The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of 56 independent and equal countries. It is home to 2.7 billion people, including both advanced economies and developing countries.
What is Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI)?
- India is hosting the Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth (CSPOC) for the 4th time.
- DPI are a set of shared, secure, and interoperable digital systems that are built on open standards and governed by enabling rules (i.e., policies, regulations, institutions).
- DPI typically operates as a three-layered "stack":
- Identity Layer: Provides unique identification (e.g., Aadhaar).
- Payments Layer: Enables interoperable, low-cost, real-time transactions (e.g., Unified Payments Interface or UPI).
- Data Layer: Facilitates secure, consent-based data sharing (e.g., Account Aggregator framework).
Significance of DPI
- Effective Public Service Delivery: Government e-Marketplace (GeM) surpasses ₹5 lakh crore Gross Merchandise Value.
- Payment revolution: UPI powers 85% of India’s digital payments and nearly 50% of global real-time digital payments.
- Breaking Language Barriers: BHASHINI (BHASHa INterface for India) supports 35+ Indian languages, 1,600+ AI models, and 22+ languages.
- E-Governance: UMANG app offers 2,300 services in 23 languages, with 8.71 crore registrations.
- Soft Power Diplomacy: DPI potentially promotes cross-border digital partnership and positions India as a trusted digital partner.
Key Initiatives by India to enhance the reach of Indian DPI at international levels:
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