Bill Gates lauds A.P.’s future roadmap based on emerging technologies

Gates Foundation chairperson Bill Gates praised the adoption of advanced technologies in governance and citizen service delivery, during his visit to the RTGS (Real-Time Governance System) Centre at the Secretariat in Guntur district on Monday (February 16).

During the visit, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu explained to him the Sanjeevani and Data Lake projects and WhatsApp Governance; apprised him of the progress made in the construction of the capital city of Amaravati; and unveiled a future roadmap for the State based on emerging technologies. He gave a demonstration how 921 citizen services were made accessible to the public via WhatsApp.

Mr. Gates lauded the streamlining of citizen services through Data Lake and WhatsApp Governance and called the efforts going into developing the capital city as “great work”. He lauded the ‘blue and green’ concept of reserving 30% of the area for waterbodies and greenery.

The CM said the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) growth was being estimated periodically through key performance indicators. Asked how land records were protected, officials told Mr. Gates that the documents were secured using blockchain technology and QR codes, which would ensure transparency.

Mr. Gates expressed satisfaction on the implementation of the Sanjeevani project, which began as a pilot in Kuppam Assembly segment represented by Mr. Chandrababu Naidu. As part of Sanjeevani, digital health records were prepared for improving healthcare services.

The CM said the State government was focused on large-scale use of AI in healthcare and it was planning to render bio-design medical services. Mr. Gates emphasised that offering diagnostic services at low costs would immensely benefit the poor, suggesting that the government should prioritise it.

In a social media post, Mr. Chandrababu Naidu said he was grateful to Mr. Gates for their meeting in the 1990s, saying that it inspired the tech-driven citizen empowerment taken up by the State government, and recalled that those deliberations led to the establishment of Microsoft’s development center in Hyderabad. 

Gates Foundation chairman Bill Gates with Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy Chief Minister K. Pawan Kalyan and Minister for HRD Nara Lokesh at the Secretariat in Amaravati.
| Photo Credit:
PTI

He said he was delighted to showcase the RTGS Centre, powered by brilliant young minds, alongside flagship initiatives in education, agriculture and health. “The RTGS is transforming lives across A.P. — delivering speed in governance and ease of doing business in real time,” Mr. Chandrababu Naidu added.

In a meeting at the Secretariat, Mr. Gates remarked that while many developed nations were yet to fully integrate AI into agriculture, Andhra Pradesh was making strides in it under Mr. Chandrababu Naidu’s leadership and lauded his vision for specialised hubs — ​Visakhapatnam as Data-AI City; ​Kakinada as Green Hydrogen Valley; ​Orvakal as Drone City; ​Tirupati as Electronics and Space City; and Lepakshi as Electronics and Aero City.

Field visit

During a visit to an agricultural field near Undavalli village, where natural farming was being practiced, Mr. Gates watched a demonstration of the A.P. Agriculture Information Management System and identification of crop pests through AI by uploading a photo.

Chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Gates Foundation chairman Bill Gates visiting an agricultural field near Undavalli village in Guntur district on Monday, where natural farming is being practiced.
| Photo Credit:
K.V.S. Giri

He also witnessed a drone spraying a fertiliser and inspected organic products grown through natural farming techniques. Utilising AI on the fields from drones to soil analytics was a significant step forward, Mr. Gates observed. 

​Deputy CM K. Pawan Kalyan, Ministers Nara Lokesh, Payyavula Keshav, K. Atchannaidu, Gottipati Ravi Kumar, Y. Satya Kumar, Kandula Durgesh and Chief Secretary K. Vijayanand were present.

Before wrapping up his visit, Mr. Gates played badminton for a while at Chennupati Ramakotaiah Municipal Corporation Indoor Stadium in Vijayawada.