G20 Digital Economy Working Group meeting concludes

Hyderabad: The three-day Second Meeting of G20 Digital Economy Working Group (DEWG) concluded here on Wednesday. The meeting was attended by 81 foreign delegates from G20 members, eight guest countries, five international organizations, and one regional organization.

The sessions included topics such as 'High-Speed Mobile Broadband and its Impacts, 'Digital Inclusion—Connecting the Unconnected' and 'Sustainable Green Digital Infrastructure: Challenges and Opportunities'.

It saw intense discussion among the panel of international and national experts and question-and-answer sessions. Delegates also visited IIT-Hyderabad and experienced India's path-breaking projects and cutting-edge research in the field of digital and telecom technologies, such as 5G products, 5G base stations, 6G system prototypes, autonomous navigation testbed, and an AI-powered RNA-electronic test kit. A multi-stakeholder workshop on "Mutual Recognition Framework on Digital Skills" was also organized. The best practices and latest initiatives on the subject matter were presented by the respective experts from the government, industry, and academia.

These sessions witnessed in-depth discussion on the priority area titled 'Digital Skilling'. The participating delegates discussed the critical role of digital skills in shaping digital transformation and creating a future-ready workforce. Inclusive development was reemphasized during the discussion.

On the third of the meeting, detailed discussions on the priority areas, namely 'Digital Public Infrastructure' and 'Cyber Security in Digital Economy' were held. To bring coherence among the various working groups and parallel tracks of the G20, the respective leads from the GPFI and the Health WG presented their progress and linkages.

During the three days, several cultural programmes were organized, and the richness of Indian culture, Indian cuisine, Indian arts, and folk forms of India were showcased to the delegates. As a next step, a series of bilateral and multilateral meetings among the G20 members will be held. The third in-person meeting of the Digital Economy Working Group is scheduled to be held in June 2023 in Pune, Maharashtra.