Phase – I of Grand Challenge

Phase – I Problem Statements

The problem statement provided by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare includes seven (07) areas of focus and technology development for charting out an effective mechanism of CoVID Vaccine Distribution System.

Sr.  No	Problem Statement	Description	Example 1	Example 2
1.	How to achieve High Adherence rate from front line Health workers (ANM, ASHA, AWW and any other health workers deployed for line listing) for CoWIN application	Last mile Health Care workers will use CoWIN as vaccinator or surveyor which requires data entry in Mobile application. If Front line worker like ASHA, ANM, ASHA, AWW and any other health workers deployed for line listing, is not very tech savvy in data entry in mobile app then data quality and adherence rate will be a challenge and hence there is a need to build in a solution that ensures ease of data entry and minimizes the errors that may come in.	High end OCR (Optical Character Reader) technology wherein front-line worker can click photographs of forms which will auto populate data	High end Voice to Text API can be utilized to convert voice command into text. This can be used for Survey, Vaccination, and relevant module.
2.	How to ensure portability across the country to account for travel/migration between vaccination sessions and across geography.	Current CoWIN module facilitates deduplication only through Aadhaar Authentication in Online environment, and does not have Aadhaar, Accurate deduplication is difficult. then Build solutions that can ensure de-duplication with alternate means.	Face recognition mechanism to register beneficiary and tracking at the time of vaccination.	Biometric devices which can work in online and offline environment for identification
3.	How to ensure that Vaccine Transportation is as per the route plan and safe.	Vaccine route plans are prepared and followed however there is no real time geo tracking and geo fencing mechanism to monitor vaccine transportation and to monitor real time temperature of vaccines during transportation. Build solutions that can map the Vaccine Routes on a GIS platform and can integrate with the actual movement and inventory management.	Installing Geo tracking and Geo fencing devices in Vaccine Vans and other transportation mode and linking APIs for monitoring on CoWIN	Real time Temperature Monitoring is currently done at storage stage and not at transportation stage. Battery operated Loggers linked through APIs may provision real time monitoring during vaccine transportation.
4.	How to have system generated Queue management and social distancing at Vaccination session sites.	Queue management at the session site will be essential to ensure Social Distancing and minimum waiting and turnaround time for Beneficiary.  For this purpose, using technology for queue management with Token generation, time allocation, social distancing mechanism, etc. will be important.	Assigning digital token to beneficiary at session site.	Social distancing and queue management using ICT, Bluetooth technology, Video analytics, etc.
5.	How to report AEFI (Adverse Event Following Immunization) and AESI (Adverse Event of Special Interest) using a system	In case of any Adverse Event Following Immunization, reporting and monitoring mechanism can be inbuilt into the system.	Surveillance and monitoring of any AEFIs and AESIs.	Provision of self-reporting of any AEFIs and AESIs.
6.	How to have a comprehensive & innovative Learning Management System and dynamic learning support for COVID management	More than 2.5 Lakh frontline Health workers like ANMs. are expected to use the CoWIN application. It is important to leverage innovative multi-channel learning modalities for the same. Training of various functionaries at various levels – village, panchayat, blocks, subdivision, district, State and National levels.	Multi-media & multi- channel LMS with on-demand training, WhatsApp based, etc.	Two-way interaction of end users and capacity building team with Chat-box, call centres and other modes.
7.	Development of Logistic Management Information System for end to end logistic, supply chain and inventory management of vaccine	Intelligent and smart solution for end to end logistic management considering the newer requirements of last mile coverage reporting, comprehensive cold chain monitoring (including transportation, storage, etc.). Big data analytics for forecasting, inventory planning, reporting, smart procurement and contract management.	Intelligent end to end procurement to consumption system with real time planning and monitoring system	Smart plug-ins for vehicle tracking, cold storage point monitoring, etc.

The proposed Grand Challenge with seven (07) pre-identified problem statements tries to tackle challenges relating to infrastructure, monitoring and management information systems, constraints of human resources-including technical capacities, gaps identified in cold chain and vaccine logistics management, massive vaccination of citizen, effective monitoring mechanism for vaccinated population(for adverse effects and appropriate Covid 19 behavior).

These identified parameters will holistically address the likely limitations associated with complete and effective vaccine distribution system (VDS) and administering across the country. 

Grand Challenge Implementation Mechanism

1. The applications would be scrutinized initially. Based on the initial scrutiny,  top 25 applicants from each thrust area will pitch their solutions before a Jury comprising of experts in the area of IT and Health/ Immunization etc. especially constituted to adjudicate the contestants.

2. The Jury would shortlist the top 05 applicants from each thrust area who will be provided the CoWIN APIs for showing the efficacy of their respective solutions for possible integration with the CoWIN platform. Each shortlisted applicant for the said activity will be rewarded with Rs. 2 Lakh each for covering their Logistical needs.

3. The solutions as integrated with the CoWIN platform through open APIs will again be assessed by the Jury. Prior to this, STQC and iCERT will be entrusted to perform functional/ scalability/security testing of the solutions.

4. Subsequent to the successful migration of the solution on the cloud on which the CoWIN is hosted, in addition to it being successful integration with CoWIN the Jury will select top 2 contestants from each thrust area. Top 2 contestant from initial six areas will be rewarded with Rs. 30 Lakh and 10 Lakh respectively and for 7th thrust area top 2 contestant will be rewarded with Rs. 50 lakhs and 25 lakhs.

Awards & Recognition

Resultant IPR

The rights for the resultant IPR that is created or developed or otherwise resulting directly or indirectly from the winner of the challenge will rest with Ministry of Health & Family Welfare Government of India. For further leveraging the solutions, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare will at its discretion can further provision the said IP to any entity/country engaged in distribution or management of Covid-19 related vaccine delivery or handling and treatment of Covid 19 pandemic. The IPR rights for the solution provisioned by the challenge winner(s) will rest with the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare Government of India. However, the base IP on which the dedicated solution for CoWIN has been developed by the challenge winner will still rest with the original winner of the said IP and it can be used for purposes other than covid-19 related applications.

Data Privacy

The data generated in the process of using the shortlisted challenges will be treated as per the provision of the existing legal framework/provisions of the country and will rest with the control of CoWIN Platform.