Interoperability of DPIs likely to be 'long-term goal' for G20 summit

Developed nations believe DPIs may be a threat to private payment networks

Amid persisting resistance from developed countries to formalising interoperable digital public infrastructures (DPIs) at the G20 summit, India may settle for making interoperability a “long-term goal” in the Delhi declaration by the grouping.

Global DPI has been one of the key priorities during India’s G20 presidency. India had showcased its success story on DPIs to the G20 sherpas in March, highlighting key DPIs developed by India such as Aadhaar, Co-Win, United Payments Interface, DigiLocker, and BHASHINI for addressing crucial issues, such as digital identity, financial inclusion, and equitable access to education and health.

However, developed countries say DPIs may emerge as a threat to private payment networks, apart from raising data-security issues.
 

“Since there is no consensus on DPIs, it may be mentioned as a long-term goal in the G20 leaders’ statement, keeping the door open for further deliberation in future G20 summits,” a government official said.

The B20, the business forum of the G20 economies, in its policy recommendations to the G20 last month advocated digitising identities —interoperable and recognised across borders — at the individual, enterprise, and farm levels.

“G20 nations to develop guidelines for unique single digital identification for MSME and individuals that can be securely accessed (based on consent) by different government and private stakeholders for identity verification and information access within 3 years,” it said.
 

However, in the G20 Digital Economy outcome document, released last month, the ministers concluded DPI was an evolving concept that might not be limited to sets of digital systems and could be tailored to specific country contexts and could be referred to with different terminologies, considering the diverse approaches of G20 members to digital transformation.

“As technological advancements continue to offer opportunities to transform public and private sector service delivery, DPI offers a promising approach to digital transformation by providing a shared technology infrastructure that can be built and leveraged by both the public and private sectors,” the statement said.  

The Digital Economy ministerial meeting also acknowledged that the lack of adequate safeguards, sustained financing, and technical assistance could result in poorly developed DPI, leading to several risks including data breaches and privacy violations, improper and unlimited access to personal data, violations of intellectual property rights, and security risks.

“In view of this, we underline the need to embrace global multi-stakeholder approaches, to build capacity, and provide technical assistance and adequate funding support for implementing robust, inclusive, human-centric, and sustainable DPI in LMICs (low and middle-income countries),” it added.

India has proposed to set up One Future Alliance (OFA), a voluntary initiative that aims to bring together governments, the private sector, academic and research institutions, donor agencies, civil society organisations and other relevant stakeholders and existing mechanisms to synergise global efforts in the DPI ecosystem. India has also decided to build and maintain a Global Digital Public Infrastructure Repository (GDPIR), a virtual repository of DPI voluntarily shared by G20 members and beyond. The repository aims to share the practices and experiences of development and deployment of DPI, which may include relevant tools and resources in different countries.