The Union Budget 2024, presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, introduces an ambitious plan to leverage Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) to boost productivity, generate business opportunities, and drive innovation across various sectors. By emphasising the scaling of DPI applications for the entire population, the budget highlights the transformative potential of digital technologies in areas such as credit, e-commerce, education, health, law and justice, logistics, MSMEs, service delivery, and urban governance.
India’s DPI, previously known as India Stack, has received international recognition for its comprehensive and inclusive approach to digital services. DPI has facilitated the creation of digital identities for a significant portion of the population and has achieved over 80% financial inclusion within a short timeframe. Its expansion into healthcare and education has improved the accessibility and efficiency of these services. The budget’s emphasis on further investments in DPI acknowledges its pivotal role in transforming our economy and society.
AI: A Catalyst for DPI
The next wave of DPI expansion, i.e., DPI 3.0, will be driven by Artificial Intelligence (AI). Here are some key areas where AI can enhance DPI:
- Healthcare: AI-enabled DPI can create a seamless, interoperable system for electronic health records, telemedicine, and remote monitoring. This will help bridge the urban-rural divide, ensuring every citizen can access necessary care.
- Financial Services: AI-driven credit scoring can democratise access to financial services for underserved populations, promoting financial inclusion. AI can also enhance the security of UPI transactions and safeguard connected wallets, payment gateways, and banking platforms through advanced fraud detection, real-time monitoring, and predictive analytics.
- Education: DPI paved the way for DIKSHA (Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing), providing e-learning content to students and teachers. AI can enhance this by offering personalised learning experiences, adaptive assessments, and real-time feedback at scale.
- Legal System: DPI and AI integration can significantly benefit the legal system. E-courts, digital case management systems, and AI-driven legal research tools can expedite judicial processes, reduce case backlogs, and improve access to justice.
- E-commerce: The synergy between DPI and AI can transform the e-commerce landscape by enhancing supply chain efficiency, predicting consumer behaviour, and optimising inventory management.
- Urban Governance: Smart city initiatives, underpinned by DPI and AI, can improve urban governance by enabling better resource management, traffic control, and public safety measures.
Ethical AI: Ensuring Responsible Innovation
The Indian government’s commitment to Ethical AI for Responsible Innovation is evident in initiatives by Niti Aayog and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), which promote transparency and accountability in AI practices. However, further measures are crucial to ensure AI’s ethical and responsible deployment in DPI enhancements.
Establishing comprehensive regulatory frameworks that enforce ethical standards across sectors is crucial, as it will protect the interests of our citizens by ensuring privacy, security, and fairness in AI-driven services. This includes developing robust AI governance testing frameworks and algorithmic auditing tools to ensure compliance with ethical guidelines. Fostering public-private partnerships to create diverse, inclusive datasets will mitigate biases and enhance AI fairness. Continuous education on ethical AI practices for developers and stakeholders is vital to cultivating a responsible AI ecosystem.
The Union Budget 2024’s focus on DPI, coupled with the integration of AI, sets a clear path for India’s digital future. By prioritising ethical standards and inclusive growth, India can harness the full potential of digital technologies to drive economic and social transformation. With DPI’s potential to propel the Indian economy towards becoming a trillion-dollar digital economy, the stakes have never been higher.
Source: ET Insights
