India’s digital public infrastructure, catching the next wave

Indias digital public infrastructure (DPI), loosely the India Stack and more, is a marvel of our times, shaped in a unique partnership between governments (Union and States), regulators, the private sector, selfless volunteers, startups, and academia/think tanks..

Much has been spoken and written about Indias DPIs, and as such, this article does not seek to repeat all of that, but instead about what is coming next, and who is driving it..

What began as a foundation with Aadhaar created by Nandan Nilekani and R.S. Sharma in 2009 has led to many more Lego blocks, coming on top of it, and on its side, to create a superstructure which delivers consistent, affordable, and across-the-board value to citizens, government and the corporate sector wherever it gets used imaginatively...

The rapid adoption and attendant visible ease of doing business in day-to-day transactions for citizens, has now led to a gradual opening of Aadhaar, beginning with voluntary usage, for various private sector applications...

DigiYatra is a Biometric Enabled Seamless Travel (BEST) experience based on a facial recognition system (FRS), again through a partnership between industry and government, which ensures seamless identification of passengers at key check points such as airport entry, security check and boarding gate clearance..

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