Home » India 2.0: A step forward on reimagining gov tech for web 3.0 era

A blueprint called the ‘India Digital Ecosystem Architecture (IndEA) 2.0, was released recently by the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY).
The document outlines how the government should architect its digital infrastructure for the Web 3.0 era.
Web 3.0 is the most-hyped technology term in recent times.

The digital ecosystem is defined in the document as “a distributed, adaptive, and open socio-technical system with properties of self-organization, scalability, and sustainability.”
To cite a rough analogy, GovTech platforms like Aadhaar and UPI, though built using open source software and interoperability principles, are akin to a tightly choreographed orchestra controlled by a single conductor.
The next generation of GovTech platforms built using IndEA 2.0 design principles could be more akin to a jam session.
While it doesn’t explicitly name Web 3.0, the IndEA 2.0 report seems to have embraced the principle of decentralization that is the biggest promise of the Web 3.0 approach.

The early web, or Web 1.0 was a connected platform where people could access information and start interacting with each other. However, it was mostly a collection of static websites.
Web 2.0, also sometimes called the Social Web, gave us platforms like Google, Amazon, Facebook and Twitter and made the web more dynamic and interactive.
However, one of the unintended consequences of Web 2.0 was that these platforms turned into giant monopolies or duopolies due to network effects. Because of network effects, Web 2.0 became too centralized in terms of data, code, services and infrastructure. In contrast to Web 2.0, the emerging Web 3.0 architecture is expected to be decentralized, more secure and provide users greater control over their data.
The IndEA 2.0 report recognizes this paradigm shift in technology architecture by proposing a move from systems to ecosystems and from platforms to protocols.
It envisages digital governance as a set of building blocks that can be combined to create citizen-centric services.

What is InDEA2.0 ?

India Digital Ecosystem Architecture 2.0 or InDEA 2.0 is a framework that enables Governments and private sector enterprises to design IT architectures that can span beyond their organizational boundaries and enable delivery of holistic and integrated services to the customers.
While InDEA 2.0 builds upon the principles and models recommended in India Enterprise Architecture (IndEA 1.0 – 2018), it adopts a radically different approach to architecture development. It addresses the architectural needs of an ecosystem rather than of an enterprise which was the focus of its predecessor.
InDEA 2.0 is a framework that promotes the evolution of digital ecosystems. It consists of a set of principles and architectural patterns that inform, guide, and enable the development of large digital systems, with a focus on the public sector.

The following statements define the characteristics of InDEA: ·

The boundaries between functions, jurisdictions and public-private organizations are getting blurred due to increasing interdependencies and the need for citizen-centric approaches to designing digital services, as opposed to organization-centric approaches.
The need to provide endto-end services, adopting the methods of digital transformation, agile development methods, disruptive business models, and above all, the as-yet unfathomable opportunities offered by the emerging technologies like AI, ML, IoT and DLT are strong forces pushing the limits towards the evolution of digital ecosystems.
The core value proposition of InDEA 2.0 to the Governments is in terms of a more rational planning of IT investments, cost savings due to reusable and interoperable systems, and better architectures designed faster.
To the citizens, it means a more holistic and seamless experience across organizations. And to the industry, it holds out immense promise of innovation. The InDEA 2.0 framework is useful to the policy makers in the government, and architects and system designers in the public and private sector.