At G20, India offers to share expertise in digital public infrastructure, AI

Trust is the cornerstone of most flourishing democracies, and it is no different for technological systems

India is “ready to contribute actively and share best practices in digital public infrastructure (DPI), artificial intelligence (AI), and data for governance (DfG) with the world,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the 19th G20 summit in Brazil’s Rio De Janeiro

Modi’s comments came as the G20 Troika members — India, Brazil, and South Africa — who are hosting the G20 summit presented a joint communiqué on digital governance frameworks.

“Building public trust in these systems requires transparency in operation, appropriate safeguards to respect citizens’ rights, and fairness in their governance,” Modi said. “This happens when such systems are inclusive, development-oriented, secure, and designed to respect the privacy of individuals.”

The technology sector has witnessed rapid advancement even though the global growth was at just over 3% — the lowest yet — compared to the pre-pandemic average of nearly 4%, Modi noted. If equitably deployed, it affords an opportunity to raise growth, reduce inequality, and bridge the gap in attaining the sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Adding that accelerating progress towards the SDGs requires inclusive digital transformation, Modi said that the experiences of several G20 countries have demonstrated that well-designed DPI, with help from AI, can enable the use of data for development, creating new jobs and delivering better health and education outcomes.

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