India has signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) with four countries, namely Armenia, Sierra Leone, Suriname, and Antigua and Barbuda, to share its digital solutions called India Stack. India Stack is a collection of indigenously-developed APIs and digital public assets that strive to enable the widespread utilisation of digital identity, data, and payments as fundamental economic elements.
The government has said it wants to offer India Stack or part of the stack to enterprises and countries across the world who want to innovate and further integrate, execute, and implement digital transformation. India Stack includes apps like Unified Payments Interface (India’s instant payments system), Aadhaar (the government’s digital identity card), and DigiLocker (a secure document access platform on a public cloud).
The MoUs were signed at the third meeting of the G20 Digital Economy Working Group (DEWG), which recently ended in Pune. Over the course of three days, the meeting included the Global Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) Summit and Global DPI Exhibition. Additionally, closed-door discussions were held among the G20 representatives, invited countries, and international organisations to address priority areas. The summit served as a global platform for discussions on both foundational and sector-specific DPIs. These discussions involved 60 global experts in DPIs and covered ten important sessions:
- An Overview of DPI
- Digital Identities for Empowering People
- Digital Payments and Financial Inclusion
- DPI for Judicial Systems and Regulations
- Digital Document Exchange for Efficient Service Delivery
- Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) for DPI
- Digital Education and Skilling
- DPI for Digital Health and Climate Action
- Digital Agriculture Ecosystem
- Building the Global DPI Ecosystem
The Exhibition featured experience zones that highlighted the various DPIs that have been successfully implemented, including digital identities, fast payments, DigiLocker, Soil Health Card, the E-National Agriculture Market (E-Nam), unified mobile apps for new-age governance, open networks for digital commerce, language translation technology, online learning solutions, and telemedical consultations, among others.
The closed-door session of the G20 DEWG meeting primarily focused on the introduction of the ‘One Future Alliance and One Future Fund’ concept. The objective is to unite nations and stakeholders to harmonise, influence, structure, and devise a blueprint for the future of DPIs, which can be universally employed. The discussions also emphasised the importance of enabling principles for robust DPI, as well as the recognition of the need for financing opportunities in low and middle-income countries (LMICs).
Participants discussed digital skilling, upskilling, and reskilling, as well as capacity building and awareness. They explored the establishment of a mutual recognition framework for digital skills and emphasised the significance of information sharing in this regard.
The Summit also explored solutions to ensure a secure, resilient, and trusted digital economy. Various aspects were addressed including capacity building for children and youth and strategies to counter potential security threats. Over 250 delegates in person, including approximately 150 foreign delegates representing 50 countries attended the event. More than 2,000 individuals joined virtually.
The fourth meeting of the Digital Economy Working Group and Digital Economy Minister’s Meeting is scheduled to take place in Karnataka in August. The meeting will be held in person, marking the next significant milestone in the ongoing discussions and collaborations on digital economy matters.
