Telangana CIO Dr. Shanta Thoutam honoured with World Innovation Award at BRICS
Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Innovation Officer (CIO) Dr Shanta Thoutam received the World Innovation Award at the first BRICS Innovation Forum hosted in Moscow from August 27 to 29. The award is given for outstanding contribution to the Sustainable Development Goal-4 that ensures inclusive and equitable quality education and promotes lifelong opportunities for all. The award, organised by World Organisation for Development, an international NGO with special consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council, honours leaders from the developing world that have made an outstanding personal contribution to the achievement of sustainable development goals (SDG). Dr Thoutam as one of the panelists in the Cloud City Conference, spoke about the pathbreaking initiatives and achievements of Telangana in the space of open data, digital innovation, and urban development.
She also highlighted about the Command Control Center in Hyderabad on ensuring the citizens’ security by analysing visual data captured from 1 lakh CCTV cameras, and Open Data Portal that hosts data sets in the public domain leading to a transparency in the working of the government and triggering innovative solutions from various stakeholders.
As a part of the second panel discussion on nomadic career and learning from international working experience, she spoke about the advantages in the form of local talent choosing to stay back and contribute to the social sector because of a stable, dynamic, and ever-aspiring local government.
While she had completed seven years of her service in the innovation ecosystem of Telangana starting with the role of Vice President at T-Hub, then Officer on Special Duty (OSD) for State Handlooms and Textiles Department, and currently serving as the first woman CIO, Dr Thoutam dedicated the award to IT Minister K.T Rama Rao and extended her gratitude to Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary to ITE&C for encouraging her to take up the role of CIO.
