The Government's Migration to an Indigenous Email Platform
UPSC Relevance
Prelims: Indian Polity and Governance (E-governance, Key Institutions - National Informatics Centre (NIC), Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In)); Science and Technology (IT, Cybersecurity); Indian Economy (Make in India/Aatmanirbhar Bharat).
Mains:
General Studies Paper 2 (Governance): e-governance- applications, models, successes, limitations, and potential; Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability.
General Studies Paper 3 (S&T, Security, Economy): Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life; Indigenization of technology and developing new technology; Basics of cyber security; Awareness in the fields of IT.
Key Highlights from the News
1.2 million email addresses of central government employees were migrated from the National Informatics Centre (NIC) system (a government institution) to the platform of Zoho, a private Indian company based in Tamil Nadu.
Government officials were instructed to use Zoho's office suite (word processor, spreadsheet) instead of open-source applications to ensure the security of government files.
Key objectives behind this significant change:
Achieve self-reliance in technology (as part of a new "Swadeshi" movement).
Strengthen India's digital sovereignty.
Secure our data.
Transform India from a "service economy" to a "product nation."
The government states that this change was implemented after security audits by government agencies like NIC and CERT-In.
COMMENTS