Hi Friends,

Even as I launch this today ( my 80th Birthday ), I realize that there is yet so much to say and do. There is just no time to look back, no time to wonder,"Will anyone read these pages?"

With regards,
Hemen Parekh
27 June 2013

Now as I approach my 90th birthday ( 27 June 2023 ) , I invite you to visit my Digital Avatar ( www.hemenparekh.ai ) – and continue chatting with me , even when I am no more here physically

Friday, 4 September 2015

E-GOV and DIGITAL INDIA SUMMIT


Dear Shri Aggarwal ,


Thank you for your invite to partner with / attend this conference

While regretting my inability to attend due to poor health , I reproduce below , some of my past suggestions to various Central Government Ministers , re e-Governance and Digital India

If found relevant , you may consider including prints of these in the delegate hand-outs

If there are any questions , feel free to contact me


with regards,

hemen  parekh

Mumbai / 0-98,67,55,08,08




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Sunday, 18 August 2013

 

VotesApp

 

 

Here is a suggestion to IIT-Bombay , to develop a voting app , to be called VotesApp. Highlights of VotesApp :

Ø  An Android app which can be downloaded from Google Play / Android Zoom / GetJar and the official web site of Election Commission of India

Ø  It will be pre-loaded on 220 million Aakash tablets  which Govt of India plans to distribute to students

Ø  It will also be pre-loaded on those Smart phones ( to be called, “ Dharati “ ? ), which Govt of India plans to distribute free to 400 million “ poor “ Indians , before 2014 National elections

Ø  All tablet / smart phone manufacturers will be encouraged to pre-load VotesApp

Ø  Using this app , a voter can register at Election Commission web site, where he will enter the same data which he has submitted for his Aadhar card, including Aadhar card number (Unique Identification No)

Ø  All of these details will be verified by Aadhar database

Ø  Obviously , those who have not obtained their Aadhar card , will not be able to use VotesApp . They will need to visit nearest polling booth

Ø  Upon correct verification , Aadhar Database will permanently link the person’s Aadhar number with the mobile number from which  registration is done, and issue a Password

Ø  An under aged person will not be allowed to register

Ø  A person will be able to vote only from that mobile number

Ø  After login on first screen, user will be asked to select one option from > Panchayat Election > Municipal Election > State Assembly Election > Lok-Sabha Election

Ø  Upon selection, user will be presented with the list of candidates contesting , from which , he can select only one by ticking a checkbox. There will be also a choice , labeled “ None “

Ø  A long press on a candidate’s name will display details of his declared assets as also his criminal record


Ø  After ticking / selecting a candidate, voter will click on  “ VOTE “ button, whereupon his vote gets registered and VotesApp gets inactivated

Ø  Once a voter registers on Election Commission web site , he cannot go to a poling booth and vote physically

Ø  In less than one year , Govt of India will recover the cost of 220 million Aakash tablets and 400 million” Dharati “ smart phones , through this customized / personalized / shrinking of EVMs ( Electronic Voting Machines ) to a hand-held device. And imagine the millions of man-hours saved !

Ø  And the beauty is , no one can capture this booth , or conduct exit polls ! What will “ experts “ discuss on TV channels ?

Ø  What next ? Election Commission “licensing “ this App to other countries ?


 *    hemen   parekh    (   18   Dec   2012   )

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Sunday, 18 August 2013


I SIN><U SIN


That could be the name of an android app ( I Seek It Now > < U Solve It Now )

To be developed by India’s Central Home Ministry for successful implementation of proposed,

“ Delivery  of  Services  Act “

The app will come pre-installed on those mobile phones which Government of India plans to distribute FREE , to some 400 million “ Poor People “ of India , before the 2014 National Election ( and on those 220 million Aakash Tablets )

Issuer will enter the Mobile No and that person’s Aadhar Card No, in a computerised central database , before issuing the phone
Hence , no need to login to the App , whose screen will read,

“ I wish to send my complaint to the following department :
National Commission for Women

Garbage Clearance

Water Supply

Electricity Supply

Roads Repair

Rationing ( Food Distribution )

Police

Bus Transport

Railways

Post

Employment

Education

Irrigation

Building Permits

Revenue / Land Records

Anti Corruption

Other ……………………………………….etc
(List should not exceed 50)

Touching name of any department name will open a SMS message box where the user will type out his complaint ( in a language of his choice )

There will be option to speak-out and record voice message , for illiterate users

Touching SEND button will transmit the complaint and within minutes, user will receive SMS reply , giving,
Name of Officer responsible

Office Landline No

Mobile No

Email Id

Complaint No

Expected date of solving

Bingo !

Then publish online , a tabulation of departments , arranged in the descending order of the no of complaints received / cleared / pending!

This frugal innovation will bring in Good Governance all over India
Request Nandan Nilekani / Sam Pitroda to help out , even though they may be busy implementing my earlier suggested app , 

“ VotesApp “


I have no doubt that the political party which promises , “ I SIN >< U SIN “ ,  will get voted to power in 2014


*   hemen   parekh   (  29   Dec   2012  )

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25 May 2015


Digital    Locker    Project


Dear Shri Ravishankar Prasadji :


Business Standard ( 23 May 2015 ) writes about an initiative of Department of Electronics and Information Technology , to create " Digital Lockers "for Indian Citizens , where they can store their important documents on internet

This crowd-sourcing project is supposed to work as follows :

*   Citizens scan their documents on a scanner and then upload those
     images in personal Digital Locker ( User ID / Secure Password ? )

*   Special S/W will break-up each document image into hundreds of mini
     images ( of a few characters each )

*   Each mini-image will be SMSed to 2 persons ( having Smart phones ? ),
     who will type out the characters in TEXT (  WORD format ?  )

*   These typed TEXTs will get uploaded into document-owner's Digital
     Locker

*   If both these " typed texts " match perfectly ( like CAPTCHA ), it will
     replace that mini-image in the document

Apparently , the idea is to crowd-source the Smart Phones / human resources of millions of Indian Citizens - much like the 30 year old SETI project

But before taking a final decision to go ahead , I feel following questions need to be answered :

*  How much will it cost to develop / deploy the required software ?

*  Let us assume that there are only 10 documents per citizen ( on an
    average ) , taking the total to 12.5 BILLION documents to be scanned

    If each document-image has to be broken-up ( again , on an average ),
    into just 10 mini-images , that would mean 125 BILLION mini-images !

*  Now , if each mini-image has to be sent to 2 smart-phones , that
    would require , 250 BILLION smart phones  !

    Now , of course , there are no more than 250 million smart phones
    That would require Govt to send to each smart phone owner , 1,000
    mini-images  !

    And let us assume that each mini-image contains , just 10 characters,
    ( most likely , it will contain 50 characters )

    That would require each smart phone owner to type out 10,000
    characters  !

*  Why would ordinary Indian smart phone owner take time and trouble to
    type out 10,000 CAPTCHA-like characters ?

*  How will you motivate them ?  By paying  ?  How much  ?  Total cost ?

*  How many years will it take to implement entire project  ?

*  Do our 1.25  Billion ( document-owning ) citizens have easy access to
    scanners ( to scan their own documents ) and to broadband ( to upload
    into personal Digital Locker )  ?

*  On the other hand , is it not far easier for these citizens to use the built-in camera of their
    smart phones to take photos ( essentially , " images " ) of their documents and directly
    upload to their Digital Lockers  ?  After all , with built-in mega-pixel camera , every smart
    phone has become  a " Personal Scanner "  !

*   Why not take help from Global Software Companies to automatically
     convert those scanned document images into WORD texts , using OCR
     technology ?

     Latest OCR soft ware have better than 95 % accuracy

     Then let the document-owner access OCRed documents in his personal
     Digital Locker and EDIT the documents thru his mobile / PC / Tablet  ?

     Let the onus for accuracy be with the document owner

     I am sure , you are aware of the GOOGLE-BOOK project , under which ,
     Google has scanned and OCRed and converted to text , billions of pages !

*   Or , why not get Indian Software Giants to develop a Mobile App ( to
     be called , DigiDoc  ?  ) to enable a document-owner to simply read 
     out aloud , each of his document , into the smart phone , to convert it
     into a TEXT , using " Speech-to-Text " technology ?

    Let the document be in any official Indian Language

    And ask the Software Company to make the " Speech-to-Text " software ,
   " Self Learning " as millions of document owners " correct " online thru   
    " Editing " , all those words , mis-spelled by the software  !
    
    I believe , the " Bye-Product " of this " Self Learning " software could well
    re-define concepts such as >  E Governance  > National Integration  !

  

     The document owner will speak out , his :

    >    Digital Locker Number
    >    Aadhar Card Number
    >    User ID
    >    Password
    >    Document Name
    >    Meta-tags / Keywords

   When Mobile App acknowledges these details and connects him with his Digital Locker , he will be prompted to " read out " his document
Later on , he will be enabled to " View " his document online and EDIT it , wherever " Speech-to-Text " software has made any mistakes

Dear Ravishankarji ,

I urge you to evaluate the alternatives suggested by me , before taking a final decision

with  regards,

hemen  parekh

Mumbai


(M) 0 - 98,67,55,08,08





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