The India Stack infrastructure roadshow stops in Trinidad and Tobago

India is hoping to be a global leader in digital public infrastructure and identity software, and it is pitching its so-called India Stack of digital products to countries. One of its targets is Trinidad and Tobago.

Tuesday, a delegation led by Hassel Bacchus, minister of digital transformation for the Caribbean country, met with representatives from India’s Ministry of Electronics and IT.

Indian officials have been using its G20 presidency to promote their vision for digital public infrastructure, which includes the India Stack — platforms designed to provide Indian citizens with access to government services based on their Aadhaar ID.

According to reports from business news publisher Economic Times , the India delegation discussed in detail aspects of the stack, including the nation’s unique identifier Aadhaar, Unified Payments Interface and DigiLocker wallet.

India’s model for digital public infrastructures has been applauded by numerous organizations such as the World Bank. That is despite the bank’s government emissary to the G20 group of finance ministers, Amitabh Kant, maintains that India’s vision needs defining and a legal framework to guide its deployment.

Developed economies have reportedly expressed less interest in adopting the stack. But many of the rest of the world’s economies, where many people still lack IDs, have been taking notes on India’s lessons.

This year, India signed agreements with multiple countries to share aspects of its public infrastructure work, including Papua New Guinea, Armenia and Sierra Leone.

Trinidad and Tobago, which has a sizable community of people of Indian descent, has been making its own digital identity plans. In May, the country signed a deal with 10 of its Caribbean neighbors for cross-border recognition of digital IDs.

Article Topics

Aadhaar  |  digital identity  |  digital public infrastructure  |  India  |  India Stack  |  Trinidad  |  Unified Payments Interface - UPI