Government Adopts Agile Methodologies for Faster and Iterative App Redesign Cycles.
In a transformative shift toward modern software development practices, the Indian government has officially embraced Agile methodologies to accelerate the redesign of its digital public service applications. This strategic pivot marks a departure from traditional, waterfall-style development models, allowing for more flexible, collaborative, and user-driven app development cycles.
Spearheaded by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), the adoption of Agile is being implemented across key projects involving health, education, identity, and citizen service apps. Platforms such as DigiLocker, UMANG, eSanjeevani, and MyGov are now being developed and updated in sprint-based cycles, where features are rolled out in smaller, manageable increments rather than massive, infrequent overhauls.
This transition enables government developers and partner agencies to quickly respond to user feedback, rapidly fix bugs, and deploy improvements without disrupting the entire service. It also promotes greater stakeholder collaboration—product owners, designers, developers, testers, and policy experts now work closely in integrated cross-functional teams with daily standups, sprint reviews, and retrospectives.
To support this Agile transformation, government departments are being equipped with project management tools like Jira, Trello, and Git-based repositories, while also undergoing training in Scrum, Kanban, and DevOps practices. State e-Governance units are being encouraged to establish Agile Centers of Excellence to scale the approach uniformly across regions and sectors.
Moreover, Agile’s emphasis on continuous delivery and iterative prototyping aligns well with India’s broader push for citizen-centric digital infrastructure, ensuring that updates are based on real-world usage patterns and feedback loops. This not only increases project transparency and accountability but also leads to faster innovation and better service outcomes.
By adopting Agile, the Indian government is redefining how public digital platforms are conceived, built, and maintained—embracing a future-ready framework that keeps pace with the evolving needs of over a billion digital citizens.
