Hyderabad, October 30, 2026: The International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad (IIIT Hyderabad) hosted the Digital Citizen Summit – Regional Dialogues: Digital Public Infrastructures for Governance on October 28, 2026, focusing on advancing the inclusivity, accountability and accessibility of India’s digital public infrastructure.
The event was organised in collaboration with the Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF), the Human Sciences Research Centre at IIIT Hyderabad, and Code for Good Tech (C4GT). Stakeholders from government, civil society, technology, research, and community groups participated in discussions on making digital systems more responsive to a diverse population.
Focus on digital public infrastructure
India’s Digital Public Infrastructures (DPIs), such as Aadhaar, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), and DigiLocker, have played a significant role in transforming access to public services, financial systems, and welfare benefits. As DPIs and Digital Public Goods (DPGs) become central to governance, the summit addressed growing concerns about equitable access, accountability, data-driven systems, and citizen participation.
Barriers to access and participation
Participants highlighted that digital systems can present challenges for groups including rural women, migrant workers, persons with disabilities, linguistic minorities, and informal-sector workers. Issues such as biometric authentication failures, limited language support, unreliable internet connectivity, and inaccessible grievance-redressal mechanisms were discussed as barriers to effective participation in digital governance.
Panel discussions and workshops
The summit featured a panel discussion on DPI governance, accountability, and grievance redressal in Telangana and beyond. Panellists included Sam Kummary, Technical Director at the Mojaloop Foundation; Aakansha Natani from the Human Sciences Research Centre at IIIT Hyderabad; Ajitha Sindhe, Program Coordinator at Code for Good Tech; Rakesh Dubbubu, Founder of Factly; and SQ Masood from Hyderabad Urban Labs. The event also included a workshop on co-creating and contributing to DPIs, which provided training on DPI tools, an introduction to DPI code, and ways to participate in DPI design and development.
Dialogue on inclusive digital governance
Osama Manzar, Founder-Director of the Digital Empowerment Foundation, said, “If DPI is like a road, then everyone must be able to walk on it, not just those with smartphones or bandwidth.” The summit aimed to foster dialogue between technology developers, policymakers, researchers, and communities to explore approaches for designing infrastructure that supports meaningful access to governance for all users.
IIIT Hyderabad stated that the regional dialogue reflects its commitment to advancing research and innovation that address societal challenges and strengthen the role of technology in public service delivery.
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