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Digit Empowering Urban Local Bodies with DigitalTransformation

What is DIGIT ?

DIGIT, which stands for Digital Infrastructure for Governance Impact & Transformation, is an open-source platform that facilitates service delivery and governance. It is designed to enhance the accessibility of services for citizens, streamline coordination for employees and vendors, simplify administration for administrators, and bolster policymaking for policymakers and researchers.

How can DIGIT assist Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) enhance Urban Governance?
  1. Transformation of Governance: The primary objective of eGov, through the DIGIT platform, is to enable and transform the governance and delivery of services provided by urban local bodies, achieving impact at speed and scale by leveraging open-source technology.
  2. Modules for Specific Services: DIGIT provides various modules to manage different aspects of urban governance like Trade License, Property Tax, Water & Sewerage, Public Grievances & Redressal, Online Building Plan Approval System, Faecal Sludge Management, and others. These modules help in organizing and managing the respective services efficiently within the ULBs
  3. Delivery of Essential Services: Through modules like the Water & Sewerage Manager and Birth & Death, DIGIT facilitates the delivery of essential services to citizens, thus benefiting urban local bodies, states, or countries by streamlining these crucial services.
  4. Financial Management System: The platform comes with an integrated financial management system that manages financial accounting, reporting, budgeting, and asset management for a ULB. This aids in better budget management and financial transparency.
  5. Improved Efficiency: In Andhra Pradesh, India, the digitization through eGov's DIGIT platform saved almost 19 hours per week for government employees. The platform reduced the number of trips citizens had to make to access municipal services, with local government bodies now actively delivering services to citizens.
  6. Better Decision-making and Accountability: DIGIT enables ULBs to make better, data-driven decisions, enhancing their effectiveness and accountability. It promotes interoperability among ULBs and rapid development of new modules by various software partners, which in turn helps in improving the services provided to the citizens.
  7. Configurable and Scalable Platform: The DIGIT platform is highly configurable and has over 50+ micro services for citizens, employees, and administrators. It also promotes scalability, ensuring that the system and operations can scale cost-effectively to meet the demands of growing urban populations.
  8. Training and Implementation Support: eGov, which is associated with DIGIT, provides enablement support to partners for implementing the DIGIT platform and products across ULBs in a state. This includes product training, implementation training, and technical support training, ensuring that the platform is utilized effectively.

By amalgamating a variety of modules and features, DIGIT provides a robust platform for ULBs to enhance their service delivery, financial management, and overall governance, which in turn benefits the citizens they serve.

Technical Architecture of DIGIT and its key features

The DIGIT platform is constructed upon a robust technical architecture that supports the seamless sharing of data and functionality through well-defined building blocks. The architecture is grounded on several principles and components, organized into three distinct layers: Service Architecture, Infrastructure Architecture, and Deployment Architecture. Below is a detailed breakdown of the technical architecture and key features of the DIGIT platform:

  1. Service Architecture: Microservices and Building Blocks: DIGIT consists of reusable microservices which are the building blocks for developing citizen service delivery solutions. A new service can be developed by creating a microservice and making it available through the API gateway, which handles authentication and authorization by interfacing with User Service and Access Service respectively. Other core services include File Store Service, Persister Service, Encryption Service, Indexer Service, and several others that manage various aspects of service delivery such as payment processing, notifications, and workflow management. Services like Language Service and Location Service provide multi-tenant configuration capabilities, allowing for variations across different agencies in tune with the local context.
  2. Infrastructure Architecture: Infrastructure Resources: The infrastructure required for DIGIT deployment can be provisioned from the AWS cloud manually or through infra-as-code using tools like Terraform for automation and consistency. The infrastructure comprises various resources such as Load Balancer, SSL/Cert-manager, VPC (Virtual Private Cloud), Subnets, EKS (Managed Kubernetes Service), RDS (Managed Database Service), NAT Gateway, Internet Gateway, Block Storage (EBS Volumes), and Object Storage (S3) among others.
  3. Deployment Architecture: Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD): The backbone of the modern DevOps environment in the DIGIT platform is the CI/CD software which automates the build, test, and deployment of applications, bridging the gap between development and operations teams.
  4. Key Features: API-First Platform with Open APIs: DIGIT is designed as an API-first platform maintaining Open Standard interoperability. This design ensures data privacy and security which are crucial parts of the DIGIT design.
    Platform-Based Principles: The architecture of DIGIT is built using platform-based principles enabling seamless sharing of data and functionality through well-defined building blocks which can be integrated into higher-level services that can also be recomposed further to deliver unified data and experiences.
    Reusable Common Services and Registries: DIGIT provides a set of reusable common services and registries, offering a scalable, secure, and reliable base to build highly configurable products for service delivery.
    This architecture, alongside its key features, positions the DIGIT platform as a robust and flexible solution for digital transformation in government service delivery, facilitating the development of locally-relevant solutions, enhancing ease of business, and improving the quality of life for all.
About the Client

The Uttarakhand Urban Development Directorate (UDD) is the state's principal government agency charged with promoting sustainable urban development. Through a variety of initiatives and projects, the UDD seeks to improve the standard of living, improve infrastructure, and ensure that urban local bodies (ULBs) operate effectively. Urban planning and governance, infrastructure development, financial sustainability, and environmental sustainability are essential goals of the UDD.

The Uttarakhand Public Financial Management Strengthening Project (UkPFMS) is a World Bank-funded project that aims to improve the financial management systems and practices of urban local bodies (ULBs) in the state of Uttarakhand, India. The project will support the UDD in implementing a comprehensive financial management system that includes computerized accounting and budgeting systems, strengthened internal controls, and improved reporting and transparency.

The UDD's continuous endeavor towards urban excellence makes it a linchpin in Uttarakhand's journey towards urban sustainability and modernization.

Tattva Foundation to Spearhead Digital Transformation of Urban Local Bodies in Uttarakhand

Tattva Foundation is proud to be the chosen consultant for a pivotal digital transformation project initiated by the Directorate of Urban Development (UDD) of Uttarakhand. The project is a key component of the Uttarakhand Public Financial Management Strengthening Project (UkPFMS), funded by a dedicated World Bank loan.

The primary objective is to enhance the revenue potential, accountability, transparency, and sustainability of 102 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in the state. Tattva Foundation will achieve this by customizing, developing, deploying, integrating, and maintaining municipal software on the DIGIT platform, a robust and scalable platform for digital transformation.

Key Deliverables:
Module Development and Customization:

Tattva Foundation will develop and customize specific modules on the DIGIT platform as per the unique requirements of ULBs, encompassing accounting, works, fixed assets, revenue, HR, and inventory modules.
Software Integration:

Tattva Foundation will ensure seamless integration of the customized modules with other government software systems on the DIGIT platform, enabling real-time data transfer and streamlined operations.
User Acceptance and Pilot Testing:

Tattva Foundation will conduct rigorous User Acceptance Testing (UAT) and pilot testing of the DIGIT solution to validate its effectiveness and readiness for a state-wide rollout.
State-wide Software Rollout:

Upon successful pilot testing, Tattva Foundation will lead a well-coordinated state-wide rollout of the DIGIT solution, adhering to the approved deployment plan.
Capacity Building and Support:

Tattva Foundation will provide comprehensive helpdesk support and training programs to empower ULB personnel in effectively utilizing the DIGIT solution. A 'Train the Trainer' program will also be implemented to ensure sustainable training delivery.

Continuous Operation and Maintenance:

Tattva Foundation will offer steadfast operation and maintenance of the DIGIT solution throughout the contract period, ensuring its adherence to the defined service level agreements (SLAs).
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