Attended by experts from the academia and industry and students and researchers from PIC, the roundtable on March 21st, 2025, focused on the relevance of courses on DPI, their syllabi, and potential implementation. Participants expressed a strong interest in continuing the conversation through follow-up discussions aimed at developing actionable strategies. Their goal was to share best practices for successfully incorporating the DPI education into today’s curriculum, with the potential to extend its integration into faculties beyond engineering disciplines.
Mr. Dinanath Kholkar, Research Track Lead, Science, Technology and National Innovation Ecosystem, PIC, noted that students were largely unaware of the significant developments in India surrounding DPI, emphasizing that the current effort aims to establish formal courses to ensure that all students gain awareness and understanding of DPI.
Dr. Pradeep Mane, Principal of AISSMS IOIT, Dr. Rajesh Ingle, former Vice Chancellor of Symbiosis Skills and Professional University, and Dr. Vivek Bhartiya from TCS, who have been instrumental in drafting a model syllabus as a recommendation to bodies like AICTE through the PIC advocacy initiative, led an insightful session on the draft proposal.
The primary focus of the discussion was the integration of the DPI course with the National Education Policy (NEP). The conversation centered on the challenges of incorporating new courses into an already rigorous educational framework. Participants shared their experiences, insights, and strategies for overcoming these challenges.
In addition, the topic of workforce development was a key point of discussion. There was a consensus on the importance of continuous learning and skill enhancement to address the evolving demands of the job market. Participants highlighted the challenges of attracting and retaining talent in an environment of rapid technological and economic change. They also discussed the value of training programmes and strategic partnerships with educational institutions to equip the workforce with the necessary skills to thrive in the future.
Dr. Madhura Vipra, CEO of Medvolt Tech, underscored the importance of incorporating a gold data standard, data security, and legal considerations into the curriculum for Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI). Dr. Deepak Shikarpur, Director at Kinetic Communications Ltd., suggested that learning should be directly linked to tangible job incentives, emphasizing that such incentives can drive meaningful engagement and action.
Ms. Rekha Sugandhi, Director at MITADT, raised concerns about the challenge of integrating a new course into the already demanding Indian education system. She proposed offering the DPI course as a minor rather than an elective to ease its incorporation. Mr. Navin Kabra, Entrepreneur and Founder of ReliScore.com, suggested that, given the expansive nature of the DPI landscape, the focus should be on streamlining foundational content rather than attempting to cover every use case. Mr. Parth Lawate, Entrepreneur and Co-Founder of Tekdi Technologies, questioned whether the course should focus on teaching the creation of DPI systems or build upon existing DPI frameworks.
The discussion also explored the impact of global events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and how India’s implementation of DPI through initiatives like CoWIN stands as a successful case study for learners.
