World Bank, IT ministry to come up with state-level DPI adoption index

The World Bank, along with the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (Meity), is working on developing a state-level Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) adoption index that will help boost the digital economy and support financial inclusion.

In response to Business Standard's queries, the World Bank said the project was under preparation.

"The state-level DPI index will help analyse gaps to strengthen the digital economy, support financial inclusion, and increase public-private innovation," it said. The bank has invited applications from consulting firms to participate in the initiative.

An official, who did not wish to be named, said the index would evaluate different states based on the level of adoption of DPIs. "The main aim is to encourage states to increase the use of DPIs. It will be used by the Centre to identify the gaps in the current systems," he said.  

Meity did not respond to Business Standard's queries until press time.

In its advertisement earlier this month, the World Bank said: "The work will be done under the aegis and guidance of the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology."

The bank did not give out details about the methodology of the project. "The proposed project is under preparation, and we will be happy to share the details once finalised," it said.

The DPI is a set of shared and interoperable digital systems built on open standards and specifications. India's DPI, also known as India Stack, has been appreciated widely for improving financial inclusion and increasing formalisation in the economy.  Several foreign countries have also expressed interest in India's DPI.

It consists of digital identity through Aadhaar, real-time payment through the UPI platform and other services like account aggregator. It was showcased to the world during India's presidency of G20 last year.

Earlier this month, India's G20 sherpa Amitabh Kant said that DPI would "become synonymous with the rest of the world".

Last year, the Centre signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with eight countries to offer them India Stack and DPI at no cost and with open-source access. These were Armenia, Sierra Leone, Suriname, Antigua, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Papua New Guinea, and Mauritius.

In August at the B20 Summit in New Delhi, co-founder of Infosys Nandan Nilekani announced that a global coalition, led by the Centre, would take India’s DPI model to 50 countries in the next five years. This coalition included the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Prakash Kumar, chief executive officer at Wadhwani Center for Government Digital Transformation, said India's DPIs had led to the inclusion of half a billion people into the banking system and enabled the direct transfer of benefits to millions.

"This success has sparked interest from over 40 nations expressing interest in adopting aspects of India's DPI, positioning India as a global leader in digital innovation," he said.