Lucknow Hosts India's G20 Presidency Meeting Of Digital Economy Working Group- Aims To Shape Digital Public Infrastructure

The first Digital Economy Working Group (DEWG) meeting began on February 13, 2023, in Lucknow, with inaugural addresses by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Union Ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw, Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey, and Union Minister of State Rajeev Chandrasekhar. The Indian counterparts emphasized the importance of digital technologies for life transformation and long-term development.

Virtual reality and artificial intelligence exhibition, as well as innovative solutions such as ASK AI, ASK GITA, AI Chess, AI in daily lives, Digital India Journey, Lucknow VR Tour, and various initiatives of the Central Government and the State Government of Uttar Pradesh, was also launched.

The welcome address was delivered by Alkesh Kumar Sharma, Secretary, MeitY, who emphasized the DEWG's critical role in promoting cyber security, fostering digital competency and advancement, and facilitating DPI development in the digital economy.

The first session of the day covered 'Digital Public Infrastructure’, sharing Implementation Experiences of Digital Identity in Different Countries.' Among the distinguished speakers were Dr. Saurabh Garg, CEO of UIDAI, Dr. Pramod Varma, CTO of the EkStep Foundation, Ichwan M. Nasution, of Indonesia, Dr. Irina Alexandra Soeffky, of Germany, and Fabian Delcros, of the European Union. The World Bank disclosed during the meeting that 850 million people do not have a government-issued ID and that it is working in about 50 countries to support the development of digital ID systems, including by providing $2 billion in funding. During the session, it was emphasized how crucial Aadhaar is as the base for developing other pieces of digital public infrastructure. Also discussed was the requirement for a strong legal framework to guarantee data protection, security, and privacy.

The second session on 'Sharing of Cyber Security Solutions for MSMEs', was participated by Mr. Vinayak Godse, CEO, DSCI, Mr. Frederic Sauvage, France, Mr. Craig Stanley-Adamson, United Kingdom, Ms. BasmahAljedai, Saudi Arabia, Ms. Camille de Burgh, Australia, Mr. Sandeep Aurora, Microsoft & Mr. Derek Pillar, MasterCard Inc. The Cyber Campus of France, the UK National Cyber Strategy, and Saudi Arabia's vision of a centralized governance model for 2030 were all discussed during the session.

Dr. Paulin Basinga, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, KeyzomNgodupMassally from UNDP, Mr. Joshua Bamford, UK, Ms. Melisa Tekeli, Turkiye, Mr. Viraj Tyagi, eGov Foundation, and Mr. CV Madhukar, Co-Develop participated in the third session on 'Digital Public Infrastructure’ to Boost SDG Attainment. The delegates talked about the best ways to collaborate and share DPI initiative results. The benefits of an open resource stack to spur market growth and bolster state capacities, as well as the significance of technical interoperability as a priority for success, was emphasized. Also covered was the significance of open source, open APIs, and interoperable digital solutions in the creation of a robust digital infrastructure.

Dr. Subi Chaturvedi, InMobi, Mr. Akshay Tripathi, Mr. Devesh Chaturvedi, Dr. Roshan Jacob, Mr. Saurabh Babu, and Mr. Vineet Kumar from the Uttar Pradesh government attended the fourth session on Showcasing Digital Initiatives of the State of Uttar Pradesh. Several initiatives were discussed, including the upcoming Mega Data Centre in Greater Noida, Nivesh Mitra - Single Window System for Investors, Mine Mitra for the Mining Sector, and DigiShakti, among others. Mr. Arvind Kumar from the Government of Uttar Pradesh, Mr. Akshay from YourStory, and Ms. Meenakshi from Infosys also discussed the role of government, industry, and academia in collaboration, as well as interactions with beneficiaries.

The use of geospatial technologies for infrastructure and product development in the digital economy was the topic of the day's final thematic session. The speakers included Dr. Vinay Thakur, Additional Director General, BISAG-N Government of India, Mr. Rohan Verma, CEO of MapMyIndia, and Mr. Sushil Chandra, Head Computer Image Processing Division, Remote Sensing Applications Centre (RSAC), Govt. of Uttar Pradesh.

The Joint Secretary of MeitY, Shri Sushil Pal, made the final remarks.

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