Gov-tech is Policy: Reforming the Indian State’s Technology Underbelly

Gov-tech is Policy: Reforming the Indian State’s Technology Underbelly

Brought to you by the South Asia Caucus and the Center for International Development (CID) 

Better governance requires better gov-tech, but better gov-tech depends on policy reform. This talk looks beneath Digital India’s ambitions to the invisible, often fragile digital infrastructure that underpins government service delivery. Drawing on a decade of experience building large-scale public systems, the discussion will unpack how gov-tech is imagined, designed, and implemented - and argue that fixing India’s governance challenges must begin with reforming how the state itself builds and uses technology.

Harsh Nisar is a technologist and public systems designer who has spent over a decade building India’s digital infrastructure for governance and development. He co-founded Bharat Digital, a nonprofit making government technology more humane and modern, and previously led large-scale gov-tech initiatives at the Ministry of Rural Development and the National Highways Authority of India.

Vishnu Venugopalan is a practitioner in residence at CID and an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer with over a decade of distinguished service in key government roles. Before joining Harvard, he served as Commissioner of Investment Promotion and MD & CEO of Guidance, Tamil Nadu.