Following security scares, alleged hacking and unwanted intrusions into government meetings conducted on video conferencing owing to the lockdown, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has floated a tender for software providers who can provide such conferencing solutions to be used by government establishments across India.
Apart from video conferencing solutions for general purposes, it specifically seeks two more solutions for education and healthcare. The tender for a new video conferencing solution for government establishments has also been floated in the wake of the self-dependence call given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, officials said.
The tender floated by the I&B Ministry will have a video calling and conferencing tool different from the one that is likely to come out from the innovation challenge launched in April by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeiTY).
The new tender floated by I&B Ministry seeks that the bidder companies must have direct development staff in India so that the graphic user interface of the software can be tweaked as per the needs. “Original equipment manufacturers from 100 per cent Indian origin will be given special preference,” the tender said. The webinar solution for general video conferencing should be able to support up to 100 panelists, and up to one lakh participants, and should also allow all participants to ask questions using the chat functions of the software, the tender document said.
