India's Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI)
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India's Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), often referred to as the "India Stack," is a globally unique model of digitalization. It consists of three layers: Identity (Aadhaar), Payments (UPI), and Data (medical records, etc.).
Unlike the private-sector-led model of the West or the state-led model of China, India's DPI allows public ownership of the infrastructure while inviting private innovation on top of it. This has led to massive financial inclusion, with bank account ownership rising from 25% in 2008 to over 80% today.
The success of UPI is a prime example. Processing over 10 billion transactions a month, it has eclipsed global counterparts in volume. The open API architecture ensures that no single company monopolizes the payment interface.
Challenges remain, particularly regarding data privacy and the digital divide. The Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDP) aims to address these concerns by establishing a framework for processing digital personal data.