Digital Public Infrastructures (DPIs)

Context-

According to a Nasscom report, Digital Public Infrastructures (DPIs) are likely to help grow India towards a $1 trillion digital economy by 2030, helping it to be an $8 trillion economy.

About

• By 2030, DPIs will drastically improve citizens’ performance and promote social development with financial inclusion.
• According to the report, mature DPIs along with Aadhaar, UPI, and FASTag that have witnessed exponential adoption by 2022 might within the next 7-8 years provide an opportunity for further scalability, achieving even the most distant population.
• Mature DPIs have generated a fee of $31.8 billion, equivalent to 0.9% of India’s GDP.

Digital Public Infrastructures (DPIs) 

• Digital Public Infrastructures (DPIs) are digital platforms that assist the delivery of essential public services to citizens and companies. 
• They act as foundational bases, permitting various digital solutions to be built upon them and also act as digital ways facilitating seamless interactions among specific stakeholders.

Present Status in India

• India’s DPI atmosphere, called India Stack, has made good sized strides in recent years.
• India Stack is a hard and fast of open APIs and virtual public items that aim to unlock the economic primitives of identity, information, and accounts at population scale.

Key DPIs include

• Aadhaar: Unique digital identity for every resident.
• UPI: Real-time fee machine allowing immediate cash transfers.
• ESign: Digital signature answer for online authentication.
• DigiLocker: Platform for storing and sharing virtual files.
• API (Application Programming Interface) Gateway: Standardized interface for having access to government records and offerings.

Significance/Achievements

• • E Governance and Transparency
    • Improved Service Delivery: DPIs streamline government services, lowering manual techniques and corruption, leading to greater performance and transparency.
    • Citizen centric: DPIs empower residents with better access to government services, statistics, and possibilities, promoting participation and accountability.
    • Reduced Corruption: Transparency through online services and digital transactions minimizes house for corruption, promoting better governance practices.

• Economic Impact

• • • Financial Inclusion: DPIs like Aadhaar and UPI brought millions into the formal economic machine, facilitating easier access to credit and financial services.
    • Boost to Digital Economy: DPIs help digital transactions, e-trade, and online business, accelerating financial increase and developing new opportunities.

• Social Impact:

• • • Improved Public Health: DPIs can aid in healthcare delivery, disease surveillance, and telemedicine, enhancing access to high-quality healthcare in remote areas.
    • Government initiatives like Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission and National Health Mission leverage DPIs in healthcare.
    • Education and Skill Development: DPIs facilitate on-line learning systems, digital content access, and talent development programs, fostering knowledge dissemination and enhancing employability.
    • Hence, DPIs can play an important position in reaching Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in India.

• Additional Benefits:

• • National Security: Robust DPIs can help e-surveillance and intelligence accumulating, assisting in preserving national security.
  • Disaster Management: DPIs can facilitate early caution systems, useful resource allocation, and communique all through natural disasters, enhancing response effectiveness.
  • International Collaboration: India’s DPIs are gaining global reputation, attracting investment and fostering global partnerships in tech improvement.
    • For instance, Singapore and Sri Lanka incorporated UPI in their virtual structures.

Challenges

• Digital Divide: Unequal access to the internet and digital literacy prevent digital adoption.
• Data Privacy and Security: Concerns about statistics misuse and breaches require robust safeguards.
• Standardization and Interoperability: Ensuring unique DPI additives paintings seamlessly together remains essential.
• Capacity Building: Upskilling government officers and citizens to leverage DPIs effectively is important.

Measures

• Focus on inclusion: Bridging the digital divide through initiatives like PM Gramin Digital Literacy Mission.
• Privacy and safety: Strengthening statistics safety frameworks and ensuring responsible governance.
  • Enactment and implementation of Data Protection Act is needed on a priority basis, as underlined within the Puttaswamy judgment, 2027.
• Strengthening present DPIs: Scaling up adoption and promoting innovation of their use.
• Developing new DPIs: Exploring areas like public health, education, and agriculture.

Way Ahead

• Overall, DPIs maintain a vast ability to convert India’s digital landscape and empower citizens. Continuous evaluation and modifications are important to ensure DPIs remain applicable and powerful.
• Addressing current challenges and specializing in inclusive development are key to unlocking their complete capability.

Source: The Hindu

UPSC Mains Practice Questions:

Q. Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) is the backbone of a digitally empowered society, narrowing the citizen-technology gap. In this context, analyse the significance and challenges of DPI? (150W)

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