Addressing the audience at the Convergence India Expo regarding India’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), Sanket Bhondve, Joint Secretary, (MeitY) Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, expressed the need for India to develop vast data centres like the US. According to him, these will support the nation's endeavour to use its vast dataset. It will facilitate the analysis and localisation of data from across the nation, enabling further research and development purposes. 

As India advances towards developing its own foundational AI model and other AI-driven applications that require extensive data analysis, building a robust infrastructure becomes essential. This will enable our innovators to access affordable data centre services while also ensuring secure data handling by eliminating the need to store our Indigenous data in foreign data centres.

Indigenous Systems 

During his keynote, he says that the government is aiming to develop indigenous technologies ranging from an app store to a browser and email, etc. This is because the government seems worried about dependence on foreign technologies for basic digital connectivity, especially in emergencies like wars, internal disturbances, etc. For instance, among the very first things to be suspended in Russia after the declaration of war was Google Pay, raising enough eyebrows regarding overdependence on foreign technologies. 

With a focus on public needs in basic digital connectivity and governance, the government is working to develop indigenous systems. Recently, Zoho’s Ulaa—India’s homegrown browser—won the Indigenous Browser Development Challenge (IBDC) organized by MeitY.

To read more about Ulaa and IBDC,Click here! 

India’s Foundational DPI Infrastructure 

Speaking at the expo, Mr. Bhondve stresses the fact that India has a strong foundational DPI infrastructure held by innovations like Aadhaar, DigiLocker, UPI, Umang, and Bhashini, to name a few. The vision of the government is to realize the full potential of this strong foundational DPI through the right policies and decisions, as underlined in the G20 vision document. 

Cohesive Functioning 

Towards the end, he adds, 'We have our own Digi Locker, Umang, and all, Bhashini. But then we need to work together because the problem with government is we work in silos. When we come together, it's 1+1=11. That is the strength. This reflects upon the prevailing challenges in the industry that demand swift and sensible resolution to allow more support for the initiatives. Resolving this would help our innovators and the government to bolster India’s digital infrastructure.

The 32nd Convergence India expo & 10th Smart Cities India expo Convergence India Expo held at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, emerged as a pivotal platform for shaping India's tech-driven future. This platform not only featured a vast showcase and networking opportunities but also hosted over 45+ conference sessions with 220 speakers from the public and private sectors. It brought together industry leaders, innovators, and ministry representatives to discuss emerging technologies and market trends.