'Other countries can harness digital public infra at extreme low cost'

WASHINGTON: Nandan Nilekani, Co-Founder and Chairman, Infosys Technologies, has said since India has unlocked the potential of Digital Public Infrastructure which has proved that other countries can also harness the DPI "at scale and at extremely low cost."

During a session -- Digital Public Infrastructure: Stacking Up the Benefits -- of the IMF-WB Spring Meeting, the Infosys chairman said, "It has proved that it helped both in resilience against vulnerabilities and pandemics as well as it enables economic growth" and added that, "We know it works. Most of the technological problems have been solved."

On Friday, Nilekani said, "Now, it is about countries deciding to do it with right philosophy, having political leadership, buying it at the highest levels and making it happen."

The Infosys chairman also thanked IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva for her support, while saying, "You are going to see a big push in the next 4-5 years where this (DPI) will spread very widely." Nilekani highlighted, "We believe DPI doesn't require deep pockets, it needs deep conviction."

"Today, we live in a world where we want trillions of dollars for climate transition and debt relief," he said, adding, "This is the fraction of that cost, which in fact earns itself."

While speaking on the tools of the new world, he stressed, "Everybody should have a digital account, a bank account and a smartphone. And, everything else is built on that."

He added, "In India, it has been named by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the JAM trinity. Jan Dhan which is the bank account; Aadhaar, which is the digital account, and the mobile phone."

The session -- Digital Public Infrastructure: Stacking Up the Benefits -- had stalwarts like Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director, IMF; Melinda French Gates, Co-chair, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Dan Schulman, President and CEO, PayPal, in the panel.