NEW DELHI: In July this year the number of transactions on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), the payment backbone of India, aggregated a record 6.28 billion. This is but a mere slice of India’s rapidly emerging digital economy; it is generating millions of data points about individuals, which have the potential to be monetised. India is witnessing its rebirth, this time as a ‘Data Democracy’. Seventy-five years ago India broke the shackles of colonial rule and gained Independence. In the next 25 years its people, especially the economically disenfranchised and vulnerable 500 million at the bottom of the pyramid, will, if all goes to plan, be economically empowered by this new digital economy. For example the individual digital footprint will be leveraged to access credit—a large chunk of whom will be first time borrowers. This will be a defining shift for Data Democracy wherein a billion-plus people can take advantage of their digital footprint to make verifiable claims, and digitally access services, products and opportunities In short, India is poised for another tryst with destiny.
