Initiative in the works in India to gauge state-level adoption of DPI

An initiative is underway in India to set up an index to determine the level of digital public infrastructure (DPI) adoption by all states in the country as a way of better positioning their digital transformation drive.

As reported by Business Standard, the undertaking by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has the support of the World Bank and it seeks to identify gaps that need to be closed up as the country pursues its digital transformation journey.

A consulting firm is being sought to work on the initiative, according to an advertisement for the manifestation of interest, with April 29 as deadline.

The Bank says the activity is to “help analyze gaps to strengthen the digital economy, support financial inclusion, and increase public-private innovation.”

The overall idea, according to an unnamed source cited by the outlet, is to prop up states to increase their level of DPI adoption which has the potential to speed up the country’s digital economy growth.

India is projected to become a trillion-dollar economy by 2030 due to the strength of its DPI stack. India played a leading role in popularizing the DPI concept during its presidency of the G20 and it has already shared its DPI expertise with other interested countries, with a plan to reach 50 of them with the technology by 2030.

The central government will use the state-level DPI adoption index to make informed choices about the gaps currently witnessed in the digital economy.

Details about the state-level DPI adoption index will be revealed progressively, the World Bank is quoted as saying.

A report released in February titled “India’s Digital Public Infrastructure: Accelerating India’s Digital Inclusion,” notes that state-level adoption of DPI in India has been impressive, through successful local initiatives which can be scaled nationally. It adds that DPI have been deployed to address specific challenges at the level of each state.

The creation of a state-level DPI adoption index in India comes weeks after a best practices and knowledge-sharing platform labelled “Niti for States” was rolled out by Niti Aayog, a public policy advisory.

It has been designed to serve as a DPI where vital and relevant knowledge, including 5,000 public documents, can be accessed for better policymaking and to foster good governance, Economic Times reports.

The platform is linked to Niti Aayog’s National Data Analytics Platform and knowledge shared on it touches several domains such as health, education and tourism. About six states are said to have already signed up to the platform.

Article Topics

digital government  |  digital identity  |  digital inclusion  |  digital public infrastructure  |  India  |  India Stack  |  World Bank