IIT Hyderabad, Department of Posts, and NRSC (ISRO) Collaborate to Launch DIGIPIN: A National-Scale Geospatial Addressing System for India

• Compactness: Short and efficient codes for ease of use.
• Geographic Precision: Ability to extract exact latitude and longitude coordinates.
• Inclusivity: Coverage for all parts of India, including densely populated and remote regions.
• Privacy: DIGIPIN carries no personal information.
• Future-readiness: Scalable and adaptable for future needs.

In a landmark move to revolutionize India’s addressing infrastructure, the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IITH), in collaboration with the Department of Posts and the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), ISRO, Government of India, has developed DIGIPIN – an open-source, machine-interpretable geospatial addressing system designed to provide precise and standardised digital addresses across the country.

Traditional descriptive addresses in India suffer from a lack of uniformity and machine-readability, causing inefficiencies in postal and logistics operations. DIGIPIN aims to transform this system by introducing a geo-coded, digital public infrastructure (DPI) layer for India’s physical addressing landscape.

DIGIPIN is a compact, intuitive, and human-readable geohash, capable of encoding the latitude and longitude of any point of interest in India, from urban households to remote maritime locations. The system is designed for offline usability, privacy, and robustness, making it suitable for diverse applications including e-commerce, emergency response, and public service delivery.

Dr Shashank Vatedka

 DIGIPIN is the outcome of a dedicated research effort by a team of faculty from the Department of Electrical Engineering at IIT Hyderabad, Dr Shashank Vatedka, Prof Soumya Jana and Dr Lakshmi Prasad Natarajan, along with Tarandeep Singh, a former MTech (AI) student. Their work has produced a geohashing scheme that encapsulates geographic coordinates into short, intuitive codes, which can be extracted even offline using location-enabled devices.

Prof. Soumya Jana

Dr Lakshmi Prasad Natarajan

Prof. B S Murty, Director of IITH, expressed pride in the achievement, stating, “DIGIPIN represents a leap towards the vision of a digitally empowered India. By converting every location into a simple, verifiable, and interoperable digital code, we are laying the foundation for an address infrastructure that can scale with our nation’s growing technological and societal needs. IITH is proud to contribute to this national initiative that blends open-source innovation, geospatial intelligence, and public service and this can be considered a revolution in the field of Navigation.”

Dr. Shashank Vatedka, Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, IITH, mentioned that, “DIGIPIN will provide immense convenience to Indian residents and all stakeholders by succinctly and precisely representing a physical address. For instance, it could be represented as a QR code or a barcode and printed on consignments for machine-based routing; DIGIPIN could be easily stored and communicated using digital wallets.

Dr. Lakshmi Prasad Natarajan, Associate Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, IITH, mentioned that, “The idea was to make it as easy as possible to automatically assign codes and start using DIGIPIN with as little manual intervention as possible. In many cases, finding one’s DIGIPIN would be possible using only a device with a reasonably good location service (such as a smartphone) and an app equipped with a high-resolution map.”

Dr. Soumya Jana, Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, IITH, mentioned that “The applicability of DIGIPIN could be wider, going beyond the primary use as a digitization technology for conventional addressing. They could be used in scenarios where conventional addresses are inconsistent or not available, such as emergency response services, locating public service centres/utilities such as Health camps, Aadhar enrollment offices, and so on.”

DIGIPIN is a geohashing scheme designed to have the following features:

• The length of the DIGIPIN is designed to be as small as possible in order to provide an efficient digital representation of addresses.
• It contains the geographic location of the address. It is possible to extract the latitude and longitude of the address from the DIGIPIN with low complexity. This can also be done offline.
• All points of interest to India (including maritime regions) are assigned DIGIPIN, and it is possible to assign a unique DIGIPIN to very densely populated areas.
• The format of the DIGIPIN is intuitive and human-readable. An effort was made to infuse a sense of directionality within the format of DIGIPIN.
• Ease of code assignment and usability: A crucial point of consideration was to make it as easy as possible to automatically assign codes and start using DIGIPIN with as little manual intervention as possible. In many cases, finding one’s DIGIPIN would be possible using only a device with a reasonably good location service (such as a smartphone) and an app equipped with a high-resolution map.

DIGIPIN only encodes geographical information and contains no personal details that could lead to privacy violations.

DIGIPIN is designed to be robust to future developments and changes.

MeitY Unveils ‘Entity Locker’, A Cloud-based Business Document Management Infrastructure

The Entity Locker is a new digital public infrastructure developed by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) through its National eGovernance Division (NeGD). It's designed to streamline the management, verification, and storage of business documents.

Entity Locker is a secure, cloud-based solution that simplifies the storage, sharing, and verification of documents for a wide range of entities, including large organisations, corporations, micro, small, and medium Enterprises (MSMEs), trusts, startups and societies.

1. Real-time Access: Integrates with government databases to provide real-time document verification.
2. Consent-based Sharing: Allows secure sharing of documents with the user's consent.
3. Role-based Access: Implements Aadhaar-authenticated access to ensure accountability.
4. 10 GB Encrypted Cloud Storage: Provides secure storage for business documents.
5. Legally Valid Digital Signatures: Ensures documents are properly authenticated

The platform aims to minimize administrative overhead, speed up processing times, and enhance operational efficiency for businesses. It also supports compliance with regulatory and reporting requirements and integrates with systems like the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, GST Network, and Directorate General of Foreign Trade.

The Entity Locker offers numerous benefits across various industries by simplifying and securing business document management. Here’s how it can be particularly beneficial:

For Startups and Small Businesses:

Streamlined Compliance: Easily manage and submit necessary documents for various registrations and compliance requirements.

Document Security: Store critical business documents securely with encryption and control who has access to them.

Efficiency: Reduce the administrative burden of handling physical documents, leading to faster processing times.

For Large Corporations:

Centralized Repository: Maintain a central repository for all business documents, accessible to authorized personnel only.

Audit Trail: Keep a detailed log of document access and modifications to enhance accountability and transparency.

Scalable Solutions: Handle large volumes of documents efficiently with scalable cloud storage.

For Financial Institutions:

Verification: Quickly verify documents for loan applications, opening bank accounts, and other financial transactions.

Risk Management: Reduce the risk of fraud by ensuring documents are authenticated and legally valid.

Customer Convenience: Improve customer experience by enabling seamless document submission and verification.

For Government Agencies:

Inter-agency Collaboration: Facilitate the sharing of verified documents across different government departments and agencies.

Reduced Paperwork: Minimize the need for physical document submission, making processes more efficient and eco-friendly.

Transparency: Enhance transparency in administrative processes by maintaining a reliable digital record of documents.

For Healthcare Providers:

Patient Records: Securely store and manage patient consent forms, insurance documents, and other essential records.

Compliance: Ensure compliance with regulatory requirements for document handling and storage.

Operational Efficiency: Streamline administrative tasks and improve overall operational efficiency.

By leveraging the capabilities of the Entity Locker, businesses and organizations can achieve better document management, enhanced security, and improved operational efficiency.

Senior officials from MeitY emphasise that Entity Locker is more than just a technological innovation. It is a strategic initiative designed to reduce administrative friction, catalyse productivity, and unlock new opportunities for businesses. The platform reflects the government’s commitment to creating a digitally empowered and efficient business environment.

UP Govt Launches ONDC-like Open Network for Agriculture, Powered by Google's Gemini and Beckn Protocol

The Government of Uttar Pradesh, in collaboration with Google Cloud India, has launched the Uttar Pradesh Open Network for Agriculture (UPONA). This initiative is powered by Google's Gemini framework and the Beckn Protocol, aiming to provide millions of farmers with a comprehensive digital platform.

The UPONA specifically targets farmers, providing services like agricultural advisory, credit access, and market linkages

The UPONA is quite similar to the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) as both initiatives aim to create open, decentralized platforms that facilitate access to essential services and promote digital inclusion. Both initiatives aim to create open, decentralized platforms that facilitate access to essential services and promote digital inclusion.

The Beckn Protocol, which is the backbone of the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), is also powering UPONA. While the UPONA focuses on farmers, ONDC aims to support small businesses and retailers by providing a unified platform for e-commerce.

Key Features:

Services Offered: The network offers advisory services, credit access, mechanization, and market linkages.

Accessibility: Farmers can access the network using voice commands in multiple languages, including Hindi, Bangla, Telugu, Kannada, Gujarati, and Punjabi.

Open and Decentralized: Unlike traditional marketplace apps, this network is designed to be open and decentralized, allowing various service providers to join and connect with farmers.

Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI): The network leverages Google Cloud’s DPI-in-a-box offering and the Beckn Protocol to enable interoperability and decentralized discovery of products and services.

This initiative is a significant step towards enhancing the agricultural ecosystem in Uttar Pradesh and empowering farmers with the tools and resources they need to thrive.

Key Similarities Between UPONA & ONDC

Open and Decentralized: Both networks are designed to be open and decentralized, allowing various service providers to join and connect with users.

Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI): Both initiatives leverage DPI to enhance service delivery and accessibility.

Interoperability: Both networks use open standards to enable interoperability and decentralized discovery of products and services.

Focus on Farmers and Small Businesses: While the UP Open Network for Agriculture focuses on farmers, ONDC aims to support small businesses and retailers by providing a unified platform for e-commerce.

Key Differences Between UPONA & ONDC

Target Audience: The UP Open Network for Agriculture specifically targets farmers, providing services like agricultural advisory, credit access, and market linkages. ONDC, on the other hand, targets a broader audience, including small businesses and consumers, to facilitate digital commerce.

Services Offered: The UP Open Network for Agriculture offers specialized services for the agricultural sector, while ONDC focuses on creating a unified e-commerce platform for various industries.

Both initiatives are significant steps towards enhancing digital infrastructure and promoting economic growth in India.