Beckn Newsletter September‘24

Hola, readers! 👋

As we enter the second ‘ber of the year, something about these months has the whole world feeling festive!

 

Perhaps you’ll light lamps at India’s Diwali festivities, float water lanterns at Thailand’s Loy Krathong, or carve up a plump pumpkin for Halloween. Maybe we’ll find you at the Día de los Muertos parade in Mexico, sipping a hot cup of café at France’s Nuit Blanche, or perchance downing a mug of cold bier at Germany’s Oktoberfest? Wherever you are in this open world, we hope you have an outstanding October!

 

And now, a roundup of September’s top stories.

In this Month’s edition: 

⚡ India’s Ministry of Power recommends UEI Protocol
🍕 ONDC welcomes India’s first zero-commission food delivery app
🎧 Nandan Nilekani talks shop: The India Stack

. . .

⚡ MoP recommends Unified Energy Interface (UEI) Protocol

In its Guidelines for Installation and Operation of Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure notice, the Indian Ministry of Power officially recommends Unified Energy Interface (UEI) protocol for data sharing and open communication. The MoP is the second government ministry to back UEI, with the Department of Science and Technology (DST) endorsing it earlier this year.

Celebrating the move, co-founder of Pulse Energy Akhil JP adds, “Getting MoP to recommend UEI alongside existing interoperability protocols is a testament to all the hard work everyone at Unified Energy Interface Alliance has done over the past two years.”

💡You Should Know: UEI Alliance is a collaborative group and think tank that promotes the adoption of Beckn Protocol and open network concepts for energy transactions.

UEI has opened doors for diverse players of all shapes and sizes. Whether you’re a small solar energy producer, an EV fleet operator, a large distribution company, or just a regular ‘ol citizen, UEI provides the opportunity to trade, sell and even buy energy on the open network.

Build with Beckn: UEI Source Code on GitHub

. . .

🍕 India’s first zero-commission food delivery app joins ONDC

Open network solutions continue to impress and inspire. We all know and love how Namma Yatri’s zero-commission model has taken the mobility sector by storm. Now we meetWAAYU, India’s first zero commission food delivery app, who just went live on the ONDC Network! Welcome, WAAYU! 👋🏻

 

WAAYU aims to create a sustainable and profitable ecosystem for everyone, just like its mobility counterpart Namma Yatri, beloved by both passengers and drivers alike.

Besides delivery, WAAYU also helps restaurants offer better prices to customers, teaming up with buyer apps like TATA Neu and OLA to increase order volumes. With over 3000 restaurants onboarded across Mumbai, Pune, Jaipur, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad, WAAYU is determined to reshape food delivery experiences in India.

💭 How are open networks impacting quick commerce and hyper delivery? Share your thoughts with the community on our Discord!

. . .

🎧 Nandan Nilekani talks shop: India’s digital journey

Nandan Nilekani joins Nikhil Kamath on the WTF Podcast for an authentic and exciting discussion on India’s digital journey-the past, the present and the future.

 

In under an hour, the intimate one-on-one interview touches on everything from Aadhaar to BHIM, UPI and FasTAGs, Beckn Protocol and FIDE, to a broader discourse on building population-scale Digital Public Infrastructure and Artificial Intelligence.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL2yPiDjTfY

An absolute must-listen, prepare yourself for engaging stories, valuable industry insights, a couple of history lessons and golden nuggets of career wisdom from the IT legend himself.

Check out the full episode here.

. . .

🌾 Building Global Agriculture Grids with OpenAgriNet (OAN)

The OpenAgriNet Alliance officially kicked off their journey with the first-ever OAN meet-up on August 12th, 2024!

 

Over 30 organizations from 5 continents came together to discuss how DPI-enablement and AI augmentation is helping them transform global agriculture and food security. On behalf of the open network community, congratulations to OAN for this exciting step. Collaboration unlocks innovation, and we hope you have many more meet-ups! 

Is your organization interested in contributing to or collaborating with the OpenAgriNet (OAN) Alliance? Fill out this form to get started.

. . .

📚 Brazil’s Rede Belém Aberta Network launches new phase

The Rede Belém Aberta Network in Brazil remains committed to shaping an open future by empowering students with real-world skills, and collaborating with network partners to create opportunities for growth and learning.

 

In this new phase, the network offers training programs for advanced open transactional network technology powered by Beckn Protocol, and a decentralized cloud for both education and work.

This special milestone was led by Jambu Technologia in partnership with FIDE, Universidade Federal do Pará, Prefeitura Municipal de Belém, Wits Innovation Lab, and Pupilfirst.

We can’t wait to see the ideas brewing in these young Brazilian minds!

. . .

🗒️ Contribution Board

Calling all innovators, hackers and part-time slackers!

Fresh Tickets

#1  United Energy Interface (UEI) X Solana Radar Hackathon

⚠️Do you want to innovate for the energy sector? Do real-world problems get you charged up? Then this one's for you!

 Together with Superteam India, we’re inviting participants for a special Unified Energy Interface (UEI) X Solana Radar Hackathon track.

The Mission: Identify areas where a public blockchain like Solana can help further the mission of UEI. Leverage the network and ledger to build products, prototypes or proofs of concept that showcase the ideal experience for such ideas.

What do you win?
⭐ Top 3 winners bag cash prizes of up to $5k
⭐ All winners receive a member role in Superteam India
⭐ Quality submissions receive a contributor role in Superteam India

Submissions open on September 30th, 2024. Click here for more details, and to submit your entry. For any queries, reach out to Superteam India.

. . .

That’s all we have for now. Now that September’s over, we can finally wake up. Here’s a little something to walk to on your autumn stroll. See you in ~4 weeks! 👋

This newsletter is a work of collective creation and we love hearing from readers. Drop us an email at community@fide.org with your thoughts and suggestions. Thank you for being part of our community! 💟

Beckn Newsletter August‘24

Hello to our August readers! 👑

Welcome to your monthly update from in and around the transformative world of open networks. We’ve got news and views from who’s who, and everything the community’s been up to. Let’s dig in!

In this Month’s edition: 

💰 ONDC introduces seamless, paperless 6-minute loans

🕵️ Beckn Origins: The ‘Impossible’ Aadhaar

👨🏻‍💻 Meet Naman Bajpai, Beckn’s bright AI intern

. . .

ONDC launches seamless, paperless 6-minute loans

A loan in less than six minutes?! This is no marketing ploy, rather ONDC’s move to expand financial inclusion in the same way it’s unlocked digital commerce through open, interoperable building blocks. 

 

The offering provides unsecured credit services and last mile loans to small merchants, retailers, salaried and self-employed, all while simplifying the digital lending experience and increasing access to credit in underserved regions.

✨ How does it work?

 

ONDC achieves a faster, cheaper and paperless service by leveraging four digital public goods, allowing for seamless integration of banks, lenders and fintechs.

1. Account Aggregator for Data
2. Digilocker or Aadhaar for KYC
3. Aadhaar eSign for Agreements
4. eNACH or eMandate for Repayments

💬 “The idea of an open network eventually is that every catalogable product or service should be available on the network using this protocol by itself. It doesn’t have to go through multiple integrations,” - T Koshy, MD and CEO, ONDC.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsaHgfb3vog

📽️ Click here to watch the full ONDC Financial Services Launch Event (3 hrs; starts at 23:06).

. . .

🕵️Beckn Origins: The ‘Impossible’ Aadhaar

Tigerfeathers is on the prowl to unearth some insightful gems once again, this time with a tale of particular interest to this community, India’s ’Impossible’ Aadhaar. Perhaps some of us know of the special connection between Aadhaar and Beckn. (Hint: FIDE co-founders).

💬 “When anyone asks me about the origins of Beckn, I say in many ways it goes way back to March 2010 when I stepped into the Aadhaar office. The days that followed rapidly changed my views on scale, complexity, and working on the ‘impossibles’!” - Sujith Nair, CEO and Co-Founder, FIDE and the Co-Author, Beckn Protocol.

 

From biometric gamification to de-duplication, complex costing and dramatic demos to vet vendor allocation… fine tuning algorithms at a scale never attempted before…  it seemed Aadhaar would never take off. But it did, and went on to become the backbone of scalable DPIs and financial inclusion.

 

🔗 Read the full Tigerfeathers article here. (Leave a comment, tell ‘em we sent you 😉)

 

What would our world look like without Aadhaar and the population-scale tech developments we’re witnessing today? Share your thoughts with the community on our Discord!

. . .

 👨🏻‍💻 Meet Naman Bajpai, Beckn’s bright AI Intern

This month we’re celebrating Naman Bajpai! Our young and shiny AI intern, Naman’s journey began as a young aerospace entrepreneur (Dynamic Rocketry). Intrigued by open networks like ONDC, Naman discovered Beckn in 2021, still in 9th grade.

Shortly after, an in-depth conversation with Beckn co-author Ravi Prakash deepened his conviction and understanding of the versatile protocol. This belief is the driving force behind his deep engagement with Beckn, actively exploring and learning with the community. His curious, calm demeanour and zeal for tech make Naman both a passionate teammate and leader. 

Memorable Moment: A serendipitous encounter with Sujith Nair at the Harvard India Conference in November 2023 proved especially influential for Naman’s contributions to Beckn.

Currently working on: Multiple ongoing projects, including an open-source framework to enable LLMs to interact with any open network.

Connect with Naman: Github | LinkedIn | Twitter

Would you like to intern with us, or be part of a tech-enthusiastic community? Join the conversation on Discord. 

. . .

🗒️ Contribution Board

Calling all community contributors, your expertise is needed!

Fresh Tickets

#1 Beckn Onix Issues

⚠️ The community has identified 39 open issues in the "beckn/onix" repository. Can you help us solve them?

#2 Protocol Server Validation

⚠️ Do you speak JavaScript and Node.js? We’re looking for open source contributors to help to fix validation issues with the Protocol Server. More details here. 

#3 beckn/use-case-gen-frontend 

⚠️ The C4GT community has raised 4 PRs for the ‘beckn/use-case-gen-frontend’ repository. Can you make a contribution?

Contribution Updates:

Well done, contributors! With your help, we’ve made serious progress resolving issues, catching bugs and growing the community, one keystroke at a time. 

 

⭐ The Beckn FAQ GitHub setup is officially underway! We’ll soon launch a GitBook with popular questions and answers curated by the Beckn team. 

 

⭐ GitHub Cleanup Drive: We're converting over 12 repositories from public to private, and continuing with more repo audits.

. . .

That’s all we have for this month, here’s a little something to start off your September. See you in ~4 weeks! 👋

 

This newsletter is a work of collective creation and we love hearing from readers. Drop us an email at community@fide.org with your thoughts and suggestions. Thank you for being part of our community! 💟

Beckn Newsletter July‘24

Hello, fam!

As you savour the latest updates from the Paris Olympics, we bring you equally, if not more😤 exciting news from the southern slopes of the Himalayas and the palm-lined Malabar Coast. 🌄

 

These important developments are set to enable digitally empowered students and entrepreneurs globally. Continue reading to explore new developments and opportunities. ✨

In this Month’s edition: 

Nepal gets its first open network!🚀

Pupilfirst to offer an all-in-one Beckn course!📚

Beckn Open Office Hours: Twice a week for tech queries!🕒

. . .

Nepal joins the ranks with first-of-its-kind open network Vriddhi 🏔️

In a peak moment (pun intended😋), Nepal is embracing new heights in DPI thinking with the launch of the Vriddhi Open Network, powered by Beckn. This network is set to unlock a treasure trove of opportunities in e-commerce, mobility, tourism, skilling, and more. 🌐

In its first milestone, the network announced its collaboration with Kathmandu University to establish an Innovation Hub for Open Networks in Nepal. The idea is to turn bright student leaders into trailblazers who can conjure up amazing use cases for the network. 🎓

Follow the Vriddhi page on LinkedIn for more updates!

. . .

Get ready for Pupilfirst's course on Beckn for aspiring engineers📚

Pupilfirst will be rolling out a comprehensive course on Beckn as part of its big plan with the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to upskill engineering students with cutting-edge technologies and enable them to build Digital Public Goods (DPG).

The students get a chance to intern and contribute to CARE, a Digital Public Good (DPG) supporting healthcare across nine states under the National Health Mission.

When?... Soon. Keep your eyes peeled!👀

. . .

Join the Tech Office Hours for all your queries on Beckn🕒

Got Beckn tech troubles that are more stubborn than a mule? Well, that’s hmm... Fear not!😤

Adopters, experts, and volunteers are all invited to our semiweekly Tech Office Hours every Tuesday at 3 p.m. IST and Thursday at 8:30 p.m. IST. It's the perfect time to clear up your doubts and get top-notch guidance. We will address issues with Beckn-ONIX, reference apps, and the Experience Centre.📚🔍

Join using the link and squash them bugs! 🐞

 

🔗Link: https://meet.google.com/eep-nppm-xqz

. . .

Let’s talk about small ideas that create big changes. 💡

We are all creatures of habit, mostly old habits. So, how do we make lasting change? Rajeesh Menon, FIDE in this short video shares a gem from the book Think Sustain by Sanjay Purohit: “Change sustains when habits change.” 🌱✨

This nugget of wisdom can transform our lives and in turn, society. Starting with the simple idea that true sustainability begins with altering our daily routines. Check out more impactful quotes from the trilogy: Think Scale, Think Sustain, and Think Speed. 💪

. . .

Let the XPLORation begin!🚊

We’ve caught a whiff of something big. A super engine in the works - powered by Beckn and AI. This DPG ensemble promises to deliver seamless, personalised and secure consumer experiences.

Catch the teaser here. Coming soon! 😋

https://youtu.be/RAnKAaMP5P4?si=oWY5vGRQhVrCKQJv

. . .

This wraps up our July edition of the newsletter. Don’t forget to file your taxes!

 

This newsletter is our collective creation and we would love to hear your thoughts and suggestions to make it even better! Drop us an email at community@fide.org. Thank you for being part of our community.✨

Beckn Newsletter June‘24

Greetings, Collective! 

Throughout June, we have seen some incredible momentum in energy and sustainability projects. These aren’t just baby steps! The community is taking swift action to boost green energy adoption with Beckn. 🌱

 

What’s also exciting is that now you can be a part of many of these projects. So scan the edition for opportunities to contribute. ⚡

 

For our main story, Ivy League brains have been putting Beckn to good use in the Mid-Atlantic to help indie restaurants and couriers. 

 

Let’s dive in. There is a lot to catch up on!

 

Read on to catch up on all the new developments.

In this Month’s edition: 

1️⃣ An open food delivery network in the US led by Andres and Mike

2️⃣ Jan Kuenne thinks we should have an open network for nature

3️⃣ Aivancity’s students have developed an exciting project with Beckn

. . .

Tring Tring..vroom vroom..🚴‍♂️🍕

Can you imagine food delivery systems being cooperative? And indie restaurants having localised ways to serve their customers? No cap!

We invited our friends—Princeton Prof. Andrés Monroy-Hernández, and Michael Perhats from Nosh Delivery to the latest episode of Beckn & Beyond to discuss decentralised food delivery. And it was a blast!🎉

 

Prof Andrés and Mike found a match between the ethos of Beckn and the food delivery ecosystem in the US. So they are building OpenDeli - an open food delivery network to empower local restaurants and couriers across the US. 🍽️

Get the full story on YouTube!

. . .

Meanwhile, the UEI Alliance is taking the energy network to the next level. 💡🔋

The network itself has grown 10X since the launch of the Alliance in Feb’24.  Many new EV charge point operators, energy companies, and standardisation bodies have joined the effort to unify the fragmented sector. We are seeing broad use cases like Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Energy Trading, EV Charging, Battery Monetization, and more. ⚡🔌

Last week, the participants gathered to present the early progress to Nandan Nilekani and Dr Pramod Varma. 👏

Energy enthusiasts, this is your chance to champion green. Join the effort using this form.

. . .

Here’s a research opportunity in the world of UEI 📚🎓

Applications are open for the Atria University MS-by-Research Program, which is focused on AI/ML, DPI, Beckn, and blockchain.

The research work will tap these technologies (including UEI) for climate action and sustainability impact. The program is offered on both a full-time and part-time basis. 

📝 Apply here.

. . .

When trees and rivers can go to court 🌳🏞️

Sounds offbeat, but in the last 15 years, there has been a surge in laws based on ecological jurisprudence. Even the fashion industry is doing its bit for the environment with projects like upcycled denim, saving us 85 showers worth of water with each pair of jeans!

Eco-champion Jan Kuenne believes these fragmented efforts can be unified using Beckn. He and Sindhuja discussed these topics and more on our recent episode of Beckn & Beyond. ♻️

 

Learn about the new Beckn efforts across regenerative agriculture and circular economy. Watch the full episode on YouTube and connect with Jan on LinkedIn.

 

Mother Nature needs you! ❤️

. . .

Hospitality AI: Aivancity students develop an advanced AI recommendation system using Beckn 🤖✨

The sustainability and innovation champion Jan Kuenne brings a wealth of global perspectives to our next episode, delving into crucial topics like Circular Economy and Regenerative Agriculture. He will discuss how Beckn, in conjunction with robust Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), can accelerate the adoption and implementation of these essential efforts. 🌱

💡 This is how they did it despite the limited availability of user data. 

1. First, they implemented a combination of RAG and LLAMA2, merging generative text models with advanced search capabilities to deliver accurate recommendations.
2. Second, they combined Siamese neural networks with vector databases, ensuring the system could provide near real-time recommendations.

 

Congratulate and interact with the team on this thread on Discord. 🎉💬

. . .

Join the fun 🙌🌟

Excited to share a new opportunity for the code junkies to contribute to Beckn live projects. We need example JSONs for various use cases, and your help is crucial. 

 

Here’s how you can make a difference:

 

• Explore the use cases on the GitHub issue linked below
• Contribute your example JSONs for the specified use case
• Get your work merged into the repository

Dive into the details here: 🔗 GitHub Issue #180

. . .

This wraps up our June edition of the newsletter.

 

This newsletter is our collective creation and we would love to hear your thoughts and suggestions to make it even better! Drop us an email at community@fide.org.

 

Thank you for being part of our community.✨

Beckn Newsletter May‘24

Greetings, Collective! 

May has been full of exciting new initiatives, co-creation and collaborations, especially around AI and sustainability. The power of AI with Beckn took centre stage this month, unlocking some pretty amazing possibilities. Our incredible community members stepped up in big ways to drive the Beckn-ONIX project forward.

 

Read on to catch up on all the new developments.

. . .

🌟 AI assistants can now buy and sell on Open Networks!💡

We are talking about AI Agents that can act and transact on your behalf. These agents, powered by Beckn, can search for an item, place an order, track the order and even return an order across open networks.

Mayur Virendra from FIDE demonstrated this with a Beckn-AI chatbot or BecknGPT performing an entire retail transaction from start to finish and then switching networks to locate a nearby EV charger. It was all as simple as messaging a friend! You can watch the mind-blowing demo here👇.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlr-875wNfo&t=5s

There is a lot in store! Stay tuned, imagine, build and contribute to AI^Beckn projects on GitHub.

. . .

Bringing regenerative economy to the forefront with Beckn

Environmental challenges require immediate and collective action.

A recent joint endeavour led by Sheeba Sen, Peter Coughlan, and Rajeesh Menon is working in that direction by using the power of Beckn and open networks for hyperlocal climate and biodiversity action.

 

This project attempts to address the two main problems of climate change and biodiversity loss. Stay tuned for more updates and reach out to the members for collaboration.

. . .

🚀Introducing Kenya One Network: Revolutionising agriculture with Beckn🌱

We are very excited about the launch of “Kenya One Network”, an open digital agriculture network, enabled by Beckn. This initiative, led by Kuza One (Kuza Biashara), Sriram Bharatam and others is aimed at transforming the agricultural sector.

By leveraging technology, this approach enables various stakeholders, from farmers to financiers, to connect and collaborate effortlessly in an open ecosystem. The network is digitising the entire agriculture value chain, catering to small and large players alike.

. . .

📰 Beckn champion Mishal takes the Beckn-ONIX UI to the next level!

Big congratulations to Mishal, a Beckn Builder from Kerala, who has been contributing to the development and enhancement of the Beckn-ONIX user interface.

His Pull Request (PR) to the Beckn-ONIX repository on GitHub was approved and merged. Send a shout-out to Mishal on our Discord channel!

. . .

🌟 Get Ready for the Beckn & Beyond episode on sustainability with Jan Kuenne! 🌟

The sustainability and innovation champion Jan Kuenne brings a wealth of global perspectives to our next episode, delving into crucial topics like Circular Economy and Regenerative Agriculture. He will discuss how Beckn, in conjunction with robust Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), can accelerate the adoption and implementation of these essential efforts. 🌱

. . .

This wraps up our May edition of the newsletter. If you have any thoughts and suggestions about this newsletter, drop us an email at community@fide.org. We appreciate all your feedback.✨

Beckn Newsletter April‘24

Greetings, Collective! 

April has been buzzing with excitement and new collaborations! Throughout the month, we witnessed the growth of Open Networks and some exciting developments globally. Read on…

. . .

🔥Open Amsterdam Network (OAN) pilot launched🙌

The inauguration of the Beckn-enabled Open Amsterdam Network (OAN) pilot represents a significant advancement towards open 

e-commerce and mobility in Amsterdam. This effort has come to life from collaboration between Automicle, HumBhiOnline, Plotch.ai, Waag Futurelab and cooperation between various authorities and community members from the Netherlands and India.

Prioritising hyperlocal commerce first, OAN intends to branch out into logistics and mobility. The pilot will set the stage for a broader rollout in the Netherlands this year.

To participate in the network, sign up using the form. 📝

. . .

✨A Beckn+AI showcase at MIT Media Lab✨

We had the exciting opportunity to demonstrate the enormous potential of AI in conjunction with Beckn at the MIT Media Lab on April 11. Thank you to Prof. Ramesh Raskar, Prof. Kent Larson and Santanu Bhattacharya for this brilliant opportunity.

To explore the impact of Beckn+AI, watch the demo video here👇.

. . .

Haqdarshak and Kuza One collaborate to benefit farmers in Kenya

We are excited to share that Haqdarshak and Kuza One (Kuza Biashara) have collaborated to create a welfare scheme discovery solution for Kenyan farmers using Beckn.

With this partnership, Haqdarshak’s technological prowess and Kuza’s vast agripreneur experience will be combined to provide over a million farmers with vital last-mile help.

Although the first launchpad is in Kenya, preparations are in place to extend the initiative to other East African nations and Bangladesh.

. . .

Unified Energy Interface (UEI) Alliance: A leap towards a clean energy future!🌱

The recently formed alliance brings together leading charging network operators, energy companies, standardisation bodies, forums and research institutions such as Pulse Energy, Kazam, Sheru, Turno, CHARGE ZONE, World Resources Institute, India Smart Grid Forum (ISGF), and Trinity Cleantech.

Their shared vision is to enhance digital economic transactions across various energy-related domains using the Beckn Protocol.

Send an email to team@ueialliance.org to join the movement!

. . .

💻Tarka Labs explores the inner workings of Beckn Protocol

In Episode 2 of “Build with Beckn”, Tarka Labs explores the seamless dynamics between the Registry, Seller-side Platforms, Buyer-side Platforms and Gateway, and explains their function in streamlining transaction procedures.

Learn how the components work behind the scenes. Watch the full video here👇.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unad3bcSszE

. . .

When two AI Agents communicate, Beckn can be the contracting infrastructure👥

In this article, Pritam Bordoloi explores the role of Beckn beyond traditional e-commerce to enable innovative use cases in the realm of artificial intelligence (AI).

For example, when an AI agent takes autonomous action on behalf of a user, let’s say to book movie tickets or cabs, how do you verify that the agent has indeed made the booking? This necessitates a programmable, machine-readable method of contracting in real-time, and requires an interoperable protocol such as Beckn.

Beckn can foster trust in AI-driven interactions, paving the way for seamless and secure automated transactions.

Read the full article here.

. . .

The Pune DPG Community dives into Beckn⭐

On April 27, Ansha Dixit shared the transformative potential of open network thinking at the DPG Tech Fusion event hosted at the Ideas to Impacts Hub in Pune. A big thank you to Tekdi Technologies for the opportunity.

. . .

This wraps up our April edition of the newsletter. If you have any thoughts and suggestions about this newsletter, drop us an email at community@fide.org. We appreciate all your feedback.✨

Beckn Newsletter March‘24

Greetings, Collective! 🚀

March has been eventful, and when we say eventful, we mean a full-blown, action-packed carnival of developments that cannot be missed! This month, we held the first-ever offline Beckn Community Meetup and announced tons of new projects that are set to amp up innovation and significantly support your journey to Build with Beckn.

We hope you had a chance to participate in the historical gathering at IIM Bangalore. If not, here’s a summary of all the highlights.

. . .

🔥 The first-ever Beckn Meetup held at IIMB🙌

Leaving the solo screens behind, nearly 300 members of our community came together to celebrate their Beckn journeys, spark new ideas and forge exciting collaborations at the first-ever Beckn Bengaluru Meetup on March 20 in collaboration with NSRCEL at IIM Bangalore.

The day was filled with many milestones, including the launch of Beckn-ONIX and various new projects in which you can participate!

You can choose from a list of projects here: Contribution Form

. . .

⚡Beckn-ONIX: For swift implementation of Beckn-enabled open networks

In an impressive demo on March 20, Ravi Prakash demonstrated Beckn-ONIX or Beckn-Open-Network-In-A-Box, an open-source project that enables rapid deployment and configuration of Beckn-enabled networks through a virtual appliance.

With Beckn-ONIX, he set up a bare essential open network in 7 minutes on multiple nodes across four machines. Traditionally, this process would have taken weeks. You can watch the full demo here👇.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDP7e1BWgek&feature=youtu.be

Here is your chance to create robust and reliable builds of Beckn-ONIX for real-world use. Get started with Beckn-ONIX.

. . .

🎨A graphical adventure awaits with the upcoming Beckn Comic Book

One of the projects that we are so very excited about is the Beckn Comic Book!

This fantastical rendition of the Beckn World in print aims to explain the Protocol’s core concepts and philosophies in an enjoyable and accessible way for a wider audience. We hope it will inspire more Beckn enthusiasts and lead to the generation of world-changing ideas!

You can help us determine the vibe, the adventures and the characters as part of this series by filling out this short survey. 👇
Survey Form

. . .

MuLearn Hacker Team implements ONDC AI Chatbot for Pune hackathon, wins first prize

Congratulations to the GTech MuLearn team of hackers who grabbed the top spot at the DPG Tech Fusion Hackathon in Pune. The teams worked on two projects: one of them was the MuLearn Open Network (based on Beckn) and the second one was an AI chatbot tailored for ONDC. The chatbot helps remote sellers/farmers add a catalogue to the network based on a simple voice-based instruction, such as, “I have a sack of rice to sell”.

The DPG Tech Fusion powered by the Sunbird Community is aimed at bringing together DPGs and DPI practitioners from diverse backgrounds. Our community champion Harsh Shah introduced Beckn to the curious attendees and also guided the teams at the hackathon.

. . .

Centre for Trustworthy Technology, World Economic Forum advocates for open networks

A recent white paper by the Centre for Trustworthy Technology (C4TT), the World Economic Forum, explores the power of Open Transaction Networks (OTNs) or Open Networks to revolutionise the digital economy.

Many experts support this approach, as outlined in this brilliant paper co-authored by Satwik Mishra, Neeraj Jain, and Rajeesh Menon.

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Beckn and Beyond: Thomson Skariah Thayil talks about business opportunities on open networks

The last episode of Beckn and Beyond featured Thomson Skariah, the CEO of placeorder.com., who explored the limitless opportunities for innovation on Open Networks like ONDC based on his hands-on experience of running the first B2B app on the network. 🚀

Catch the complete episode here👇.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYaQE4o_Ryg

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This newsletter is a shared journey of Beckn enthusiasts. Your insights matter, and we encourage you to be an active part of shaping our future newsletters. Drop us your thoughts, suggestions, and preferences at community@fide.org. ✨

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Haqdarshak’s innovative government welfare scheme discovery initiative using Beckn

While there are over 20,000+ government schemes and services currently available across the country, the issue of low scheme awareness continues to persist amongst the larger population.

When governments invest in scheme awareness campaigns, there is a tendency to focus on a handful of flagship schemes. Additionally, there are problems of unclear, sometimes even incorrect information about schemes being disseminated, along with complex application processes. All these factors make it even harder for citizens to access critical schemes.

Haqdarshak decided to develop a solution to this problem, working with Beckn Protocol and Societal Thinking to make the scheme discovery process easier. By leveraging Beckn and working with ecosystem participants, they identified various mechanisms for scheme discovery at existing interaction points, allowing citizens to discover schemes in spaces they already have access to.

For example, if a pregnant citizen visits her local Primary Health Center for a check-up, the attending Anganwadi worker can easily and instantly look up and inform her about all the different maternity benefits and health insurance schemes available, which she may be eligible for. Haqdarshak recognizes Beckn’s potential in social service and welfare delivery to facilitate seamless and decentralised transactions, actively incorporating the protocol into their solutions. Haqdarshak is well-positioned to play a crucial role in the evolution of open networks, ceaselessly innovating and developing solutions that unlock the full potential of this transformative technology.

Here are some key ways in which the organisation is leveraging Beckn

• Enhanced Discovery
• Real-time communication

Haqdarshak’s ingenuity, coupled with the power of Beckn Protocol, is revolutionising the way citizens access and benefit from government welfare schemes. The organisation is successfully bridging the gap between complex welfare program delivery and the people it aims to serve.From local initiatives to national ventures, the adoption of Beckn is growing, as more organisations seek to unify disparate systems and streamline complex processes. We expect even greater advancements in open networks, towards more inclusive and interconnected systems. In the social sector space, Haqdarshak is at the forefront of this exciting transformation.

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Get on in the action: Contribute to these new Beckn projects!

Hey guys, here is your golden opportunity to showcase your expertise, elevate your stature within the community, and earn  recognitions, all while being an integral part of an extraordinary movement!

On March 20, on the grand occasion of our biggest community meetup to date, we unveiled these cutting-edge projects, each offering a unique avenue for you to make your mark in the world of open solutions.

Ta-da! Here they are:

• Beckn+AI

A convergence of Beckn and AI to fire up your imagination

• Beckn Course

A comprehensive learning program for beginners to experts

• Beckn Comic Book

Becknverse coming to life in an enthralling comic book

• Beckn Bounty Program

Bugs hunted, rewards granted! Who doesn’t love a good Bounty Program? And just when you thought it couldn’t get better than this, drumroll… we have an extra-special surprise in store, one that we've kept closely guarded until now. While you are free to contribute to all of these projects, we suggest you choose the one that resonates most with your expertise and passion.

• Fill out the contribution form and let us know.

Click here Let the contributions begin!

March 20: The day of the first and biggest Beckn community meetup!

The energy crackles in the air as excited chatter fills the IIM Bangalore auditorium. Today is the day – the very first Beckn Community Meetup in the heart of Namma Bengaluru!For months, the Beckn community had been collaborating and driving change virtually. But with a meetup in the real world, it’s a different kind of energy. It is the buzz of human connection, the spark of shared vision, and the tangible sense of a collective on the verge of something big.Here, in this vibrant space, Beckn pioneers from all walks of life have gathered. Seasoned industry veterans like Dr. Pramod Varma and Sujith Nair, along with network pioneers from different domains. Enthusiastic newcomers, their faces alight with the dream of an open, decentralized future.

Highlights:

• Inspiring and compelling stories based on Beckn.
• Panel discussions with community champions representing various open networks.
• Exchange insights with the co-authors of Beckn and understand the cutting-edge developments in the tech space.
• Connections and networking with 200+ pioneers from the community.
• Delicious food, drinks, and laughter.

This isn’t just a meetup; it is a celebration. A celebration of the first generation of Beckn pioneers, the architects of a new era of digital interactions.