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Learnings from India’s G20 Task Force on Digital Public Infrastructure report
Learnings from India’s G20 Task Force on Digital Public Infrastructure report

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In July 2024, the G20 task force on Digital Public Infrastructure for Economic Transformation, Financial nclusion and Development released a report sharing the progress of DPIs and showcasing their benefits in solving societal problems and how they can be adopted by other countries globally.

Till recently, DPI was described as “an infrastructure-based approach that uses technology to achieve societal goals through an ecosystem (comprising technology, markets and governance) built in the public interest that leverages competitive private innovation within regulatory guardrails.”

However, the G20 taskforce expands this definition and describes it as “a set of shared digital systems that should be secure and interoperable and can be built on open standards and specifications to deliver and provide equitable access to public and / or private services at societal scale and are governed by applicable legal frameworks and enabling rules to drive development, inclusion, innovation, trust, and competition and respect human rights and fundamental freedoms.” Human rights and fundamental freedoms now have become a key aspect of the overall definition of DPIs.

More importantly, the paper also details out what kind of digital interventions are not DPI. Some examples that are not DPIs include –

  1. Connectivity infrastructure that improves individuals' access to mobile and internet via physical infrastructure (creation of cell towers, laying underground internet cables, etc.), which is a necessary precondition for DPI, however, is not included within the definition of the term DPI.
  2. Digitizing existing physical processes or workflows to create a portal or crafting enterprise architecture are also not considered.

DPIs are currently categorised into five main groups –

DPI 9

 

  1. Verifiable Identity and Registries – for verifying ID & accessing profile data of people, entities, & objects.
  2. Data Sharing, Credentials, and Open Models – for sharing Data (history, profile, & attributes) peer to peer or publicly.
  3. Signatures and Consent – for assuring that data / agreements come with permission from source.
  4. Discovery and Fulfilment networks – for accessing goods and services via open protocols/APIs
  5. Payments – for making financial transactions with ease.

DPI approach is based on 3 core elements –

  1. DPI’s technology design should be –
    1. Interoperable and unified, not uniform
    2. Minimalist building blocks, rather than full solutions
    3. Federated
    4. Evolvable & Configurable
    5. Protocols not Platforms
    6. People First and Inclusive
    7. Privacy and Security by design
    8. Enabling Public-Private Innovation
  1. DPI’s governance structure should include –
    1. Specific statutory legislation or subordinate legislation under an existing statute
    2. Clear institutional mandates & new institutional categories by identifying and/or creating institutions to drive adoption of DPI, ensure consumer protection and maintain equal opportunity across DPI ecosystems
    3. Obligations in code including end-to-end digital workflows.
    4. Shared contractual arrangements
    5. Programmatic grievance redressal
  2. Market participation including involvement of market participants in the development and deployment of solutions.

Globally, many countries around the world have deployed DPIs. Some examples include –

  1. Verifiable digital identity systems such as Colombia's Cédula Digital, Nigeria's National ID or Bank Verification Numbers; Bangladesh National ID, the Philippines' PhilSys etc.
  2. Interoperable payment systems such as the Brazil's Pix, Ghana's “Financial Inclusion Triangle", Indonesia's National Open API Payment Standard (SNAP) and Quick Response Code Indonesia Standard (QRIS) for cashless transfer, Philippines' QR Ph, Bills Pay PH and PESONet MBS, Singapore's PayNow etc.

Way forward for DPIs on a global stage includes –

  1.  Global advancement of DPI includes –
    1. Advocacy to globally facilitate DPI and its advantages for generating awareness
    2. Advisory to offer expert advice and recommendations to countries and organizations looking to adopt DPI mode
    3. Financing for the creation of a viable financial plan to support both the development and ongoing maintenance of DPI components
    4. Implementation involves practical phase of deploying the DPI in the country context.
    5. Skilling on capacity building through educational programs, workshops, and knowledge sharing activities
    6. Monitoring & Evaluation involves analysing the effectiveness of DPIs in fulfilling the Country Objectives.
  2. Supporting open & reusable technology frameworks by supporting open-source partners and encourage institutions to create or nurture DPG packages, exploring reusable managed services models, and participating actively in global standards setting bodies.
  1. Creating dialogue and alignment through annual DPI forums, global south forums, external engagements with WTO, UN etc, publishing research and analysis.
  1. Engaging in bilateral or multilateral efforts of engagement and other partnerships.
  2. Creating a focused institution and converge all efforts to optimize intended objectives, to foster and harness DPI ecosystem across various regions and countries, formulate and implement strategies with appropriate technical and academic expertise.

 

To read more about DPIs in India and their impact on the Indian economy, download the report “India’s Digital Public Infrastructure – Accelerating India’s Digital Inclusion”

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Vandhna Babu
Chief of Staff - President's Office

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