Context:
Recently, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) of India and the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT) of Papua New Guinea have taken a significant step towards digital transformation by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to share India Stack.
Relevance:
GS II: International Relations
Dimensions of the Article:
- Key Highlights of the MoU between India and Papua New Guinea
- India Stack
Key Highlights of the MoU between India and Papua New Guinea:
- Sharing of India Stack to support identity, data, and payment services on a large scale.
- Implementation of population-scale Digital Public Infrastructure and Transformational Platforms/projects for improved living standards and governance efficiency.
- Strengthening digital identity systems and digital payment mechanisms to enable seamless transactions.
India Stack:
- India Stack is a set of APIs (Application Programming Interface) that enables governments, businesses, startups, and developers to utilize a unique digital infrastructure to address challenging issues related to presence-less, paperless, and cashless service delivery in India.
- It is a government-led initiative aimed at establishing a robust digital infrastructure to facilitate various digital services across different sectors.
- The components of India Stack are owned and maintained by different agencies.
- The primary goal of India Stack is to streamline and enhance identity verification, data exchange, and digital payment processes, making them more accessible and efficient for citizens.
- It includes digital public goods, which are digital resources and tools made available to the public to support different digital services and initiatives.
- Key components of India Stack include Aadhaar, a unique biometric-based identification system, Unified Payments Interface (UPI) for instant digital payments, and Digital Locker for secure storage of personal documents.
- The vision of India Stack is not limited to India alone; it can be adapted and applied to other nations, whether developed or emerging, to improve their digital infrastructure and services.
