GraphQL and Government Technology

The use of GraphQL in government technology is a topic that has been increasingly discussed. Questions regarding its appropriateness for legacy tech, its role in modernization projects, and its functionality within highly regulated environments filled with a mix of modern and legacy systems have arisen. However, the answer to all these questions is yes. GraphQL Asia recently hosted a talk by Bharat Kashyap, a software engineer at Samagra Development Associates, which focused on GraphQL adoption in government. The Central Tech Team at Samagra has been working towards creating a culture of using open-source, scalable, and fast tech for government use cases. They have enabled tracking and monitoring of student and teacher attendance in all public schools of Haryana, built the technology architecture behind Mission Prerna in Uttar Pradesh, and helped Himachal Pradesh be declared the country's best state in terms of learning continuity in 2020. The evolution of government technology has been divided into three phases: computerization, digitization, and public digital infrastructure. The latter is an emergent property and less well-defined than the others but plays a significant role in modernizing government systems. One example use case discussed was e-Samwad, which refers to "digital public goods for school education" and includes a mobile application for a parent-student interface, a unified student database, and a learning progress monitoring system. This same capability has been taken and used to solve similar challenges in neighboring states. The challenges faced by government tech providers include migration from legacy systems with a focus on the wide variety of products already deployed in the public sector. The second challenge was particularly interesting and was called 'Community'. It highlighted that sometimes, the features that would be prioritized for governments are not the ones being prioritized by the community. The benefits of using GraphQL include its speed, configurability, and scalability. In fact, the solutions referenced in the talk are deployed in a region with a population of 200 million! Security and compliance are also important topics when considering GraphQL's use in highly regulated environments. Hasura Cloud has attained SOC2 type 1 and HIPAA certifications to address these concerns. To learn more about GraphQL, resources such as high-level overviews, comparisons with REST, and information about the GraphQL community are available. Additionally, trying out Hasura Cloud's free tier can provide hands-on experience in exploring its offerings.