Narendra Modi to address CoWin Global Conclave; 50 countries show interest in portal

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be sharing his thoughts at the CoWIN Global Conclave to be held on Monday as India will offer the CoWIN platform as a digital public good to other countries to run their own COVID-19 inoculation drives. About 50 countries, including Canada, Mexico, Nigeria, Panama and Uganda, have shown interest in adopting CoWIN, a digital platform, to run their vaccination drives, Dr RS Sharma, the CEO of the National Health Authority (NHA), had said recently, adding that India is ready to share the open-source software for free. The prime minister has directed officials to create an open-source version of the platform and give it to any country that wants it for free, Sharma had said. Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan will inaugurate the virtual conclave. Others expected to speak at the event include Foreign Secretary HV Shringla, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan and Sharma. The virtual meet will see participation from health and technology experts representing countries from across the globe. The conclave aims to share India’s experience with regards to universal vaccination to fight COVID-19 through Co-WIN, the NHA said in a statement posted on its website. India developed Co-WIN as the central information technology (IT) system for strategising, implementing, monitoring and evaluating Covid vaccination. Recently, many countries have shown interest in using the platform, the NHA said. “India is excited to join hands with the world to win over COVID-19 together with Co-WIN. “Join us as we unfold the story behind the development of a scalable, inclusive and open platform called CoWIN, the tech backbone of India’s vaccination drive,” it said. The virtual conclave is a joint initiative by the Union ministries of health, external affairs and the NHA.