Andhra Pradesh partners with Meta for WhatsApp-based public services

Andhra Pradesh has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Meta to enhance citizen services. The partnership will enable communication between the government and citizens through WhatsApp, allowing seamless access to public services.

In Short

• Andhra Pradesh signs MoU with Meta to enhance citizen services via WhatsApp
• The partnership aims for seamless communication between the government and citizens
• Meta’s AI technology will improve efficiency and transparency in service delivery

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu is going in full force to make the state digitally savvy. In another step towards this goal, the state government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Meta Platforms Inc. to enhance public service delivery through WhatsApp Business and AI technologies.

This partnership aims to make government services more accessible, efficient, and citizen-centric by allowing citizens to communicate with the government and access key services through WhatsApp.

The initiative will initially focus on sectors like education and skilling, with the potential to expand into other areas. Meta’s generative AI, including its open-source Llama technology, will support the development of e-governance solutions to streamline processes, improve transparency, and reduce document tampering risks.

Andhra Pradesh IT minister Nara Lokesh emphasised that this collaboration aligns with the state's vision of making governance user-friendly and accessible to all. Meta India’s Vice President Sandhya Devanathan added that the partnership will democratise access to AI models and facilitate smoother governance through digital innovations.

This MoU is part of Andhra Pradesh’s larger digital transformation initiative, aiming to provide 100 key government services through WhatsApp by November 2024. The collaboration hopes to improve public services across multiple domains, including land records, civil supplies, education, and transportation, benefiting millions of citizens.

This comes only a few days after Nara Lokesh announced that, within the next 100 days, the state will implement a ‘digital twin’ for every cabinet minister. This innovative project aims to use artificial intelligence (AI) to create digital counterparts that will analyse social interactions and feedback from various sources to assist ministers in making informed decisions.