More than 250 delegates attended the meeting in-person, of whom there were around 150 foreign delegates from 50 countries…reports Asian Lite News
India signed MoUs with four countries – Armenia, Sierra Leone, Suriname and Antigua and Barbuda – on sharing INDIA STACK, a digital solutions implemented at population scale during the third meeting of the ‘G20 Digital Economy Working Group (DEWG)’ that concluded here on Wednesday.
The agenda of the three-day meeting included the Global DPI (Digital Public Infrastructure) Summit and Global DPI Exhibition as the side events and closed-door meetings among the G20 delegates, invited countries and IOs on the priority areas, a statement said.
More than 250 delegates attended the meeting in-person, of whom there were around 150 foreign delegates from 50 countries. More than 2,000 people attended it virtually. India signed memoranda of understanding (MoU) with Armenia, Sierra Leone, Suriname and Antigua and Barbuda on sharing INDIA STACK.
The summit provided a global platform to discuss sector agnostic (foundational) and sectoral DPIs that inter-alia involved leadership, policy and practitioner-level insightful, thought-provoking and future-shaping discussions among overall 60 global experts on DPIs, it said.
These experts participated in 10 important sessions – ‘Overview of Digital Public Infrastructure’, ‘Digital Identities for empowering people’, ‘Digital Payments and Financial Inclusion’, ‘DPI for Judicial Systems and Regulations’, ‘Digital Document Exchange for efficient service delivery’, ‘Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) for DPI’, ‘Digital Education and Skilling’, ‘DPI for Digital Health and Climate Action’, ‘Digital Agriculture Ecosystem’, and ‘Building the Global DPI Ecosystem’.
By providing the global platform on DPI to digital decision-makers from 50 Countries and multiple international organisations, India took the lead and further strengthened its role of acting as a strong bridge between Global North (G20 members) and Global South (Developing and LMIC countries).
The exhibition showcased 14 experience zones comprising successfully-implemented DPIs related to Digital Identity, Fast Payment, DigiLocker, Soil Health Card, E-National Agriculture Market, Unified Mobile App for New-Age Governance, Open Network for Digital Commerce, seamless travel experience at airport, language translation, learning solution, tele-medical consultation, and Digital India Journey.
It was visited by the delegates attending the summit and G20 DEWG meeting. Residents of Pune comprising also visited the exhibition.
The closed-door meeting of G20 DEWG began with the participation of 77 foreign delegates from G20 members, nine guest countries, five international organisations and two regional organisations.
The discussion under the Indian Presidency was led by Sushil Pal, Co-Chair G20 DEWG, the statement said.
During the meeting, discussions were held on DPI and the concept of ‘One Future Alliance and One Future Fund’ for DPI, enabling principles for good DPI, and recognition of the need for financing opportunities for DPI in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMIC).
Thereafter, digital skilling, upskilling and reskilling, capacity building and awareness, building a mutual recognition framework for digital skills and information sharing were discussed.
The meeting provided a global platform to discuss sector agnostic means foundational and sectoral DPIs that inter-alia involved leadership, policy and practitioner level insightful, thought provoking and future shaping discussions among experts on DPIs.
The exhibition organized during the event, showcased 14 experience zones comprising successfully implemented DPIs related to Digital Identity, Fast Payment, DigiLocker, Soil Health Card, E-National Agriculture Market, Unified Mobile App for New-Age Governance, Open Network for Digital Commerce, seamless travel experience at airport, language translation, learning solution, tele-medical consultation and Digital India Journey.
Digital skilling, upskilling and reskilling, capacity building & awareness, building a mutual recognition framework for digital skills and information sharing were also discussed. On the last day of the meeting on 14 June 2023, the security for a safe, resilient and trusted digital economy and various aspects such as capacity building for children & youth and countering potential security threats were deliberated.
Earlier, the third Digital Working Group meeting of the G20, which began on June 12 in Pune, had focused on drafting the declaration. The declaration would be finalised at the fourth working group meeting, which will be held in Bengaluru in August.
A G20 declaration is a joint statement issued at the conclusion of the G20 summit. It summarises the member countries’ promises to the world and their strategies for overcoming the challenges at hand. India is currently the G20 president.
“Those (skilling, DPI and security) remain the priority. It has been welcomed in every other multilateral forum and this is the future as the world sees it,” Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) Rajeev Chandrasekhar said while addressing a press conference on the sidelines of the Global DPI Summit in Pune.
During the inauguration of the Global DPI Summit, India signed MoUs with Armenia, Sierra Leone and Suriname. These countries will leverage India’s DPI such as digital payments and so on.
The G20 Bali Declaration of 2022, which was adopted when Indonesia was the president of the G20 countries, focuses on financial stability, humanitarian crisis, poverty, and aid to least-developed nations among other things.
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