India's AI-enabled 'MyGov Corona Helpdesk' bags two international awards

AI-enabled 'MyGov Corona Helpdesk' - which provides timely updates to help citizens clear their queries on COVID-19 - has bagged two awards at the recently held CogX 2020 in London.

The awards were won by the technical partner of MyGov, Jio Haptik Technologies Ltd, a statement said.

The awards were given under the 'Best Innovation for Covid-19 – Society' and 'People's Choice Covid-19 Overall Winner' categories, it added.

"AI-enabled 'MyGov Corona Helpdesk' bagged two awards...at the recently held CogX 2020, which is a prestigious Global Leadership Summit and Festival of AI and Emerging Technology held annually in London," the statement said.

MyGov is the world's largest citizen engagement platform, which facilitates two-way communication between the government and citizens.

In the fight against COVID-19, MyGov, Jio Haptik Technologies Limited and WhatsApp team had collaborated to develop an artificial intelligence-enabled 'MyGov Corona Helpdesk' in a record time of five days.

CogX is one of the world's largest events on AI, held annually in London with over 15,000 participants in attendance from the world of business, government, industry, and research.

After a rigorous evaluation, the Indian chatbot was chosen among hundreds of entries that made a difference to society during the pandemic, the statement said.

Following a live digital pitch in front of a worldwide audience and judges, team Jio Haptik was given the award for providing AI-enabled technological solution for 'MyGov Corona Helpdesk' that has helped safeguard lives amid a pandemic, it added.

In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the chatbot has received more than 76 million messages and processed over 41 million conversations.

With the active involvement of Government, Jio Haptik and WhatsApp, this chatbot has continued to help over 28 million Indians stay informed while providing a platform to get the latest information on COVID-19, curb rumours and misinformation.

"Right communication strategy and leveraging technology is an important strategy to deal with the pandemic. Digital India has made a solid foundation. It has been the endeavour of Digital India and its initiative, MyGov to act as a bridge between citizens and government, and ensure citizen participation and information dissemination on platforms that most citizens use," Abhishek Singh, CEO of MyGov, said.

He added that towards this objective, 'MyGov Corona Helpdesk' has really helped improve outreach and engagement.

"The government's support was a key driver in building the 'MyGov Corona Helpdesk' in record time and being recognised at a global technology summit further bolsters our belief that technology is meant to benefit society in the long run.

“We would also like to acknowledge our healthcare professionals as the real winners of this honour who are battling this pandemic 24/7," Haptik CEO and co-founder Aakrit Vaish said.