, or using the 3G data services available on his handheld. No one now uses paper for communication.
There are very few people left now who still don’t have access to mobile phones. Those with no electronic access at home or work have now been given electronic post box accounts and can send/receive post through the special Public Access Terminals at their nearest Common Service Centers (CSCs). These public access terminals at CSCs have specially trained staff to assist the illiterate, disabled and senior citizens. Thankfully, because of the efforts of the government agency CDAC and their PPP initiative with the Telecom players, the messages can be either received in print format or through voice/video mail in the language of choice of the citizens. The citizens also have the choice of typing letters in at the terminals in CSCs, or writing them at home and having them scanned in at the CSCs. With a few exceptions, actual deliveries have been limited to parcel drop-offs. Even Daivik’s mother living in her village Farm House is e-mailing him with updates on her medical condition. Just a few years back, she could be found complaining constantly of not being able to communicate with her son and grandchildren. Now she uses the assistance of the officer at the CSC’s Public Access Terminal as if they have always been part of her life. The guy at the kiosk has become like her family member and even visits her at home to get the messages for her son when she is not feeling comfortable enough to walk unto the CSC. Of course, she has no idea that it is all made possible by the combination of a wireless local area network known as Wi-Fi and the cellular network providers’ tall masts that connect to the state Wide Area Network (SWAN) of the government. The only thing she cares about is that it works.
Finally, Daivik reaches the window. He holds up his mobile phone that also stores his National ID in the digital format, hits the digital signature button, and his identity details are beamed across to the terminal. A moment later, it beams an encrypted access code into his mobile phone device. Daivik can now add digital mail to his array of messaging options, from e-mail and instant messaging to voicemail and video-mail to positioning and remote working. Just to make sure the new codes haven’t corrupted the data already stored on his mobile device, Daivik quickly types the key sequence for his daughter’s location. The name of the school flashes up on the screen, with duration at the location, and request for confirmation of contact. He clicks the cancel button. In the past, he has not been able to resist the temptation to confirm the request, and tell his son or daughter exactly where they are. The embarrassment it has caused for them, having “daddy check up on his babies” has made him well aware that he should use the full functionality of his mobile phone application only when it is necessary. The fact is, he reminds himself, the child locator application was provided by the State Police to ensure general safety of children, not for parents to play nanny every minute of the day, and not as a replacement for child care. If the child hits the emergency key, or the locator is forcibly removed, or the child is not in the appropriate location, that will be the time for action.
As he leaves for his home from the post office, Daivik is stopped by Delhi Police. It’s a routine check. Daivik hands his driver’s license to the police officer, who scans it into his handheld crime-check device. While the details are being verified by a database in Police Headquarter of Delhi Police as well as with the national crime database hosted at a secret location, the officer keys in the car’s registration number. Instantly the screen displays the offences history of the car and driver, and current status. Daivik is clean. The officer hands back his license and waves him on. Daivik drives into the community parking garage of his colony, and the boom automatically swings open as a remote sensor detects the e-tag in his car.
Latter in the evening, while strolling past the one-stop government services centre at the urban mall, he marvels once again at the absence of queues. Since they have allowed people to fill in applications at Common Service Centers, verify their identities through fingerprint scanners and their national ID Card , and pay a nominal fee to be advised via SMS of documents being ready, lines of people waiting to apply for or receive government services have become a quaint footnote in history.
Next day morning, at the Municipal Corporation of Delhi Office, where Daivik works, the front door slides open instantly as it scans the new arrival for an identity e-tag, and picks up and verifies the passive signal in Daivik’s mobile device. But there’s a problem: the lifts aren’t working this morning – again! Thank goodness for government hotspots along with a facility of docking stations for the mobile devices, Daivik thinks as he sits down in the reception lounge and takes out his laptop. He switches it on, and it instantly detects the Wi-Fi access point. Daivik logs on, and he is connected to the network as if he is in his own office. He smiles at a colleague who has hooked his mobile phone to the docking station and connected to the same office network..
The scenarios mentioned above are not a day dream, but can become reality sooner than 2015, only if we realized the potential of mobile applications and joined hand to make this a reality. I would like to request all the readers of this blog post to add their scenarios to the list. We will collectively identify the scenarios that can be turned into reality with the help of application service developers and also connect the developers to the service providers. Welcome to the ear of demand driven public services… together we can make a difference and provide an ambient intelligent environment to our next generation of which they can be proud.!!
Daivak and Samriddhi are visiting an old friend who has just moved to a neighbourhood they haven’t visited before and they don’t want to be late. Samriddhi also has to renew her passport which requires presenting yourself in person for a security check, one of the few services where this is still necessary, as she is leaving for Europe next day for two weeks and forgot that her present passport expires in ten days. They are accompanied by their younger brother of eight years old who urgently needs to go to the toilet, and have also just noticed they are almost out of petrol. Using their GPS enabled smart phones they quickly locate the closest passport office still open for an hour and Daivak drops Samriddhi off a few blocks away. Meanwhile, his smart phone locates the nearest petrol station which also has a public toilet and drives straight there – just in time! They have also agreed, that Daivak will then drive directly to their friends house, whilst Samriddhi walks through the local park from the passport office which their smart phones have located as the quickest route. It also assures Samriddhi that the whole area has a very low crime rate, and that today there is a big parade in the park with a large crowd already assembled. Daivak’s smart phone suddenly announces that a major road accident has occurred blocking his intended route, but also shows him where the nearest parking lot is which is also handy for the metro, and calculates the cost of both and the time he needs. He instantly decides to follow this advice and arrives only 15 minutes late. Needless to say, Samriddhi has beaten him and their younger brother to their friend’s house, even though she admits she lingered in the park to see the parade – the costumes were so colourful – and she couldn’t resist stopping to buy a small a toy for their friend’s daughter at one of the stalls. She cannot help teasing her brother, however, that he is always the late one, even with all the technology at his disposal. People will always be people!
ReplyDelete