The G20 Digital Economy Working Group (DEWG) wrapped up its third meeting on Wednesday in Pune. The Global Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) Summit, held from 12-13 June 2023, saw the participation of over 250 delegates on-site, including approximately 150 foreign delegates representing 50 countries. Over 2000 individuals joined the event virtually. During the summit, India MoUs with four countries—Armenia, Sierra Leone, Suriname, and Antigua and Barbuda—to facilitate the sharing of its successful digital solutions known as India Stack, which have been implemented on a large scale to benefit the population.
The summit provided the global platform to discuss sector agnostic (foundational) and sectoral DPIs that inter-alia involved leadership, policy & practitioner level insightful, thought provoking and future shaping discussions among overall 60 Global Experts on DPIs, who participated in 10 important sessions viz. ‘Overview of Digital Public Infrastructure’, ‘Digital Identities for empowering people’, ‘Digital Payments and Financial Inclusion’, ‘DPI for Judicial Systems and Regulations’, ‘Digital Document Exchange for efficient service delivery’, ‘Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) for DPI’, ‘Digital Education and Skilling’, ‘DPI for Digital Health and Climate Action’, ‘Digital Agriculture Ecosystem’, and ‘Building the Global DPI Ecosystem’. By providing the global platform on DPI to digital decision makers from 50 Countries and multiple International Organisations, India took the lead and further strengthened its role of acting as a strong bridge between Global North (G20 members) and Global South (Developing and LMIC countries).
The Exhibition showcased 14 experience zones comprising successfully implemented DPIs related to Digital Identity, Fast Payment, DigiLocker, E-National Agriculture Market, Unified Mobile App for New-Age Governance, Open Network for Digital Commerce, and Digital India Journey.
The meeting of G20 DEWG began with participation of 77 foreign delegates from G20 members, 9 guest countries, 5 international organizations and two regional organisations. The discussion under Indian Presidency was led by Sushil Pal, Co-Chair G20 DEWG. Discussions were held on DPI and the concept of “One Future Alliance & One Future Fund’ for DPI, enabling principles for good DPI, and recognition of the need for financing opportunities for DPI in low and middle income countries (LMIC). The digital skilling, upskilling and reskilling, capacity building & awareness, building a mutual recognition framework for digital skills and information sharing were also discussed. The security for a safe, resilient and trusted digital economy and various aspects such as capacity building for children & youth, and countering potential security threats were also deliberated.
Earlier the Startup20 Engagement Group meeting in Goa witnessed crucial discussions and meetings aimed at strengthening collaboration and aligning efforts towards the growth and support of startups globally. Dr. Chintan Vaishnav, Chair of Startup20, underscored the importance of specific action points outlined in the Communiqué. The key action points include the creation and adoption of a definition framework for startups, creating a network institution to support startups and ecosystem stakeholders across G20, increasing and diversifying access to capital, easing market regulations for startups, and prioritizing the inclusion of underrepresented communities within the startup ecosystem as well as the scaling up startups of global interest.
Dr. Vaishnav proposed a significant allocation of 1 trillion dollars towards the startup ecosystem by the year 2030. The delegates wholeheartedly expressed their enthusiasm and dedication towards realizing the objectives delineated within the communiqué.
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