Centre for Public Policy at IIMB and Oxford Saïd Business School co-host Digital Governance Symposium on 2 December
Innovation leaders evaluate India’s resilient digital future
3 December, 2024, Bengaluru: The Digital Governance Symposium on “Transforming India through Leadership and Innovation”, co-hosted by the Centre for Public Policy at IIM Bangalore and Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, took place on 2 December, 2024. The event provided structured insights on global reforms resulting from Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and reflected on its growing relevance among policymakers.
In the opening session, IIMB faculty Prof. Pulak Ghosh, Decision Sciences area, shared his research study results on how DPI has reimagined digital payments and information access in India. Its ripple effect, he noted, is India’s positioning as a lodestar for global financial inclusion efforts, sparking interest worldwide.
The conversation shifted gears with a panel discussion on ‘Digital Public Infrastructure: Pioneering Financial Inclusion and Development’, featuring—Dr. Ashok Dalwai, PM Task Force on Digital Financial Inclusion; Mr. Dilip Asbe, Managing Director & CEO, National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI); Prof. V. Sridhar, Indian Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore; and Dr. Shashwat Alok, Finance area, Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad. Prof. MS Sriram moderated the discussion, which covered various aspects of India’s global influence in digital payments, accessibility issues, and strategies for scaling innovation in governance.
The second session turned the spotlight on India’s digital governance powerhouse: the Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation (PRAGATI) platform. PRAGATI’s innovation lies in its ability to enforce accountability at the highest levels of governance, driving unparalleled federal-regional collaboration. The initiative has expedited 340 critical projects nationwide, collectively valued at $205 billion, overcoming decades-long delays.
A case study by Prof. Soumitra Dutta, Peter Moores Dean and Professor of Management, and Mukul Pandya, Associate Fellow, Saïd Business School—University of Oxford, in collaboration with the Gates Foundation, highlighted how India’s innovative digital governance platform has transformed the implementation of the nation’s infrastructure projects.
The research study ‘From Gridlock to Growth: How Leadership Enables India’s PRAGATI Ecosystem to Power Progress’, revealed how the platform, equipped with a real-time digital dashboard for project monitoring and video conference review meetings, has drastically reduced stagnation from decades to mere months, showcasing the platform's transformative impact on infrastructure development.
Parameswaran Iyer, Executive Director, World Bank Group, provided the context for the case study and shared the key insights. Dr. Indermit Gill, Chief Economist, World Bank, and author of the case study’s introduction, participated in the symposium via video conference from Washington.
The symposium featured a panel discussion moderated by IIMB Director Prof. Rishikesha T Krishnan, featuring— SN Subrahmanyan, Chairman and Managing Director, Larsen & Toubro and Adil Zainulbhai, Chairman, Capacity Building Commission, GoI. Hari Menon, Director, India Country Office, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, made concluding remarks.
The event brought representatives from IIMs, IITs, NITs, and leaders from the public and private sectors to explore the transformative potential of digital governance in accelerating infrastructure development.
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