Hyderabad, Oct. 31: The International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad (IIIT Hyderabad) hosted the Digital Citizen Summit – Regional Dialogues on October 28, 2026, bringing together stakeholders to discuss ways to make India’s digital public infrastructure more inclusive, accountable and accessible.
The summit focused on the evolution of India’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and explored how digital systems can better serve citizens. It was jointly organised by the Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF), the Human Sciences Research Centre (HSRC) at IIIT Hyderabad, and Code for Good Tech (C4GT).
The regional dialogue brought together representatives from government, civil society, technology organisations, research institutions and communities to discuss the role of digital infrastructure in governance.
Digital Public Infrastructure Summit Highlights Inclusion and Accountability
India’s digital public infrastructure, including Aadhaar, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and DigiLocker, has transformed access to public services, financial systems and welfare benefits. However, the growing use of Digital Public Infrastructure and Digital Public Goods has also raised questions about equitable access, accountability, data-driven systems and citizen participation.
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The discussions highlighted the challenges faced by rural women, migrant workers, persons with disabilities, linguistic minorities and informal-sector workers. These include biometric authentication failures, limited language support, unreliable internet connectivity and inaccessible grievance-redressal systems.
Addressing these barriers is essential to ensure that digital governance benefits all sections of society and strengthens democratic participation.
The summit featured a panel discussion and a workshop examining how digital public systems can better respond to citizens’ needs.
“If DPI is like a road, then everyone must be able to walk on it, not just those with smartphones or bandwidth,” said Osama Manzar, Founder-Director of the Digital Empowerment Foundation.
Panel Discussion Examines DPI Governance
A panel discussion focused on digital public infrastructure governance, accountability and grievance redressal in Telangana and other regions.
The discussion brought together government officials, civil society representatives, technology experts, researchers and community representatives. Participants explored accountability mechanisms and ways to improve grievance-redressal systems.
The panellists included Sam Kummary, Technical Director at the Mojaloop Foundation; Aakansha Natani from HSRC, IIIT Hyderabad; Ajitha Sindhe, Programme Coordinator at Code for Good Tech; Rakesh Dubbubu, Founder of Factly; and SQ Masood of Hyderabad Urban Labs.
Workshop Explores Contributions to Digital Public Infrastructure
The summit also featured a hands-on workshop on co-creating and contributing to digital public infrastructure. Participants received training on DPI tools, learned about DPI code and explored ways to contribute to the design and development of digital systems.
The discussions and practical sessions encouraged collaboration among technology developers, policymakers, researchers and communities. They also highlighted the importance of considering diverse user experiences while designing digital infrastructure.
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For IIIT Hyderabad, hosting the regional dialogue reflects its commitment to research and innovation that address societal challenges and strengthen the role of technology in public service delivery.
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