Union Minister for Communications, Electronics, and Information Technology and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan recently tested ‘BharOS.’ It’s a native homegrown operating system, developed by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras.
“Congratulations to everyone involved in developing the system. For the very first time when our Prime Minister Narendra Modiji talked about digital India 8 years ago, some of our friends mocked him, but today, technocrats, innovators, industries and policymakers, and academic institutions of the country have accepted his vision after eight years,” he said.
Union Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw was also present at the event. “There will be difficulties in this journey and there are many people around the world who will bring difficulties and will not want any such system to be successful,” Vaishnav said.
BharOS details
To be more precise, it’s an Android Open Source Project-based OS, and it is developed by JandK Operations Private Limited. Notably, the JandK is a non-profit organization that forms at IIT Madras.
Alternatively, BharOS is a new mobile operating system that primarily focuses on privacy and security. To be worth informing, a mobile operating system is a software that is the core interface on a smartphone, similar to Android (Google) and iOS (Apple).
Furthermore, it’s an Indian government-funded project in order to develop a free and open-source operating system. It is intended to use for the government and public system respectively. This motive is to reduce the subordination on foreign OS in smartphones. And also concurrently promote the use of local native technology.
BharOS services are presently being brought to organizations that have strict privacy and security requirements. Also, whose users handle sensitive information that is in need of confidential communications on compact apps on mobiles. While such users are in need of access to private cloud services with the help of private 5G networks.
Financed by the Department of Science and Technology
The Foundation is financed by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India. This is under its National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NMICPS). This makes India on par with respect to those few countries that presently possess such capabilities.
While representing a Press Conference on January 19, to reveal this homegrown Mobile Operating System, Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, of IIT Madras, said,
“BharOS Service is a Mobile Operating System built on a foundation of trust, with a focus on providing users more freedom, control, and flexibility to choose and use only the apps that fit their needs. This innovative system promises to revolutionise the way users think about security and privacy on their mobile devices.”
“IIT Madras looks forward to working closely with many more private industries, government agencies, strategic agencies and telecom service providers to increase the usage and adoption of BharOS in our Country,” he added.
The OS subsequently comes with No Default Apps (NDA). It depicts that users are not forced to use apps from which they are not familiar or trust.
Presently version comes with third-party apps such as DuckDuckGo and Signal. In the form of its default browsers and messaging applications. Apparently, the same approach enables users to have more control over permissions. As they only allow trusted apps or data on their device.
According to Karthik Ayyar, Director, JandK Operations Pvt Ltd., the start-up that developed this Mobile Operating System, said, “In addition, BharOS offers ‘Native Over The Air’ (NOTA) updates that can help to keep the devices secure. NOTA updates are automatically downloaded and installed on the device, without the need for the user to manually initiate the process. This ensures that the device is always running the latest operating system version, including the latest security patches and bug fixes. With NDA, PASS, and NOTA, BharOS ensures that Indian mobile phones are trustworthy.”
This native OS brings to access to trusted apps from organization-oriented Private App Store Services (PASS). It indicates that the users can be self-reliant and that the apps they are installing are safe to use. It has been examining any potential security accountability or privacy concerns.
