A Governance Framework for Digital Public Infrastructure: Learning from the Indian Experience

Digital public infrastructures (DPIs) are said to follow or enable principles such as ‘open-source’, ‘open APIs’, ‘interoperability’, ‘privacy by design’, ‘inclusive design’, and ‘universal access,’ implying that crucial ethical values are baked into the technology itself. However, prior experience with DPIs in India has revealed shortcomings with this simplistic view. Many of these stated principles may not be enacted in practice, and even if they are, they are not sufficient to avoid possible harm or unfair outcomes from DPIs. Additionally, a key principle is often missed-of DPIs to be accountable towards the public, not just in their impact but also their conceptualisation and design. This brief argues that a strong participatory governance framework aligned with democratic principles should be created to bridge these gaps. Institutionalised and statutory mechanisms must exist for the ‘public’ to have a central role in deciding the purpose of DPIs and validating assumptions on impact pathways behind how envisioned DPIs can meet these ends. It also is imperative that DPIs should not compromise any rights. Accountability mechanisms to safeguard against such violations and to resolve them should be easily accessible by anybody and governed by a legal framework. It should also be required for legislation to be passed for such issues to be highlighted by a representative body and be transparently disclosed and mandatorily addressed. Without strong structures of accountability built into DPI operations, DPIs may harm especially marginalised groups and weaken the citizen-State interface-and thereby grassroots democracy-by distancing the State from the people. As more and more G20 countries move towards DPIs, India’s experience highlights the need for such governance structures.