Nick Clegg, President of Global Affairs at Meta, praised India’s digital public infrastructure (DPI) for its scale and technology centered around public interest. He referred to it as a “marvelous model” that others can learn from as global citizenship becomes increasingly digitalized.
Clegg highlighted how Meta and its apps, such as WhatsApp, have utilized India’s digital public utilities, particularly in health (for COVID vaccination certificate downloads) and payments. He mentioned their collaboration with ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce) to explore further opportunities for facilitating card and merchant payments.
According to Clegg, the brilliance of India’s DPI lies in its tech construction, scale, and the philosophy of serving public interest rather than being solely government-run. The open, interoperable nature of DPI has allowed private sector players like Meta to align with its ethos and objectives.
Speaking at the ‘Digital Transformation, an India story’ event alongside India’s G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant, Clegg emphasized the transformative potential of AI in education, health, and nutrition, especially for addressing challenges in emerging markets.
Kant, while acknowledging the potential adverse effects of AI, cautioned against excessive regulation, citing Europe’s slower innovation due to an overemphasis on regulation. He advocated for defining user cases and establishing regulatory norms instead of stifling innovation through stringent regulations.
Kant emphasized that regulation should be pro-innovation, as it is in the interest of developing and emerging markets to leverage AI’s capabilities with large data sets to benefit citizens. He urged G20 leaders to discuss the future path of AI with a focus on promoting innovation and its positive impact on society.
