A compelling opinion piece in the Times of India on 8 May 2021 highlights the emergence and rapidly-growing importance of digitalisation against the backdrop of a raging pandemic. The author, Manjeet Kripalani, Executive Director, Gateway House, Indian Council on Global Relations, writes, "Digitalisation will power the developing world out of economic crisis with MSMEs as a necessary enabler." She adds that it is more possible than ever before for democratic digitalisation to create tiger economies across continents; in the Indo-Pacific, Africa, South America, and the Caribbean.

The article paints a vivid picture of digital public goods (DPGs), highlighting their importance in a post-pandemic recovery phase and the paradigm shift needed in global focus to help economies recover, particularly with respect to MSMEs, which are plagued by low digitalisation and poor access to low-cost and easily available credit. The author talks about India’s headway in resolving some of these issues through Microfinance 4.0, fortified by building blocks such as Open Credit Enablement Network (OCEN). She refers to IndiaStack, a ready and proven DPG model, and mentions that efforts are already underway globally to adopt the model wholly or in part. In this context, she cites MOSIP as an exemplary DGP whose open-source platform is being adopted by several developing countries, including the Philippines, Morocco, and Ethiopia, to set up their digital foundational identity systems.

The author also references the Report of the Secretary-General Roadmap for Digital Cooperation published by the United Nations in June 2020, encapsulating a collection of suggested practices to be adopted by an international community to help enhance global digital cooperation. The UN’s high-level digital cooperation panel endorsed MOSIP and its work thus far, validating the organisation’s efforts in providing open-source, robust, cost-effective, and scalable digital ID systems across the developing world.

The COVID-19 pandemic has shaken the world. As we inch towards recovery, MOSIP remains committed to working towards a safe, widespread, and inclusive digital environment that will be critical in helping economies of the developing world get back on their feet. The Times of India opinion piece is a significant endorsement of MOSIP both as a DPG and as a trusted digital infrastructure framework that can enable and light up the pathway to economic revival, post pandemic.

Read the full article here.