• India is pioneering the concept of digital public goods that enhance the ease, transparency, and speed with which individuals interact with each other.
• All the registered digital public goods deployed in India only 54% have been developed in India. (Analysis of the DPG Alliance)
• Aadhaar implementation, DigiLocker, UPI and subsidy transfer (JAM), etc.
• The rise of DPGs-driven DPIs has exponentially increased market-driven innovation in India.

Digital Public Goods (DPGs):

• Digital public goods encompass software, data sets, AI models, standards, and content.
• These resources are considered free cultural works.
• They play a crucial role in sustainable national and international digital development

Key Characteristics:

• Digital public goods are non-rivalrous, meaning their use by one entity does not diminish their availability to others.
• They are non-excludable, allowing unrestricted access to all.
• These resources offer benefits across various sectors and contribute to inclusive development.

Examples and Impact:

• International organizations like UNICEF and UNDP are exploring the potential of Digital Public Goods to address digital inclusion challenges on a global scale.
• The eGov Foundation, founded by an architect of India''s Aadhaar system, has made significant contributions to building Digital Public Goods.
• Example: Digital health initiatives like DIVOC, which issued millions of verifiable QR code-enabled vaccination certificates in India and extended its use to Sri Lanka and the Philippines.
• The impact of Digital Public Goods extends to areas such as digital commerce and education, with initiatives like the Open Network for digital commerce and Open Network for education & skilling transactions contributing to transformative trends.

Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI):

• DPI refers to solutions and systems that enable the effective provision of essential society-wide functions and services in the public and private sectors.
• India’s DPI include Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Aadhaar identification platform, CoWin platform for healthcare, Digilocker as well as indigenously built 4G and 5G stack.

Components of DPI:

• Networked open technology standards built for public interest,
• Enabling governance, and
• A community of innovative and competitive market players working to drive innovation, especially across public programmes.

Benefits of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI):

• It is a critical enabler of digital transformation and helps to improve public service delivery at scale.
• It can help countries achieve their national priorities and accelerate the Sustainable Development Goals.
• It provides the means to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and bridge the digital divide.

Advantages of the Digital Public Goods:

• Cheaper delivery of public services using technology
• Faster and more dynamic delivery of services using technology
• Transparency in the delivery of public services using technology as seen in the direct benefit transfer scheme.
• Digital health solutions played a crucial role in bridging the gap in healthcare delivery as systems moved online to accommodate contactless care.

Challenges of DPGs:

• Privacy issues and identity theft: All stakeholders on one network potentially give rise to threats relating to privacy violations, identity theft, and exclusion from essential public services.
• Data theft: Consolidation of data under a single network can lead to Data theft.
• Inadequate governance and security frameworks: Sensitive personal data might be used to perpetuate exclusionary biases.
• Internet speed and Penetration: Sub-optimal speed and penetration of internet in rural locations pose challenges for the deployment of DPGs at scale.
• Digital tools: Lack of awareness of digital tools and their value proposition in the formal sector could result in low adoption of DPGs.
• Compromised or unusable formatting of datasets: It could hinder the development of applications by developers.
• Lack of private funding and government incentives: It prevents developers from leveraging the technology infrastructure.
• Vendor lock-in, external dependency, lack of flexibility coupled with risks of discontinuation or unilateral modifiability have been leading to rising concerns.

Digital Divide

• Despite these successes, there are still significant challenges to be addressed in promoting the use of digital public goods in India. One of the biggest challenges is the lack of digital infrastructure in rural areas. While digital technologies have been widely adopted in urban areas, many rural communities still lack access to basic digital services such as high-speed internet connectivity.
• This digital divide can further exacerbate existing inequalities and limit the potential impact of DPGs on empowerment. The government must hence first focus on strengthening digital connectivity in all areas.
• Another challenge is the lack of digital literacy and skills among many individuals, particularly those from marginalised communities. This can limit their ability to access and effectively use DPGs, further widening the digital divide. Addressing this challenge will require concerted efforts from the government, civil society organisations, and the private sector to promote digital literacy and skills development.

Digital Public Goods Alliance

• It is a multi-stakeholder UN-endorsed initiative that facilitates the discovery and deployment of open-source technologies.
• It can bring together countries and organisations to create a thriving global ecosystem for DPGs and help to achieve sustainable development goals.
• It is currently co-hosted by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, UNDP, and UNICEF but It is not a “legal entity.”
• They have a “Digital Public Goods Standard” which is used to evaluate if tech tools are digital public goods or not.
• UNDP focuses on advancing DPGs4DPI to help countries shift from fragmented and solution-based approaches to holistic, whole-of-society ecosystems to create digitally empowered world.

In spite of India’s tremendous track record in the usage of open-source systems, the overall domestic development ecosystem in the country needs sustained growth to satiate growing demand. The digitalization path must lead to inclusive and indigenous developments. The government and private entities must work together to achieve a full-fledged digital India.