Remarks by the President at Open Government and Technology Exposition

St. Xavier College, Mumbai, India

11:15 A.M. IST

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, here’s the good news, is that in the United States we are trying to do some of the same things that you’re doing — trying to make government more transparent, trying to make government more accountable, trying to make government more efficient.  And one of the incredible benefits of the technology we’re seeing right here is that in many ways India may be in a position to leapfrog some of the intermediate stages of government service delivery, avoiding some of the 20th century mechanisms for delivering services and going straight to the 21st.

But many of the issues that you’re talking about here are ones that we’re trying to apply in the United States, as well.  For example, in many rural areas in the United States, it’s hard sometimes to get to a hospital.  Even though the infrastructure may be better developed, there’s still significant distances.  And to the extent that we can use technology to provide people with basic health information, in some cases simple diagnoses, that can save people time, it can save the government money, and we can end up with better health outcomes.  And obviously the same applies for all the services you mentioned.

So I want to congratulate all of you for doing the terrific work.  And I look forward to watching this terrific experiment in democracy continue to expand all throughout India, and you’ll be a model for countries around the world.

END           11:17 A.M. IST