Primus Partners and iSPIRIT release a blueprint for India’s DPI to drive the Global South’s SDG progress
Primus Partners Pvt Ltd and iSPIRT announced the launch of a seminal report titled, ‘Beyond Boundaries: India’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) Model for Global Progress.’ The report comes after Primus Partners, in association with iSPIRT, held a multi-stakeholder Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) Roundtable last month that brought together senior bureaucrats, diplomats, policymakers, tech industry titans, and thought leaders, all united to advance DPI deployment across the Global South.
Building on the legacy of India’s G20 Presidency and the global adoption of the ‘Declaration on DPI, AI, and Data for Governance,’ the report offers a roadmap for the Global South to harness the transformative potential of DPI.
This report marks a significant milestone in documenting India’s leadership in developing Digital Public Infrastructure witnessed on 20 November at the G20 Brazil Summit when Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi unveiled the ‘Declaration on DPI, AI, and Data for Governance – Joint Communiqué by the G20 Troika (India, Brazil, and South Africa)’, co-endorsed by with Italy, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Mexico, the United Nations, World Bank Group, International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organisation, and World Health Organisation.
The report pays close attention to the global discussion on DPI such as ‘Report of India’s G20 Task Force on DPI’ and the UN OSET’s ‘Universal DPI Safeguards Framework’ and empowers global policymakers with strategic insights into accelerating the progress of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 through India’s experience of DPI deployment to 1.4 billion people in over 700 government programmes and multiple private sector services such as in e-commerce and fintech.
‘Beyond Boundaries’ outlines 11 targeted recommendations that focus on how the world and the Global South especially, can draw inspiration from India’s DPI approach for public service delivery and tailor them to their specific needs in a space that is fast evolving with multiple models of DPI such as ‘Traditional Custom Build Model’ for countries with large scale population such as India to ‘DPI as a Packaged Solution Model (DaaS)’ for countries small in size and population. These recommendations are:
- Interoperability, Open standards, and Citizen-first principles
- Integrating Comprehensive Frameworks for DPI
- Strategic Partnerships for Advancing DPI
- Implementing a Phased, Layered Approach to DPI with Targeted Regulatory Support
- Ensuring Accessibility, Inclusivity, Localisation, and Data Sovereignty in Digital Public Infrastructure
- Driving DPI through Policy and Government Programs
- Enhancing Data Accessibility for Successful DPI Implementation
- Capacity Building, Skill Development, and Digital Literacy for Successful Digital Public Infrastructure Implementation
- Ensuring Cost-Effectiveness in DPI Development
- Strengthening R&D, Data Exchange, and Educational Initiatives to Drive DPI Success
- Leveraging DPI to Accelerate Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Achievement by 2030
These recommendations aim to address critical governmental concerns such as data sovereignty and privacy, magnified by increasing technological penetration and digital expansion. The report discusses how the private sector can leverage open-source APIs from India Stack to fuel a booming digital economy. Additionally, the report notes significant growth in the customer base of fintech and e-commerce companies expanding into Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities through the utilisation of government-supported digital infrastructure services like identity verification, payments, and data sharing.
In his foreword, Mr. Amitabh Kant, India’s G20 Sherpa, highlighted the urgent need for scalable solutions to achieve the SDGs, with only 12% currently on track. He expressed confidence in DPI’s potential to provide inclusive solutions that can scale globally, and India’s readiness to share its DPI successes with other nations wishing to develop their tailored DPI frameworks to meet local needs.
Devroop Dhar, Managing Director, Primus Partners, commented, “With ‘Beyond Boundaries’, we aim to catalyse a global shift towards more robust and inclusive digital infrastructures that can dramatically enhance societal and economic outcomes. The recommendations within this report are designed to guide and inspire action that will integrate DPI into global governance and public service delivery. DPI is among the foremost solutions to global challenges that SDG 2030 is positioned to address.”
