Thanks to the exemplary success of 'Digital India', India is ready to demonstrate the power of an inclusive citizen-centric innovation framework to the world, when it takes up the presidency of the powerful G-20 next month, at a time when the rules of a new digital world are being formed.
As a trendsetter, India makes the chances of developing a global digital infrastructure much more promising with the mega success of Aadhaar (a unique identity number) authentication in welfare schemes, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), an instant real-time payment system, CoWIN platform, and direct benefit transfer scheme (DBTS), that have been validated in terms of the roll-out, scale, and speed of implementation, especially in the G-20 multilateral forums.
Even multilateral financial institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have praised how effectively and transparently the online DBTS in India has helped the lowest strata of society. It is currently thought of as a template for other developing nations to follow to target subsidy recipients more successfully.
"We have already received interests from some major developing economies in the world for replicating our Aadhaar, for targeting benefit transfers," a partner at a Big 4 consulting firm told ABP News.
"With India’s G20 presidency, these interests will formalize and India can teach the world how to implement, such a scheme at a mass level," he added.
As global economies quickly digitalize, it is imperative to agree on an open source, open application programming interface (API), and an interoperable framework for public digital platforms on which the private sector can freely innovate.
Anurag Jain, Secretary, of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) called on the G-20 nations to develop and implement open source and inter-operable platforms like UPI and Aadhaar to encourage inclusive digitalisation around the world.
"Knowledge, innovation, and sustainability have emerged as the new age drivers of economic growth. India has created a host of open-source public digital infrastructures such as the CoWIN platform, Aadhaar, financial inclusion programmes, and UPI interface. G-20 should work towards creating and adopting guiding principles for such open source and inter-operable platforms and standards to promote inclusive digitisation across the world," he said while addressing B20 Indonesia Global Dialogue recently.
This would maximise the benefits of digital transformation for everyone on the planet, such as fresh data, measuring tools, economic growth indicators, and the accomplishment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In a bid to highlight India's digital prowess at G20 meetings to be held in various cities in 2023, the government has called for an expression of interest (EOI) from Indian entrepreneurs, start-ups, and college students for conceptualising a "State-of-the-art Digital Experience" for guests, including mobile applications, drone experiences, selfie stations, and potentially virtual reality use cases.
During India’s G20 presidency until November 30, 2023, four meetings and related events for the Working Group on the Digital Economy will be held across Lucknow, Pune, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru.
Ministries have started working with countries with issues similar to India's demographics or socio-economic development to recreate some of the technology platforms, such as the unique identity number, digital payments, and eSign.
"There are many things that the developed and developing world can learn from us. The idea is to establish India as a tech hub, and generate more business for private companies while improving bilateral partnerships. ,” a consultant directly working with the government told ABP News.