Shailesh Haribhakti, chairman of Protean eGov Technologies, said India is evolving its digital public infrastructure into a "living national nervous system."
This shift represents a move from passive digital tools to a proactive ecosystem. By integrating open digital rails, India intends to provide more inclusive and secure services to its citizens while leveraging these systems as tools for international diplomacy.
Haribhakti said this vision during the CNBC-TV18 and Protean India DPI Summit. He identified six specific platforms that form the core of this system [1]: Aadhaar, UPI, DigiLocker, ONDC, ABHA, and Bhashini.
According to Haribhakti, the goal is to combine these trusted platforms with agentic AI and open digital ecosystems. This integration is designed to move beyond simple transactions toward a model that anticipates citizen needs and delivers services proactively.
Beyond domestic utility, India is positioning this digital model as a cornerstone of its diplomatic outreach. The strategy involves exporting these open-source frameworks to other nations to help them build their own digital economies.
Recent developments indicate this outreach is already gaining traction. For example, Indonesia has launched a network based on the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) to boost its own digital capabilities. Such partnerships allow India to project its technological model abroad and establish a collaborative global standard for digital public goods.
“India is evolving its digital public infrastructure into a "living national nervous system."”
India is transitioning from providing individual digital utilities to creating an integrated operational layer for the state. By framing this as a 'nervous system' and exporting the architecture to countries like Indonesia, India is attempting to challenge the dominant proprietary tech models of the US and China with an open-source, government-backed alternative.
