Why is it in the News?

Prime Minister announced the launch of two India-led initiatives: the Global Digital Public Infrastructure Repository and a Social Impact Fund aimed at promoting the development of Social Impact Fund to advance Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) in the Global South during the Virtual G20 Leaders’ Summit on 22nd November 2023.

About the Global Digital Public Infrastructure Repository:

• It was developed by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
• It is an extensive resource center that combines knowledge and insights from G20 members and visiting countries.
• Its primary objective is to fill the knowledge gap in the decision-making processes and methodologies necessary for designing, constructing, deploying, and governing Digital Public Infrastructures (DPIs).
• The GDPIR presents information in a standardized format from countries and organizations that have successfully implemented DPIs on a large scale.
• This includes elements such as maturity scales, source codes (where available), and governance frameworks.
• Currently, the GDPIR showcases 54 DPIs from 16 countries.
• The DPIs from India featured in the GDPIR include
• Aadhaar, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), eSanjeevani, Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), DigiLocker, Umang, Co-WIN, Government e-marketplace, API Setu, Diksha, E-Hospital and Poshan Tracker etc.

What about the Social Impact Fund?

• The fund will financially support countries developing DPIs, providing “upstream technical and non-technical assistance”.
• The platform allows other governments, international organisations, and philanthropies to contribute to the fund too.
• India has pledged an initial commitment of $25 million (USD) to the fund.