An interactive session with Dr Pramod Varma Architect of Aadhaar & India Stack on India’s path to digitalisation

FLO organised an interactive session on “India’s Path to Digitalisation” on July 19, 2023.

The speaker for the session was Dr. Pramod Varma, CTO EkStep Foundation,Ex-Chief Architect Aadhaar & India Stack,Co-Founder FIDE.org and Architect becknprotocol.io.

Dr. Varma is the Ex-Chief Architect of Aadhaar, India’s digital identity program that has successfully covered more than 1.3 billion people. He is currently the CTO of EkStep Foundation, a not-for-profit creating learner-centric digital public goods under Project Sunbird (sunbird.org) that powers India’s largest digital learning platform called DIKSHA. These are used to provide learning opportunities to 200 million children and 10+ million teachers in India and used in other learning, skilling, and capacity building efforts in India and other countries.

In his address, Dr Varma expressed his faith in the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), calling it to bring in the next revolution for e-commerce, even more significant than Unified Payment Interface (UPI) brought in for digital payments in India.

Sudha Shivkumar, National President , FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO) while speaking on the occasion said, “ Digital empowerment can be a powerful avenue for women’s inclusion in the digital economy with new business opportunities, efficiency gains and better access to markets and global value chains. It will be a critical factor in promoting social inclusion and economic development. By giving women access to information and resources, digital empowerment can help to level the playing field and create opportunities for everyone.”

“Recognizing the transformative potential of digital technologies, FLO aims to bridge the digital gender divide and empower women to leverage digital platforms for their personal and professional growth. One of the key aspects of FICCI FLO’s work is promoting digital literacy among women. By organizing workshops, training programs, and awareness campaigns, FICCI FLO equips women with the necessary skills and knowledge to navigate the digital world.” Ms Shivkumar said.

Neha Dhadda, Chairperson, FLO Jaipur Chapter, Poonam Sharma, National Vice President, FLO and other dignitaries were present.