MEDIA RELEASE - 2023 AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT AND BUSINESS TRADE DELEGATION TO INDIA

Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy Paul Fletcher will be visiting India as part of a joint government and business trade delegation organised by the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA).

The visit will take place from 4 June to 9 June 2023 in Bangalore and New Delhi.

Mr Fletcher said the visit is an opportunity to gain insights and learn from a technology powerhouse.

“India has the largest tech industry and the third largest start-up ecosystem in the world and is currently deploying the largest and fastest 5G network in the world,” Mr Fletcher said.

“Australia can learn from India’s remarkable use of technology to serve citizens – including the national digital identity system (for more than 1.3 billion people) and the unified payments interchange which leverages digital identity and mobile phones.

“We can also learn from the open platform approach of the ‘India Stack’, with key architecture decisions taken to avoid being locked in to one vendor’s technology.

“Australia has a large and growing tech industry and workforce but we cannot rest on our laurels. We must make the necessary policy decisions and investments to continue our growth, and this visit will allow me and other delegation members to learn from India’s success.

“I look forward to hearing from Indian officials and business people about their experience on a range of issues shared by our two countries, including digital identity and digital payments.

“The AIIA plays an important role in representing the technology industry and I would like to thank them for including me on this delegation.”

ENDS

Media contact: William Sparling | 0416 628 276 | [email protected]