Digital Public Infrastructure

Digital Public Infrastructure

Context: The term Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) is in news consistently especially after India has taken the lead on its discussions in the G20 Summit through Digital Public Infrastructure repository.

What is DPI?
• Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) is a digital network that enables countries to safely and efficiently deliver economic opportunities and social services to all residents. It can be compared to roads, which form a physical network that connects people and provides access to a huge range of goods and services. 
The concept of DPI is evolving, but there is growing consensus on it being a combination of:
• For example, India, through India Stack, became the first country to develop all three foundational DPIs: Digital identity (Aadhar), Real-time fast payment (UPI), and Account Aggregator built on the Data Empowerment Protection Architecture (DEPA).

Examples of DPI architecture in Government programmes:
• Digital India – Digilocker, e-sign framework
• National Health Stack - Here all major stakeholders such as hospitals, insurers, TPAs, government, and HealthTech startups can come under one roof. This will facilitate the collection of comprehensive healthcare data electronically.
• Ayushmann Bharat Digital Mission
• BharatNet - BharatNet is a high-speed broadband network project aimed at providing affordable internet connectivity to rural areas in India.
• Government e-Marketplace (GeM) - It has online platform that enables government departments and agencies to procure goods and services from registered vendors.
• UMANG (Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance) – Mobile app for access to various government schemes.

What are the benefits of DPI in India?
• Financial and Social Inclusion: DPI experiments, including Aadhaar, UPI, and account aggregators, have revolutionized the digital landscape, enabling financial and social inclusion across different sectors. For example, Cash assistance to women during Covid-19, use of mobile e-wallets and digital payment platforms has improved financial inclusion.
• Increased Internet Subscriptions: DPI has added more internet subscribers in rural areas in the last 3 years (2019-21) than in their urban counterparts (95.76 million vis-a-vis 92.81 million in rural and urban areas respectively). This has been a result of dedicated digital drives across rural areas through ambitious government schemes.
• Better accessibility: Especially in rural areas where students have relied on online education, study material under through pm-eVidya scheme, access to healthcare through e-Sanjeevani portal etc.
• Global Recognition: India’s creation and harnessing of its DPI are capturing global attention. The vision of India Stack is not limited to one country; it can be applied to any nation, be it a developed one or an emerging one.
• Promoted economic growth, seamless access to government services (online passport, faceless assessment of income tax) and it has bridged the Digital divide both between urban and rural India and malefemale.

Way Forward
• Robust cybersecurity framework is needed for protection of our Digital assets so that they don’t succumb to Cyber attacks
• Better, faster, affordable and accessible internet and broadband infrastructure is need of the hour for seamless delivery of public services and better user experience.
• Implement steps to promote Data Localisation efforts.