Driving the Smart City Mission with Smart

CapacityDaljeet Singh

Head, Government BusinessMeritTrac Services

Capacity building programme is one of the TOP 10 challenges in implantation of Smart Cities

Key Facilitators to a Successful Smart City• Planning & Management• People • Infrastructure

Each of these functions need GOOD QUALITY PEOPLE to Administer, Plan and Execute

City Planners

Support Staff

Maintenance

Transportation

Healthcare

Healthcare

Teachers

Public Safety

Help desk

Need to Recruit and Train of Large pool of resources addressing different requirements in a Smart City

The Challenge

Large Volume of Test Takers Security Threats due to High Stakes Need for Transparency

Wide-spread Domain Knowledge Test Administration Expertise Assessment Technology

Unfortunately, Fraud and Delays have Marred Recruitment Tests

Question Paper Printing

Question Paper Storage

Question Paper Transit

Impersonation Copying Result Processing

Fraud Delay

Is there a Solution?

Well managed Computer Based Tests (CBT) can address most of these Problems

Benefits of Using Computer Based Exam• Multi-batch Exams

• Simple to administer• Reduce risk• Inclusive

• Question paper SECURITY before, during and after the exam

• Increased ACCURACY through limited manual intervention

• TIME-BOUND; ability to process results faster

• Greater TRANSPARENCY; ability to respond to RTI queries accurately and in time

• Better quality of candidates to serve the Government for long time to come

• Peace of mind to Administrators

Local Self-Governments

Municipal Corporations

Police Departments

Transport Departments

Irrigation Department

Power Distribution

One of Largest computer based exams delivered in a single state. A local body took a progressive step by adopting best practices like Multi-batch exam and equating to make the exam process effective

The Dept. of Local Bodies of a large progressive state Volume

• 1947 vacancies to be filled in 17 positions• ~4 lakh candidates scheduled for the test• Project executed in 4 months• Tests administered in 10 cities in the state

Solution

• Online applications• Issue of Admit Cards, • Mock Test for Candidates, • Computer Based Exam, • Online representations from Candidates• Result Declaration

Benefits

• Logistical challenges compared to Offline exam got reduced• Received High level of Secrecy and confidentiality • Highly secure and transparent• IT-Enabled recruitment process – Online form, Admit cards,

Emails/SMS Alerts, Online Exam, Online Representations and Results

• The Department wanted to recruit candidates for 17 Posts in a large progressive state.

• Wanted to migrate exam to Computer Based mode but had to administer tests in the state only.

• Examination best practices had to be adopted to be able to deliver such a large test in the state at highest SECURITY, TRANSPARENCY and QUALITY

Large Computer Based Recruitment Test for a Local Body

Use of CBT, Marathi & English typing test and administering it in multiple batches across the state allowed body to recruit best candidates for the job

Largest Municipal Corporation Streamlines Recruitment using Technology

Volume• Test for 75,000 thousand candidates were scheduled,

tests administered in 14 Cities / locations• Test administered in 3 days, 9 batches• Test in Marathi

Solution

• Question paper management• Online Applications• Admit Card Processing• Scheduling• Venue Management & CBT administration• Result Management

Benefits

• High quality test, helping body recruit best fit candidates – offering enhanced experience to all stakeholders

• Key job success factors assessed – Marathi & English Typing – among others like aptitude• Enhanced reach allowed the body make the test inclusive & attract best talent from

across• No strain on internal resources as exam was administered by expert agency

• One of the largest local governments in Asia wanted to hire qualified candidates with skills, essentially ones with exceptional Marathi and English typing skills for clerical positions.

• 930+ candidates to be recruited using a fair, transparent and inclusive.

• The body adopted Computer Based Exams to assess applicants who had applied for the job

Municipal Corporation Leveraging Best Practices for Best Results

Examination achieved ZERO impersonation at a very high scale.The data later used for counselling and admissions.

A large entrance examination uses in-classroom Biometric finger print authentication to prevent impersonation

Volume• 1.5 lakh candidates authenticated during

examination in one day• 1750 devices used by 2200 resources in 100 cities• Counselling for 36,000 candidates at 16 cities

Solution

• Use of solution (patent pending) in-classroom fingerprint biometric verification solution.

• Registration of finger print captured at the classroom during the examination with minimum disruption and then verification during counselling & admission using the same data.

Benefits

• Prevention of impersonation• No change in process (seamless enrolment during

examinations)• Secure & Convenient• Reliable: ISO Standards based data capture

Impersonation in examinations is fast emerging as a major threat in high stake examinations in education and recruitment.

MeritTrac Solution: To prevent challenges of

impersonation To make the exam fair. Ensure that the method used

caused zero disruption and zero anxiety among the stakeholders.

Ensure that the method used is accurate and scalable for large number of test takers

Most Prestigious Engineering Entrance in the Country Prevents Impersonation

Achieving Faster Turnaround Time with TechnologyThe Public Service Commission has taken the lead in implementing a technology enabled solution setting benchmark for examination process in the country : • 100% accuracy; Zero totalling

error; no missing questions. Fairness in evaluation

• Greater transparency - Option for candidates to avail the additional service to see their answer sheets through a digital copy

• Greater quality of evaluation through dual or more evaluation at the same time

Volume

• 25,000 candidates, ~1 lakh scripts, 36 lakh images

• 4 evaluation centers, 210 evaluators, all PHDs• Evaluation done on 7 days a week

Fast tracking adoption

• On the job training provided to evaluators• Technical support at each center to assist

when needed

Acceptance

• Results published in under 40 days, from erstwhile 9 months. Highly convenient for commission

• Appreciation from evaluators for ease of evaluation; evaluators included 87 year old Subject Matter Expert

• Future adoption confirmed. Commission contemplating marking from home for next phase

• The Public Service Commission of a large state wanted to reduce the turnaround time of descriptive script evaluations for its Civil Services Examinations.

• They used On-Screen Marking to improve transparency, speed, and quality of evaluations

A Public Service Commission Leverages On-Screen Marking for Descriptive Exams

Thank YouDaljeet SinghDaljeet_S@merittrac.com