The Governance Now Digital Transformation Summit, held on January 16th, 2026, brought together policymakers, technologists, and administrators to recognise impactful digital initiatives from across India. With participation from central and state government departments, the summit highlighted the use of emerging technologies to strengthen governance, transparency, and citizen service delivery, with a special focus on digital innovation in agriculture.

At the summit, C-DAC received the Digital Transformation Award in the Agriculture Sector for SMARTFARM, an advanced agriculture automation and resource management solution developed by C-DAC Thiruvananthapuram. The award was accepted by Shri Jerry Daniel, Scientist G & Group Head, and Dr. Anish Sathyan, Scientist E, of the Cognitive Industrial Automation Group (CIAG).

SMARTFARM is an edge-enabled digital agriculture platform that integrates IoT, AI, data analytics, wireless communication, and cloud technologies to enable precision farming, efficient resource utilisation, and climate-resilient crop management. Designed for Indian farming conditions, the solution addresses key challenges such as water scarcity, pest and disease management, and climate variability, while offering a cost-effective and scalable alternative to global agriculture automation systems.