IIIT-Bangalore Conducts DPI Conclave to Promote Digital Public Infrastructure Systems

Bangalore, June 15th, 2024: Digital public infrastructure is gaining global traction due to its profound ability to revolutionize the accessibility and efficiency of public services. Recognizing its importance, IIIT-Bangalore hosted a series of week long, DPI Conclave which concluded on June 14 2024, aimed at promoting and raising awareness about these systems. These efforts are designed to educate the community about the benefits of digital public infrastructure, demonstrating how it can enhance transparency, streamline administrative processes and encourage inclusive growth. Through workshops, seminars and collaborative efforts, IIIT-Bangalore is actively contributing to the broader adoption and understanding of this important technological advancement.

Web Science for Development (WS4D 2024)

The Web Science for Development (WS4D 2024) workshop is part of the Web Science research initiative at IIIT Bangalore. WS4D, started in 2019 brings together professionals from several domains, addressing different thematic concerns pertaining to the use of web and mobile technologies in developmental efforts. The theme of this year’s WS4D workshop was Digital Public Infrastructures. The workshop was a part of a week-long DPI Conclave.

Commenting on the success of the WS4D 2024 workshop, Prof. Srinath Srinivasa, Head of the Web Science Lab and Dean (R&D) at IIIT Bangalore, stated, “We successfully conducted the Workshop on Web Science for Development (WS4D) 2024, focusing on the crucial theme of Digital Public Infrastructures. This workshop, an integral part of our Web Science research initiative at IIIT Bangalore, aimed to encourage collaboration and innovation in leveraging web technologies for societal development. It provided an excellent platform to engage with experts and thought leaders, exploring how digital infrastructures can drive inclusive and sustainable growth.”

The workshop featured invited talks by visiting researchers from the Centre of Data for Public Good, IISc Bangalore and other invitees from other parts of India. The workshop would also involve a DPI thinking poster presentation competition.

“After ‘Identity’ and ‘Financial Inclusion’ through Aadhar and Unified Payment Interfaces (UPI) respectively, part of the third pillar of the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) stack in India also known as the ‘India Stack’, Electronic Data Exchanges (DX) are going to revolutionize how innovative applications and solutions are build using data. Data exchanges like the India Urban Data Exchange (IUDX) and Agriculture Data Exchange (ADeX) make the access of datasets seamless, secure, consent-based, and interoperable thus opening new vistas and enabling the ecosystem,” said Dr. Jyotirmoy Dutta, CDPG, IISc.

The importance of digital public infrastructure in enabling an ecosystem of technologists, policy makers and application developers cannot be underestimated,” said Dr. Raghuram Krishnapuram, CDPG, IISc.

Workshop and Faculty Development Programme on DPI in the Age of AI

A Workshop and Faculty Development Programme on Digital Public Infrastructures in the Age of AI from June 11-13 was held that aimed to create awareness about DPIs in terms of their socio-technical requirements, present state-of-the-art methodologies that real-world DPI developers are using, and cutting edge research challenges around the theme of DPIs and how researchers in the area of social science, computer science and AI are trying to address these challenges.

“As the systems around Digital Public Infrastructures (DPIs) evolve rapidly, the challenges associated with them are also becoming more complex. In this context, it is crucial to explore the socio-technical requirements, as well as advancements in computer science and AI. Bringing together various stakeholders to discuss these issues and learn how researchers are tackling these challenges is essential. This workshop brings together stakeholders from academia, industry and government to discuss these topics and explore opportunities of collaborative research,” says Prof. Sujit Chakrabarti, Convener of Workshop & Faculty Development Programme on Digital Public Infrastructures in the Age of AI.

DPI Dialogues

MOSIP is IIIT-B’s open-source effort to enable digital ID solutions in countries, with a special focus on developing countries. The Centre for Open Societal Systems (COSS), based out of IIIT-Bangalore and EkStep Foundation have been actively involved in developing and implementing open source digital infrastructure, particularly DPI (Digital Public Infrastructure) and DPG (Digital Public Goods)-led solutions addressing social problems at scale.

A delegation from the Brazilian Government was in IIIT-Bangalore for the Centre for Open Societal Systems for India DPI Immersion Program, DPI Dialogues which was held from June 3 till June 14. COSS along with EkStep Foundation offered the Ministry of Management and Innovation in Public Services and its partners an India DPI Immersion Program.