Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), utilizing Aadhaar, UPI, DigiLocker, and India Stack, is revolutionizing governance by enabling inclusive, paperless, and cashless services. It bridges digital divides, promotes financial inclusion, and offers scalable models for the Global South. Despite concerns over privacy, security, and equitable access, DPI offers a replicable framework for sustainable growth.
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Picture Courtesy: NEWSONAIR
India’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) transforms lives by delivering services to 1.4 billion people, making it a powerful model for the Global South.
It refers to foundational, open, and interoperable digital systems that facilitate the delivery of public and private services at a societal scale.
Like physical infrastructure such as roads and railways, DPI provides the essential "digital rails" for a nation's digital economy.
The G20 Leaders' Declaration in 2023 officially defined DPI as a "set of shared digital systems that are secure and interoperable, built on open standards, to deliver equitable access to public and/or private services at societal scale".
India's DPI is built on a layered architecture known as the "India Stack." It combines open APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) and open standards to deliver key services like identity, payments, and data management.
Universal and portable: Aadhaar is a 12-digit unique identification number issued to residents, providing a universal, verifiable identity across India.
Biometric authentication: It uses biometric data, such as fingerprints and iris scans, to ensure the uniqueness of each individual, eliminate duplicate and fake identities, and prevent fraud.
e-KYC (electronic Know Your Customer): Aadhaar-based e-KYC enables paperless, instant verification for services.
Instant and interoperable: UPI allows for instantaneous peer-to-peer and peer-to-merchant payments through a single mobile application.
Low transaction costs: UPI's open architecture and low-cost model make digital payments accessible and affordable.
DigiLocker: Secure cloud-based platform enables citizens to store, share, and verify documents digitally. Documents issued via DigiLocker are legally equivalent to physical originals.
Account Aggregator (AA) framework: Enables consent-based financial data sharing between different financial institutions, making loan applications and financial management faster and more secure.
Broadband Network: BharatNet project provides high-speed optical fiber connectivity to over 2.18 lakh Gram Panchayats as of early 2025.
Wireless Access: Widespread mobile network coverage, including 4G in over 95% of villages by December 2024.
Access Points: Common Service Centres (CSCs) act as last-mile digital service delivery points in rural and remote areas.
Government Cloud (MeghRaj): Optimizes resource use for government departments, accelerating e-governance application deployment.
National Data Centres (NDCs): Managed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) in locations like Delhi, Hyderabad, and Pune, NDCs provide secure storage and computing for core DPI platforms.
CERT-In: The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) acts as the national nodal agency for responding to cybersecurity incidents and issuing security advisories.
Consent-based Architecture: Data Empowerment and Protection Architecture (DEPA) ensures consent-based data sharing.
Best Practices: Frameworks like the Cyber Crisis Management Plan (CCMP) strengthen India's defenses against cyber threats.
Rapid financial inclusion: India’s JAM (Jan Dhan, Aadhaar, Mobile) Trinity helped achieve over 80% financial inclusion.
Affordable digital access: UPI's low transaction costs made digital finance accessible to all, including small businesses and rural populations.
Population-scale operations: Systems like Aadhaar and UPI handle billions of transactions and authentications, serving large, diverse populations.
Reduced corruption: DPI enables transparent direct benefit transfers, eliminating intermediaries and reducing leakages.
Promotes a vibrant ecosystem: Open APIs allow startups and private companies to build innovative services.
Enables collaboration: Government provides the infrastructure, while the private sector drives innovation and competition.
Modular and open-source: The "DPI as a Service" (DaaS) model is easily adaptable, allowing other nations to adopt components suited to their needs.
Knowledge-sharing initiative: India promoted its model at the G20, launching the Global Digital Public Infrastructure Repository (GDPIR) for international collaboration.
India relies on US firms like Google and Nvidia for AI and cloud, weakening its Atmanirbhar Bharat narrative.
Collaborations with the US and EU risk perceptions of Western alignment, potentially alienating Global South nations wary of external influence.
DPDPA’s strict rules may slow innovation, a challenge for countries adopting India’s model. Weak oversight risks data exploitation.
Aadhaar’s biometric errors exclude some from welfare in India. Similar issues could harm vulnerable groups in adopting nations.
Expand Modular Open-Source Identity Platform (MOSIP)’s use, enabling nations to tailor DPI to local needs, like Ethiopia’s FarmStack for agriculture.
Share expertise through training and digital literacy programs, extending CSC-like models to rural areas in developing nations.
Utilize the Global Digital Public Infrastructure Repository (GDPIR) to facilitate knowledge exchange, helping countries learn from India's DPI scaling experience.
Develop governance models to balance innovation and prevent monopolies, suitable for Global South economies.
Share India's experience with frameworks like the Account Aggregator to help partners develop transparent data-sharing rules that balance data protection with developmental needs.
Offer expertise and technology to strengthen cybersecurity defenses in partner nations, proactively addressing vulnerabilities
Deploy the $25 million SIF, announced during India's G20 presidency, to provide financial and technical assistance for DPI projects in the Global South.
Leverage forums like the G20, UN, and the Quad to build consensus and mobilize resources for global DPI development.
India’s DPI, with Aadhaar, UPI, and India Stack, offers a scalable, inclusive blueprint for the Global South, blending government-led systems with private innovation. By tackling digital divides, privacy concerns, and local misalignments, India can ensure its DPI model empowers developing nations, promoting equitable growth and digital sovereignty.
Source: NEWSONAIR
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PRACTICE QUESTION Q. Critically examine India’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) as a model for inclusive governance in the Global South. 150 words |
DPI refers to foundational digital systems and platforms, such as digital identity and payment systems, that enable the delivery of public and private services at a societal scale.
India Stack is a set of open Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that allow developers to use a unique digital infrastructure to deliver presenceless, paperless, and cashless services.
The JAM Trinity connects Jan Dhan bank accounts (financial inclusion), Aadhaar (unique digital identity), and mobile phones to enable the efficient and transparent delivery of welfare benefits.
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