WT/GC/W/863  
 
09 February 2023  
(23-0968) Page: 1/5 
General Council  Original: English  
 
  
ROLE OF DIGITAL PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE IN PROMOTING E -COMMERCE  
COMMUNICATION FROM INDIA  
The following communication, dated 7 February 2023, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of India.  
 
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1  INTRODUCTION  
1.1.  In recognition of the rapid growth of Global e -commerce and its significant role in creating new 
opportunities for trade, the Ministerial Conference in its declaration adopted on 20 May 19981, 
mandated the General Council to establish a comp rehensive Work Programme to "examine all 
trade-related issues relating to global electronic commerce, including those issues identified by 
Members ". Accordingly, the General Council in its decision adopted on 25 September, 19982, 
established the Work Prog ramme on Electronic Commerce to "examine all trade -related issues 
relating to global electronic commerce, taking into account the economic, financial and development 
needs of developing countries... ". 
1.2.  For the purpose of the Work Programme, "electronic comm erce" is understood to mean the 
production, distribution, marketing, sale or delivery of goods and services by electronic means. 
Further, issues related to the development of the infrastructure for electronic commerce were also 
included in the Work Program me. 
1.3.  The General Council was mandated to play a central role in the process and WTO bodies 
namely, the Council for Trade in Services, Council for Trade in Goods, Council for TRIP S & the 
Committee on Trade and Development were given specific issues for exami nation under the Work 
Programme. In furtherance to this, Ministerial Declarations, over the years, have called for 
continuing or re -invigorating the work under the WPEC (notably those in 2005, 2011) and reiterated 
in the General Council decision of 2019 an d a series of dedicated discussions on e -commerce to 
address cross -cutting issues took place between 2001 -2005 and then from 2009 to 2013. However, 
in general, post 2013 -14, there has not been much interest in these discussions amongst Members.  
1.4.  The Ministe rial Conference in its Twelfth Session in Geneva on 12 -15 June 20223, after 
evaluating the progress made in the Work Programme, decided to "reinvigorate the work under the 
Work Programme on Electronic Commerce, based on the mandate as set out in WT/L/274 and 
particularly in line with its development dimension. " 
1.5.  While numerous studies and reports4 have cited actual cases as to how e -commerce and mobile 
telephony have transformed the lives of many people in developing countries through better 
commu nication, access to information and lower transaction costs, at the same time it has also been 
acknowledged that there are still glaring differences and gaps in the adoption and use of digital 
technology across nations, which need to be effectively address ed to ensure that the benefits 
accorded by the digital revolution are made accessible to all. Against this backdrop, this submission 
 
1 Ministerial Conference Declaration on Global Electronic Commerce, WT/MIN(98)/DEC/2 . 
2 General Council decision, WT/L/274 . 
3 Ministerial Conference Twelfth Session Decision, WT/MIN(22)/32; WT/L/1143 . 
4 WTO Secretariat Publication "e -commerce in developing countries Opportunities and challenges for 
small and medium -sized enterprises" . WT/GC/W/863  
 
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  highlights the key role that Digital Public Infrastructure may play in mainstreaming the benefits of 
e-commerce to all.  
2  CHALLENGES AND ISSUES LIMITING THE ADOPTION AND USE OF E -COMMERCE  
2.1.  There are a wide range of issues and factors limiting the access and hence the subsequent 
adoption of digital technologies in tapping the opportunities being made available by the e -commerce 
revolution, which are briefly discussed below:  
a. The Digital Divide in access:  As per ITU statistics for 2022, 34% of the world 's 
population does not use the Internet. Behind this overall statistic there are stark regional 
differences. While Internet usage in  the developed countries is 90%, it is only 20% in the 
LDCs. It is estimated that 23% of the population in LDCs has no access to a mobile 
broadband network and even when they do, it is typically at relatively low download speeds 
(at 8 times lesser than tha t in a developed economy) and with relatively high price tag 
attached .5 
Digital divides reflect and amplify existing social, cultural and economic inequalities. The 
gender gap in global Internet use is a stark example – in two out of every three countries , 
more men use the Internet than women and the gender gap has been growing rather than 
narrowing . Similar challenges affect migrants, refugees, internally displaced persons, older 
persons, young people, children, persons with disabilities, rural populations and 
indigenous people.  
b. Wide disparity in E -Commerce readiness and participation:  As per the UNC TAD's 
B2C E -Commerce index6 which measures an economy 's preparedness to participate and 
support online shopping, there are substantial discrepancies between countries in terms 
of levels of readiness and participation in e -commerce. In the 2020 edition of the index, 
eight of the top ten economies with the highest scores in the index were from Western 
Europe, while the other two were high -income economies in Asia -Pacific. All ten leading 
developing economies, within the index were from Asia -Pacific, while ei ghteen of the 
twenty lowest -scoring countries were LDCs.  
c. E-Commerce and digital landscape being dominated by platforms from a few 
selected countries:  Global and proprietary digital platforms gain significant advantage 
with their ability to collect data whe n users access their services and are thus in a 
privileged position, giving them a significant competitive advantage. Network effects, 
combined with access to data and economies of scale and scope, have led to monopolistic 
trends and have increased the mar ket power of the world 's largest digital platforms.  
d. Issues of Trust in E -Commerce transactions:  Unlike physical transactions where 
buyers and sellers directly interact, wherein the buyer can easily ascertain the product 's 
availability/quality and can ensur e immediate delivery, these aspects are missing in 
e-commerce transactions, particularly those that occur on platforms. This leads to issues 
of trust in the ability of the seller to deliver the product of a particular quality and within 
a particular time -frame, along with concerns regarding reliability of payment methods, 
protection of privacy and security amongst others. Trust issues are exacerbated when the 
transactions are international, involving cross border movement of goods and services, 
personal inf ormation, personal data and payments.  
e. Limited access to digital solutions due to Copyright regimes and Proprietary 
systems:  Though the Internet began as a publicly managed network with an open-source  
ethos, however overtime, the percentage of the Internet that is open -source and public 
has significantly decreased. Further, access to digital solutions is often limited due to 
copyright regimes and proprietary systems. The classical issues related to proprietary 
digital solutions relate to risk of vendor lock -in, higher costs, lack of collaborative 
approach, interoperability issues, difficulty in scaling and consolidating, silos created by 
the platform model and the ir closed and opaque nature. Hence, access to useful 
 
5 UNCTAD C OVID -19 and e -commerce  - A Global review . 
6 UNCTAD B2C E -Commerce Index 2020 . WT/GC/W/863  
 
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  information online and to digital solutions is restricted/not easily made accessible, 
especially to those who need it the most.  
3  THE PARADIGM OF DIGITAL PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE (DPI)  
3.1.  In light of the significant challenges and issues limiting the adoption of E -Commerce in 
developing countries, these cou ntries would need to advance their digital industrialization by building 
their digital infrastructure and ensuring access of this digital infrastructure to all, especially the 
SME's. Against this backdrop, digital public infrastructure can play a crucial r ole in ensuring the 
widest possible dissemination of gains of E -commerce to all segments of the economy.  
3.2.  Digital Public infrastructure (DPI) refers to specific kinds of Digital systems which have 
society -wide use and are interoperable i.e., ability to comb ine with other and additional systems, 
allowing them to be built upon to create new applications/use cases. The aspect of public in digital 
infrastructure means that it has the classical characteristics of non -excludability and 
non-rivalrousness.  Non-excludability means that it is not possible to exclude any individual from 
using the infrastructure while non -rivalrous means that one's usage of the infrastructure does not 
affect its availability for others.  
3.3.  The Digital Public Goods Alliance refers to Digital  Public Infrastructure7 as solutions and systems 
that enable the effective provision of essential society -wide functions and services in the public and 
private sectors. This includes but is not limited to digital forms of ID and verification, civil 
regist ration, payment (digital transactions and money transfers), data exchange, and information 
systems (including sector -specific, i.e., health or education). Further, a country 's digital public 
infrastructure may include implementations of multiple proprietar y and/or open -source solutions 
(including digital public goods).  
3.4.  In technical terms, Digital Public Infrastructure consists of digital stacks and their core layers  
- such as Identification (ID), Payments, and data exchange  - which facilitates basic but wid ely useful 
functions at a societal scale, enabling better and more inclusive service delivery and innovation 
across multiple sectors. As per the World Bank, these front - and back -end systems  – provided by 
the government or in partnership with the private s ector – serve as 'rails' that underpin digital 
transactions and connections for people, businesses, and governments, including service delivery 
and operations across the public and private sectors.  
4  IDEAL FEATURES OF "GOOD " DIGITAL PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE8 
4.1.  It has been observed that governments often adopted siloed approaches when developing 
digital solutions for services and functions – this benefited one specific service or ministry at a time, 
overlooking the need for interoperability throughout government a nd with the private sector. This 
resulted in inefficient, vertical approaches to digital development. As an encouraging trend, many 
governments are now adopting a whole of government approach and by breaking silos allowing the 
applications and solutions be ing replicable and malleable to form and combine into new and more 
powerful applications and use cases. The following features characterize a good/ideal Digital 
Public  infrastructure:  
i. Commonality & interoperability  - Usage by maximum people and interoperability 
across organizations, sectors and borders.  
ii. Modular design  - Instead of being a rigid and monolithic design, the design should 
be flexible to cater to the diverse requirements of different geographies, sectors  
and uses. 
iii. Inclusive & equitable  - It is usable for all without any regard to economic or 
social  differences.  
 
7 Unpacking concepts & definitions – digital public Infrastructure, building blocks, and  their relation to 
digital public goods, May 17, 2022 - Digital Public Goods Alliance . 
8 Co-Develop Digital Public Infrastructure for an Equitable Recovery - The Rockefeller Foundation, Digital 
Public Goods Alliance, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs . WT/GC/W/863  
 
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  iv. High standards of Protection of rights and Privacy  - the data flowing through the 
DPI should be actively protected from extra -legal and abusive use to ensure that 
systems do not become instruments of surveillance.  
v. Competition and public agency  - As there is potential risk of monopoly power to 
the DPI owne rs, no single for -profit or foreign entity should have formal or de facto 
structural agency over DPI without appropriate checks.  
vi. Usage of Non -Proprietary components  - This will aid interoperability, scalability 
and reduce costs.  
4.2.  DPIs with the above feature s can help avoid duplication of effort, cost and time as there is no 
need to re -invent a resource. This allows countries to iterate for future needs and bring down costs 
over the long -term. Furthermore, sharing research will provide a base for new research  and help in 
improvement of infrastructure. It also facilitates knowledge exchange and collaboration between 
countries, by sharing the blueprints of their development, as well as experiential learnings from 
other countries. This in turn allows for replicat ion of solutions – and success – within each country 's 
own context.  
5  SOME NOTABLE DIGITAL PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS  
i. GovStack , is a multi -stakeholder initiative led by the Federal Ministry for Economic 
Cooperation and Development, Gesellschaft für Inter nationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), 
Estonia, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the Digital Impact 
Alliance. It offers governments open -source tools for digital services, including building 
block specifications, a sandbox for testing (upcoming ), and communities of practices, 
and more. GovStack solutions can be tailored to individual countries ' needs and be 
adapted based on future changes.  
ii. India Stack  is at the heart of India 's digital transformation. Described as "a set of 
APIs that allows gove rnments, businesses, start -ups and developers to utilise a unique 
digital Infrastructure to solve India 's problems towards presence -less, paperless, and 
cashless service delivery ". It has allowed for the creation of a variety of services 
towards a more dig itally inclusive society.  
iii. Unified Payment Interface (UPI) , the real time payment system has been a 
gamechanger for small and medium enterprises. UPI enables anyone with a bank 
account to make real -time digital payments using a mobile device. It has the ide al 
characteristics of having an interoperable architecture, collaborative approach in 
development between the public and non -government sector and a modular design. 
The platform launched in 2016, registered a record 45 billion transactions. The 
meteoric ri se in adoption of digital payments has been at the forefront of 
revolutionising e -commerce in India.  
iv. COVID -19 Vaccine Intelligence Network (CoWIN)  is the digital backbone of 
India's rapidly expanding and one of the world 's largest COVID -19 vaccination 
programmes. It is a scalable, inclusive, and open platform for universal vaccination, 
and enables monitoring of vaccine utilization, coverage, and wastage throughout the 
system. The citizen -centric solution facilitates registration and booking of 
appointments for vaccination, regular reminders and communication, provision of 
vaccination certificates for citizens and helps programme managers and vaccinators to 
create and manage sessions, develop reports and monitor progress.  
v. X-Road (Estonia) , is an open -source s oftware and ecosystem solution that provides 
unified and secure data exchange between organizations. It allows fully digital delivery 
of thousands of public and private services  — legislation, voting, education, justice, 
healthcare, banking, taxes, policin g, and more. It has also transformed the business 
of government in other ways. For example, macroeconomic estimates are informed by 
real-time information on new hiring and tax reporting, rather than lagged surveys and 
quarterly reports. X -Road operates on the "one-time principle " that a person should WT/GC/W/863  
 
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  be asked for any particular data point (say, an address) only a single time. A set of 
practical safeguards protect privacy and rights of the users.  
vi. Open Network for Digital Commerce (under development in India) : ONDC is 
an initiative aiming at promoting open networks for all aspects of exchange of goods 
and services over digital or electronic networks. ONDC is based on open -sourced 
methodology, using open specifications and open network protocols independent of 
any specific platform. Thus, ONDC goes beyond the current platform -centric digital 
commerce model where the buyer and seller have to use the same platform or 
application to be digitally visible and do a business transaction. ONDC protocols would 
standardiz e operations like cataloguing, inventory management, order management 
and order fulfilment. Thus, small businesses would be able to use any ONDC 
compatible applications instead of being governed by specific platform -centric policies. 
It will also democrati se e-commerce, levelling the playing field for SMEs and 
micro -entrepreneurs. Finally, ONDC is also expected to make e -commerce more 
inclusive and accessible for consumers. Consumers can potentially discover any seller, 
product or service by using any compa tible application or platform, thus increasing 
freedom of choice for consumers.  
6  GUIDING QUESTIONS  
In light of the above, the Members are requested to share their experiences, comments 
and suggestions on the subject. Some of the guiding questions are as be low:  
 
1. What are members ' experiences on transformational change being brought about through Digital 
Public Infrastructure?  
 
2. How can Members, having rich experience in the use and development of Digital Public 
Infrastructure, support other Members in  the adoption and use of Digital Public Infrastructure in the 
promotion of E -commerce?  
 
3. What can be done to leverage Digital Public Infrastructure in E -Commerce and Services delivery?  
 
4. What constraints are faced by the developing countries includin g LDCs in adoption and use of 
Digital Public Infrastructure?  
 
5. What role can Digital Public Infrastructure play in promoting global E -Commerce?  
 
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Bibliography  
 
1. UNCTAD Digital Economy Report, 2021  
2. UNCTAD Covid -19 and e -commerce -A Global review  
3. UNCTAD B2C E -Commerce Index 2020  
4. Unpacking concepts & definitions – digital public Infrastructure, building blocks, and their relation to digital 
public goods , May 17, 2022 - Digital Public Goods Alliance  
5. Co -Develop Digital Public Infrastructure for an Equitable Recovery - The Rockefeller Foundation, Digital Public 
Goods Alliance, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs  
6. WTO Secretariat Publication, "e-comme rce in developing countries Opportunities and challenges for small and 
medium -sized enterprises "  
7. GovStack Portal. https://www.govstack.global/about  
8. One Network for Digital Commerce, ondc.org  
 
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