IIM Bangalore CDPG Conclave Examines the Future of Digital Public Infrastructure Through the Digi Yatra Real-World Case
Bengaluru : The IIM Bangalore Center for Digital Public Goods (CDPG) Annual Conclave 2026 brought together academics, practitioners and students to examine the next phase of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), with the CDPG National Student Case Competition 2026 using Digi Yatra as a real-world case to explore questions around innovation, governance, privacy and responsible expansion of digital public systems.
The National Student Case Competition received 450+ submissions from students across India. The competition was structured across three analytical tracks- Technology & Design, Policy & Regulation, and Governance & Ecosystem Management, with Bachelor’s and Master’s students from across disciplines encouraged to participate through interdisciplinary teams.
The challenge encouraged students from across India to examine how digital public infrastructure can evolve while balancing technological innovation with policy objectives, governance requirements and public value. By placing Digi Yatra at the centre of the challenge, the initiative explored the practical considerations involved in extending an existing digital identity and authentication system into new application areas, and the safeguards that such expansion would require.
The conclave also saw the launch of the ‘State of DPI in India 2026’ report, commissioned by Protean eGov Technologies Ltd. and authored by CDPG at IIM Bangalore. The report examines the evolution of India’s DPI ecosystem across financial services, healthcare, agriculture, commerce and education, and builds on the DPI maturity framework introduced in its first edition. The report notes that India’s next phase of DPI development will increasingly involve connecting existing infrastructure into interoperable networks, building digital institutions around them and enabling trusted interactions across increasingly complex ecosystems.
The National Finals brought together the nine finalist teams for presentations and discussions around these questions, providing perspectives from the next generation of students working across technology, policy and governance.
Prof. R Srinivasan, Chairperson, CDPG and faculty of Strategy at IIM Bangalore, said, “Through the first edition of the CDPG National Student Case Competition, we wanted to introduce students to the many dimensions of DPI and, in the process, build a deeper sense of curiosity and pride in what India has created. It was important to us that students encounter DPI not only as a technology story, but as a space where policy, governance, technology and design come together and perhaps see nation-building as a career in which they can play a role. That thinking lent itself to the three tracks of the competition, with each given equal weightage. We thank our partners for helping us bring this vision to life and for encouraging structured thinking through the case studies.”
Digi Yatra provided a practical setting for examining these questions. Designed to facilitate secure and seamless passenger movement at airports through facial authentication linked to travel credentials, its ecosystem brought together passengers, airlines, airports, the DigiYatra Foundation and technology service providers. Its multi-stakeholder structure provided a basis for examining questions around interoperability, purpose limitation, consent and responsible reuse of digital infrastructure.
Sundar Natarajan, Head – Strategy, Communications and Institutional Relations, Digi Yatra Foundation, said, “As digital public infrastructure continues to evolve, technology, trust, responsibility and purpose must remain central to how we design and build digital ecosystems. Digi Yatra’s experience in enabling seamless airport access offers a valuable context for exploring these questions, particularly as conversations around digital identity and its potential applications evolve. Our engagement with IIM Bangalore’s CDPG Annual Conclave provides an opportunity to encourage an informed dialogue on the possibilities and considerations involved in building trusted digital ecosystems.”
The CDPG Annual Conclave 2026 came at a point when the maturity of India’s DPI ecosystem was creating a different set of conversations around digital infrastructure. The Digi Yatra case brings these conversations into a tangible operating environment, allowing participants to examine the intersection of technology, policy and governance and consider the conditions under which digital infrastructure can expand while maintaining trust, inclusion and public value.
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