The Union Cabinet led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the signing of an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) between the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the Ministry of Information, Communications Technology, utilities of the Antigua and Barbuda on the cooperation in the field of sharing digital solutions implemented at the Population Scale for Digital Transformation.
Objective of the MoU
The MoU intends to promote closer cooperation and exchange of experiences and digital technologies solutions (INDIA Stack) in the implementation of digital transformative initiatives of both countries. The MoU envisages improved collaboration leading to employment opportunities in the field of IT, the cabinet said in its official release.
The MoU shall come into effect from the date of the signature of the parties and shall remain in force for a period of three years. Both the G2G (Government to Government) and B2B Cooperation in the field of Digital Public Infrastructure will be enhanced. The activities contemplated in the MoU would be financed through their administration’s regular operating allocations.
Role Played by the MeitY
MeitY is collaborating with a number of countries and multilateral agencies to foster bilateral and multilateral cooperation in the ICT domain (Information and Communication Technology), Over the period, MeitY has entered into MoUs and MoC and agreements with its counterpart organisations and agencies from various countries to promote cooperation and exchange of domain in the ICT domain.
This is in consonance with the various initiatives taken by the Government of India, such as Digital India, Atmanirbhar Bharat, and Make in India to transform the country into a digitalized powered society and knowledge economy. In this changing paradigm, there is an imminent need for exploring business opportunities, sharing best practices, and attracting investments in the digital sector with the overall objective of enhancing mutual cooperation, according to the release.
India’s Achievement in DPI Domain
Over the last few years, India has demonstrated its leadership in the development of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and has successfully provided delivery of services to the public during the COVID-19 Pandemic. As a result, many countries have evinced interest in learning from India’s experiences and are entering into various MoUs with India to learn from the experience gained by India in this domain.
India Stack Solutions are the DPIs that were developed and implemented by India at the population scale to provide access and delivery of public services. It aims to create and provide meaningful connectivity, promote digital inclusion, and enable seamless access to public services. These are built on open technologies are interoperable and are designed to harness industry and community participation which fosters innovation.
What is DPI?
DPI refers to blocks and platforms such as Digital Identification, payment infrastructure and data exchange solutions that help countries develop and deliver essential services to their people. The DPI mediate the flow of people, money, and information.
Pillars of India’s DPI
The first pillar of the DPI is Aadhar. It is a strategic policy tool for social inclusion and financial Inclusion. The second pillar is DigiYatra. It is based on a Facial Recognition System which is nothing but a biometric-enabled Enabled Seamless Travel (BEST) experience.
The third pillar is Digilocker, in which people can safely and securely store their important e-documents such as insurance, medical support, PAN cards, certificates and even passports. The fourth and final pillar is the UPI (Unified Payments Interface) that powers multiple bank accounts into a single mobile application (of any participating bank), merging several banking features, seamless fund routing & merchant payments into one hood.
