National Technology Day: India's future is digital; UPI, ONDC some of its key flagbearers

National Technology Day 2024: As India celebrates National Technology Day this year, it's crucial to shine a spotlight on the thriving ecosystem driving technology innovation across the nation. India's future is digital, transforming how its citizens learn, work, and connect.

India has become world's 3rd largest startup ecosystem and also reached the 40th position in the Global Innovation Index (GII) in 2023 as compared to its 81st rank in 2015.

Indian startups have emerged as the vanguards of change, eagerly embracing emerging technologies to propel economic growth. In this transformative journey, venture capital firms played a pivotal role, acting as the nurturing force behind these entrepreneurs, providing guidance, support, and crucial funding to fuel their success.

At the heart of it all lies that one transformative idea capable of reshaping industries and societies. Thousands of such brilliant and path-breaking ideas remain unexplored because they didn't get the right support, the right mentorship or the funds required for them to grow, ultimately slowing down the country's progress.

India has developed some of the finest digital public goods infrastructure which could change lives the world over. The next in line could be its Open Network for Digital Commerce which currently is in its nascent stage of adoption. Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is aimed at promoting open source networks for all to exchange goods and services on the internet, and most importantly it is independent of any specific platform.

India has taken the path of building public digital infrastructure for serving citizens and UPI, and Jan Dhan, Aadhar and CoWin are some of the examples.

Coming to UPI, India's flagship instant payment solution, its adoption has grown leaps and bounds. Payments through digital means in India are hitting fresh highs, as its citizens are increasingly adopting the emerging modes of transacting on the internet. UPI is India's mobile-based fast payment system, which facilitates customers to make round-the-clock payments instantly, using a Virtual Payment Address (VPA) created by the customer.

UPI is India's mobile-based fast payment system, which facilitates customers to make round-the-clock payments instantly, using a Virtual Payment Address (VPA) created by the customer.

A key emphasis of the Indian government has been on ensuring that the benefits of UPI are not limited to India only; other countries, too, benefit from it. So far, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, France, UAE, and Singapore, among others, have partnered or intending to partner with India on emerging fintech and payment solutions.

The share of UPI in digital payments in India has reached close to 80 per cent in 2023. Today, India accounts for nearly 46 per cent of the world's digital transactions (as per 2022 data).