Niti Aayog ropes in Bill Gates to lecture Indian policy makers on use of tech for governance

NEW DELHI: Microsoft founder Bill Gates is likely to address India's top policy makers as part of Niti Aayog's lecture series on “Transforming India“ on November 16.

Gates' talk on “Technology as an Agent of Change“ will be the second such lecture organised by the government's premium think tank. The first was given by Singapore's deputy prime minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam in August.

The government has planned a full house for the lecture by the technology czar and philanthropist as nearly 1,400 delegates, including all Cabinet ministers, senior government officials and state representatives are expected to attend the session. The address will be followed by closed door panel discussion and brainstorming session as was scheduled during Shanmugaratanam's talk on Fulfilling India's Potential in the Global Economy'.


The lecture by Gates has been organised considering the government's focus on increasing use of technology in governance to check corruption and improve public delivery system through its direct benefit transfer scheme and using Aadhaar numbers.“The idea is to listen and discuss with Microsoft founder... at a time the government's focus is on Digital India,“ said an official.