COVID-19: Technological advances helped us overcome big disruption to great extent in 2020, says President Kovind

Technological advances are often termed as 'disruptions', but this year they helped us overcome the big disruption to a great extent, said President Ram Nath Kovind at Digital India Awards 2020 on Wednesday, via video conferencing. He said that during the COVID-19 pandemic, life has not come to a standstill because of information and communication technology.

"The year 2020 has been the year of COVID-19. The year is about to end now and let us hope the pandemic will also end soon. It will not be an overstatement to say that the Coronavirus has changed the world in terms of social relations, economic activities, health care, education and several other aspects of life. Yet, life has not come to a standstill - thanks largely to information and communication technology. Technological advances are often termed as 'disruptions', but this year they helped us overcome the big disruption to a great extent," the President said, President Kovind said that India was not only prepared to minimize the adverse impact of mobility restrictions but also utilised the crisis as an opportunity to march ahead invarious arenas.

This was the sixth Digital India Awards ceremony. The awards have been instituted to honor exemplary initiatives undertaken by government entities in promoting Digital Governance. On the Digital India Awards, he said the awards reflect the overall vision of the government to empower citizens to achieve their aspirations and make India a digital superpower.

"I am glad that a new category was added this year for the Digital India Awards to honour best efforts in 'Innovation in Pandemic'. Even more heartening is the fact that the number of nominations received under this category is the highest. This shows the eagerness and enthusiasm of the leadership of various public organisations in making the best use of technology to offer a helping hand to people in these extraordinary times," he said. Asserting that the role of the digital warriors has been commendable in helping the country overcome challenges posed by the pandemic, he said: "Proactive implementation of platforms such as Arogya Setu, e-Office and video conferencing services backed by a robust ICT infrastructure has helped the country reduce the pandemic hardships. India has been at the forefront in implementing and adopting modern technologies in different sectors and at all levels of governance. We have to keep challenging ourselves to deliver innovative solutions to improve the ease of living for all citizen." (ANI)