Open Source Software

Co-WIN is a cloud-based IT platform, to handle the finer points of India’s Covid-19 immunisation programme, such as registering beneficiaries, allocating vaccination centres, sending text messages to beneficiaries with the name of their vaccinator, and live monitoring of vials in cold storage.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare owns the Co-WIN platform, which was previously used to run Pulse Polio and other critical immunisation programmes across the country.
The same platform has been expanded for the distribution of Covid-19 vaccinations, with the Ministry of Electronics and IT and the National Informatics Centre in charge of the backend and technical infrastructure.

This app allows for real-time monitoring of the immunisation drive and tracking of the vaccine recipients. As a result, it aids in the prevention of proxy vaccines.
It also allows beneficiaries to be identified efficiently via the Aadhaar platform.
CoWIN Platform has been integrated in Aarogya Setu and UMANG Apps.

- At the recently held CoWIN global conclave, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the CoWin platform is being made open source and it will be available to any and all countries.

The PM also opined that guided by the approach of ‘One Earth, One Health’, humanity will certainly overcome this pandemic.

Open source software is software with source code that anyone can inspect, modify, and enhance.
“Source code” is the part of software that most computer users don’t ever see; it’s the code computer programmers can manipulate to change how a piece of software—a “program” or “application”—works.
Programmers who have access to a computer program’s source code can improve that program by adding features to it or fixing parts that don’t always work correctly.

Digital approach helps in tracking the usage of vaccination and minimizes the wastage
Vaccinated people do not need to carry around fragile pieces of paper to prove anything. It is all available in digital format
Customizability to the software as per the local requirements of the interested countries.

It is a collaborative project of the Union ministries of health, external affairs, and the National Health Authority(NHA).
Health and technology professionals from around the world will be in attendance, representing countries from all over the world.
The purpose of the conclave is to share India’s experience with universal immunisation in order to combat COVID-19 through Co-WIN.

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