India’s digital public infrastructure is advancing rapidly. In the last decade, around 500 million people have been included in the country’s digital finance system. The statement was made by Mansi Kumari, associate professor and coordinator of the Center for BRICS Studies at Amity University, in Haryana, during the “BRICSdialogue” program at TV BRICS.
According to Kumari, examples of digital transformation in India are still underestimated and little publicized. She highlighted that the inclusion of this number of people occurred at an accelerated pace, considering the population scale of the country, currently the most populous in the world.
“India today is a clear example of success in the development of digital public infrastructure. […] In the last decade, the country incorporated around 500 million people into the digital financial system. […] Another example is the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), a national instant interbank payments system. Around 20 billion transactions go through this platform every month. If I have a smartphone, I don’t need to carry a wallet. Even to transfer 10 Indian rupees [cerca de R$ 0,55]just use your phone. No cash is needed. We also have DigiLocker, where we store all documents. So, we don’t even need to take that with us: I can simply show the cell phone screen, and that’s it, no problem.”
The expert added that 99% of India’s population is connected to the Aadhaar digital identification system. Around 1.4 billion people have a unique identification number. Name or address changes can be made online, without the need to go to public bodies. Furthermore, the country has a government initiative that offers small businesses direct access to the market. The system allows interaction between different platforms and connects sellers, buyers and delivery services in a decentralized ecosystem.
“If we talk about users, India has more than 1 billion mobile connections and around 1 billion active internet users. And you might be surprised, but more than half of them live mainly outside the cities. They are people from rural areas. They are the ones who sustain these consumption figures. I believe that around 70% of the country’s population already has access to the internet. Regarding the use of AI, the data indicates that around 44% of all internet users in the country interact with this technology on a daily basis. Furthermore, 90% of users access the internet every day. This is an active audience, not occasional users and you would be surprised how accessible it is. […] All of this is the result of the success of digital public infrastructure. Today, this experience can rightly be called phenomenal,” added Kumari.
Speaking about India’s presidency of the BRICS, Mansi Kumari stated that the country seeks to redefine the role of the Global South in the world, strengthen stability and promote innovation, cooperation and sustainability.
According to the expert, BRICS is today an institutional voice of the Global South. The group formulates an alternative vision of the BRICS countries and offers them the possibility of being heard, something that, according to her, no international organization had guaranteed before.
Source: www.brasildefato.com.br
