The annual summit was jointly held by IIMB’s Centre for Digital Public Goods and eGov Foundation

9 August, 2025, Bengaluru: The Centre for Digital Public Goods (CDPG) at IIMB, in partnership with eGov Foundation, hosted the annual Policy Conclave 2025, bringing together over 100 government officials, city leaders, policy researchers, urban practitioners, technology leaders, and civil society representatives. On the theme ‘Reimagining India's Urban Future Through Digital Innovation and Institutional Reform’, agents of change deliberated the sector-agnostic deployment of digital frameworks for more resilient, inclusive, and market-driven urban ecosystems.

Against the backdrop of India’s notable progress in Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and Digital Public Goods (DPGs) for service delivery and governance, the conclave examined what has worked, what has not, and how to sustain and scale impact. Discussions focused on strengthening service delivery, empowerment of local bodies and catalyzation of private collaboration for sustainable urban development through DPI and DPG intervention.

Inauguration
The day’s proceedings were formally inaugurated with the lighting of the lamp by Prof. U. Dinesh Kumar, Director In-charge, IIMB; Ms. Usha Padhee, Principal Secretary, Housing and Urban Development Department, Government of Odisha; Dr. Santhosh Babu, Chief Mission Director, Information Kerala Mission, Government of Kerala; Prof. R. Srinivasan, Chairperson, CDPG, IIMB; and Mr. Viraj Tyagi, CEO, eGov Foundation.

In his welcome address, Prof. R. Srinivasan noted that CDPG, established in 2023, was created to share India’s successes in digital public infrastructure globally and to address critical research gaps. “We now have the capability to build DPI from scratch. Our aim is to document not just implementation successes, but also failures that go on to inform policy design and analysis,” he said. Speaking of the Centre’s ongoing initiatives, he cited work on data governance and privacy readiness indices in partnership with various government ministries, including contributions to the Ministry of Communications’ DIGIPIN project, the Bharat Taxi initiative, and collaborations with Protean on assessing the state of DPI in India annually.

Viral Tyagi of eGOV and alumnus of the PGP Class of 1993, reflected on the urban governance challenges that struggle to keep pace with India’s rapid growth. He drew into focus the transformative potential of DPI-based solutions to improve urban livability, particularly when designed as open-source, shared public goods. “When government, markets, and social actors work together on a common platform, the right policy can unlock exponential value for society,” he observed.

Keynote Address
“Tech is expensive but not an expenditure, rather an investment”, said Dr. Santhosh Babu, Chief Mission Director, Information Kerala Mission, Government of Kerala, as he delivered the keynote address, calling for a type of reform in citizen-centric public administration that was “transformational” rather than “incremental”.

Kerala’s adoption of K-SMART

He outlined Kerala’s progression from e-governance to predictive, spatial, and algorithm-based governance, leveraging the state’s vast data repositories to adopt a “human lifecycle” approach to service delivery. Central to this transformation is K-SMART – a comprehensive, integrated and intelligent e-governance platform designed to unify over 23 functional modules of local government into a single application. Built on the UPYOG platform of the National Urban Digital Mission and leveraging emerging technologies such as AI/ML, IoT, blockchain, and analytics, K-SMART aims to replace slow, manual processes with streamlined, automated workflows, thereby improving transparency, accountability, and efficiency.

He stressed that leadership and mindset shifts are as critical in realizing the potential of technology: “Our administrators are the most well placed to make change. Swaying political viewpoint is more strategic and challenging to overcome”. He concluded, reaffirming the dual power of technology and leadership in creating a governance model that delivers tangible benefits without losing the value of grassroots engagement.

Fireside Chat: The role of DPI and DPGs in enhancing public service delivery and urban livability
The opening fireside chat on India’s Urban Vision 2030: Policy Priorities and Digital Pathways set the stage for the conclave’s deliberations on the role of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and Digital Public Goods (DPGs) in building responsive, efficient, and citizen-centric governance systems. Moderated by Prof. R. Srinivasan, Chairperson, Centre for Digital Public Goods, IIMB, in conversation with Mr. Viraj Tyagi, CEO, eGov Foundation, the discussion explored how open-source, interoperable digital platforms can catalyse better service delivery, trust, and livability in cities.

What is DPI?

Prof. Srinivasan opened by defining DPI as the foundational infrastructure that spans networks, applications, and services that are non-exclusionary, interoperable, modular, and adaptable across multiple sectors and stakeholders. “When we speak of DPI, we speak of infrastructure that can enable a variety of solutions without being bound to a single purpose”, he observed.

Drawing on practitioner experience, Mr. Tyagi noted that DPI has transformed service delivery from incremental improvement to exponential change, thereby making services “faster, better, and cheaper”. States such as Kerala, Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh, he said, have built robust digital backbones for essential services to enable rapid application development atop shared infrastructure. Political feasibility, however, remains a significant challenge.

Leveraging DPI to strengthen local capabilities

The conversation also addressed the needs of Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, with Prof. Srinivasan emphasizing the importance of retaining human connection and sensitivity while extending the efficiency and scope of services. On fostering local entrepreneurship, Prof. Srinivasan asked whether the “localization” of DPI also meant building entrepreneurial capacity within communities. Mr. Tyagi responded that while building capacity is vital, the priority is finding collaborators who can leverage a single infrastructure to meet diverse needs sustainably. This, he said, requires a multidisciplinary approach that spans technology, governance, policy, and institutionalization, while reducing resource demands.

Perspectives from India and the world: Transforming the citizens' experience and local governance through digital infrastructure
The panel on ‘Transforming citizens’ experience through DPI’ brought together perspectives from government, academia, development agencies, and policy think tanks, with speakers including Usha Padhee, Principal Secretary, Housing and Urban Development Department, Government of Odisha; Dr. Debolina Kundu, Director, National Institute of Urban Affairs; Prof. Gopal Naik, Jal Jeevan Mission Chair Professor, IIMB; Arun Sharma, Senior Development Specialist, The World Bank; CV Madhukar, CEO, CoDevelop; and Anand Iyer, Chief Policy and Insights Officer, Janaagraha, moderated by Gautham Ravichander, Director, Policy & Advocacy, eGov Foundation.

Bridging service gaps through integration

“In 2011, 31% of India’s population lived in urban areas; by 2047, this is projected to reach 50%”, said Dr. Debolina Kundu as she cited Odisha’s Rural-Urban Transition Policy. Noting the shift towards in-situ urbanization in states like Odisha, with rural settlements evolving into urban centres, rather than through large-scale rural-to-urban migration. She emphasized the need to expand digital adoption beyond large cities, to strengthen local creditworthiness, and bring governance closer to citizens.

Usha Padhee reflected on Odisha’s approach to digital public infrastructure, describing technology as a tool for agility, inclusion, and reducing inefficiencies in governance. “More than corruption, DPI has helped plug inefficiency caused by a lack of governance, and throughout the process, inclusion has been the paramount objective”. However, she cautioned that bureaucracy and the challenge of capturing citizen-level painpoints remain barriers.

Harnessing DPI to build resilient water security services

Prof. Gopal Naik, Jal Jeevan Mission Chair, underlined the urgency of digital interventions in water management, particularly in the context of climate uncertainty. “India has just 4% of the world’s freshwater, and our per capita availability has declined sharply”, he noted, alluding that much of this resource is at risk of contamination. He stated how tools such as GIS mapping, remote sensing, and drones can provide granular, real-time insights into water availability, both spatially and temporally, and have also enabled village-level water budgeting, predictive planning, and disaster mitigation.

Towards interoperable and inclusive digital architecture

Meanwhile, Arun Sharma observed that while India has robust decision-making systems, “the decisions are not being made”, noting that key IT, data governance, e-governance, and cybersecurity policies are largely implemented only in southern Indian states. While advocating for a demand-driven approach that incentivizes API usage over static dashboards, he reinforced the need for a unifying national vision to align state-level initiatives for citizens.

CV Madhukar reflected on the need to rethink the architecture of digital governance. “In the development parlance, one size doesn’t fit all. But that’s not the case for digital due to the level of abstraction it provides”, he observed, noting that budget flows remain trapped in silos, making it difficult to drive change across governance. He argued for identifying a common set of “building blocks” that are reusable core codes that can be adapted across contexts to overcome an innovation gap.

Adding a complementary perspective, Anand Iyer spoke of the importance of strengthening the underlying systems that enable service delivery. He emphasised that digital tools should be leveraged not only for citizen-facing outcomes but also for improving the financial and administrative processes that operate behind the scenes.

Lightning Talks – Voices from the Frontlines
The lightning talks brought together perspectives from elected representatives, urban local body officials, and practitioners to spotlight the real-world intersections of digital transformation and public service delivery.

In Session A, Tikender Singh Panwar, Member of the Kerala Urban Commission, Sr. Fellow, IMPRI, Former Mayor of Shimla, challenged the assumption that digitalization automatically enhances livability, warning against corporate-driven “smart city” models that concentrate capital and exclude citizens. He called for “people before platforms” as a way of advocating for participatory planning, democratic control of digital surplus, and embedding ethics into technology.

Session B featured Executive Officers from the Government of Odisha - Soumya Ranjan Mishra and Ashalata Rachmala - who shared implementation lessons from multi-sectoral digital transformation efforts, including the deployment of the Sujog Urban Service Delivery Platform to streamline a range of public services.

In Session C, Hrishikesh TMM Iyengar, Extended Term Consultant — Social Protection and Jobs Global Practice, The World Bank, discussed the role of DPGs in social protection systems in Africa, bringing to the fore how digital tools support cash transfers, food aid, and public works. He drew on Tanzania’s PSSN program, noting proven impacts in poverty reduction and resilience-building, but cautioned that heavy reliance on external funding in low-income contexts threatens long-term sustainability.

Unlocking the Potential of Urban Data Exchange
The session brought together Prof. Anjula Gurtoo, Professor, Data Management, IISc Bangalore; Dr. Jyotirmoy Dutta, Principal Scientist, Center for Data for Public Good, IISc Bangalore; Jaya Dhindaw, Executive Program Director, Sustainable Cities and Director, WRI India Ross Center, and Dr. Ramki Srinivasan, CEO, Mobility and Intelligent Transportation Collaborative, MInT, IIT Madras, and was moderated by Manish Srivastava, CTO, eGov Foundation.

Opening the conversation, Dr. Jyotirmoy Dutta drew a clear distinction between open data portals and true data exchanges. “Data exchange is about making information analysis-ready, cloud-agnostic, and open-source — so it’s not just available, but usable,” he said.

Prof. Anjula Gurtoo addressed the growing complexities around privacy and regulation. “Five years from now, we should see data flowing not just from public sources but also from private ones. But this will require a serious regulatory push,” she noted. She identified three key challenges in data sharing: sector-specific standards, technological and privacy considerations, and the role of the end-user.

From the perspective of urban mobility, Dr. Ramki Srinivasan stated that India spends 10–11% of its GDP on logistics, and that moving goods efficiently is just as critical to urban life. He also envisioned opportunities for digital interventions in transit planning, warehousing, and last-mile delivery.

Keynote – Lessons from India's DPI Journey
Suresh Sethi, MD and CEO, Protean eGov Technologies Ltd, offered lessons from India’s digital journey and its next frontier of public service delivery, noting that “you don’t need vast resources; you need purpose”. Aadhaar, he further noted as an example, was built with the kind of frugality that showcased how trust, not technology alone, is the true infrastructure.

On the accessibility component of the ecosystem, he opined, “The moment you get an identity, you become discoverable. That discovery is dignity; it is inclusion, and the first step toward opportunity”.

He cited initiatives like ONDC, AgriStack, and DigiPIN as part of India’s “blue dot moment” on the global map.

On the road ahead, Suresh stressed the role of entrepreneurs and private enterprise in accelerating sovereign, country-led DPI. He also spoke of the international replication of India’s pioneering model, saying, “Individual ready-made DPGs can be taken to an open-source model and used in a user case because these are modular”. However, he noted that any DPI replication must be “contextual, modular, and aligned with local laws”.

Public-Private Partnerships in Urban Innovation: Models, Challenges, and Opportunities
NSN Murty, Partner and Leader Government and Public Services, Deloitte; Balakrishnan Mahadevan, IIMB CDPG, ex-COO NPCI, ex-World Bank; and Gokul CV, Asst Director General, Department of Posts, along with Moderator Varun Basu (VP, Growth and Partnerships, eGov Foundation, explored the transformative role of private innovation in driving urban solutions, with particular focus on its synergy with public infrastructure and governance frameworks.

“1% of India’s GDP is attributable to private innovation built on public digital rails”, said NSN Murty when illustrating how regulation can incentivize profit-driven private players to contribute meaningfully, to scale innovations, as well as replicate successes across states. Meanwhile, Balakrishnan Mahadevan shared lessons from building the National Payments Corporation of India, signaling the value of neutral institutional structures, trust-based governance, interoperability, and co-creation in achieving scalability.

Gokul C.V. introduced the concept of “Address as a Service”, pointing out that non-standardized addresses lead to significant GDP loss. He presented ideas for a user-centric, ecosystem-based address management system and shared India Post’s repositioning as a trusted facilitator in collaborating with private players.

Guardrails for DPI/DPGs: Data Protection and Privacy by Design
The penultimate session of the conclave featured Prof. S Rajagopalan, President, MOSIP, IIITB, in conversation with Shehnaz Ahmed, Sr. Resident Fellow and Lead, Applied Law and Technology Research, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, along with moderator Anumita Raj, Associate Director, eGov Foundation.

From a lens of DPI becoming a critical layer in local governance and service delivery, Prof. Rajagopalan remarked that keeping the user at the centre, particularly those on the other side of the digital divide, forces designers to not only confront difficult questions such as ‘How will this data be used?’ or ‘What risks does it pose to a vulnerable person?’ but also prioritize the encryption of data at the point of capture, and not just at the point of use. Consent, he argued, is not a simple binary, especially when one piece of data may serve multiple purposes.

Legal and regulatory perspectives on data protection

The conversation with Shehnaz uncovered how India’s Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act compares to the EU’s GDPR. While the two frameworks share significant alignment, such as standalone protection laws, user rights to erasure, and grievance redressal, she stated divergences such as “all categories of personal and sensitive data being treated together”, “consent being blanketed”, and “the Data Protection Board serving merely as an adjudicator in case of contravention”. Concerns about the independence of the regulator and gaps in the regulation itself – such as exploitation of the doctrine of proportionality when harnessing data – also persist, noted Shehnaz. 

The Way Forward
The event concluded with a session on ‘The Way Forward’, where Gautham Ravichander, Director – Policy & Advocacy, eGov Foundation, and Prof. R. Srinivasan, Chairperson, CDPG, IIMB, presented the key insights and actionable recommendations emerging from the discussions. They distilled the deliberations into priorities and pathways for the collective reimagining of India’s bright, inclusive and equitable urban future.

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