The G20 Digital Economy Working Group's third meeting came to an end on June 14, 2023.
During the summit, India signed MoU with four countries on sharing INDIA STACK i.e. successful digital solutions implemented at a population scale.
The G20 DEWG deliberated on its priority topics of "Digital Public Infrastructure," "Digital Skill Development," and "Cybersecurity in the Digital Economy."
The Global DPI Summit (12-13 June 2023)
The "Digital Public Infrastructure," "Digital Skill," and "Cybersecurity in the Digital Economy" priority topics of the G20 DEWG were discussed.
Over 250 delegates physically attended the summit, including about 150 international delegates from 50 different nations. Over 2000 people participated virtually. India and four nations, namely Armenia, Sierra Leone, Suriname, and Antigua & Barbuda, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on sharing INDIA STACK, or effective digital solutions deployed at a population scale.
The summit gave participants from all over the world a forum to discuss sector-neutral (foundational) and sector-specific DPIs. This included discussions at the leadership, policy, and practitioner levels that were insightful, provocative, and future-shaping.
Overview of Digital Public Infrastructure, Digital Identities for Human Empowerment, Digital Payments and Financial Inclusion, Digital Document Exchange for Efficient Service Delivery, Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) for DPI, Digital Education and Skill Development, DPI for Digital Health and Climate Action, Digital Agriculture Ecosystem, and Building the Global DPI Ecosystem. India took the initiative and furthered its position of acting as a strong bridge between the Global North (G20 members) and the Global South (Developing and LMIC countries) by giving the global platform on DPI to digital decision-makers from 50 countries and several international organizations. The sessions from the Global DPI summit can be seen on demand at https://www.indiastack.global/global-dpi-summit/
The Global DPI Exhibition (12-14 June 2023)
The exhibition featured 14 experience zones with successfully implemented DPIs for digital identity, fast payments, digilockers, soil health cards, e-national agriculture markets, unified mobile apps for new-age governance, open networks for digital commerce, seamless airport travel, language translation, learning solutions, telemedical consultation, and the Digital India Journey. The delegates that were in attendance at the summit and G20 DEWG meeting went there. The exhibition was also visited by residents of Pune, including professionals, young people, and elderly people.
The Closed-Door Meeting of G20 DEWG (13-14 June 2023)
On June 13, 2023, 77 foreign representatives from G20 Members, 9 Guest Countries, 5 International Organisations, and 2 Regional Organisations entered the G20 DEWG meeting behind closed doors. Shri Sushil Pal, Co-Chair of the G20 DEWG, conducted the discussion while India held the presidency. Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), the idea of "One Future Alliance & One Future Fund" for DPI, enabling principles for excellent DPI, and acknowledgment of the need for financing opportunities for DPI in Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMIC) were all topics covered throughout the meeting. After that, topics like knowledge sharing, developing a mutual recognition framework for digital skills, capacity building, and upskilling and downskilling were covered.
On the last day of the meeting i.e. 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.
The dedelegatesere exposed to Indian culture, Indian cuisine, Indian arts, Yoga, and Indian folk forms during the course of the last three days through a variety of cultural programs that were organized. The state government of Maharashtra provided complete assistance and coordination in the planning of this event, which is acknowledged and appreciated by the federal government of India.
As a next step, the fourth in-person meeting of the Digital Economy Working Group and Digital Economy Minister’s Meeting is planned to be organized in the month of August 2023 at Bengaluru, Karnataka.