India releases draft framework to boost cross-border adoption of digital public infra

Representative image

With an aim to take the lead on the subject of implementation and adoption of India's digital public infrastructure beyond the country's borders, the Controller of Certifying Authorities under Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) released the draft for the Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) Mutual Recognition Framework on June 13.

PKIs form a layer of digital public infrastructure and it deals with a set of technology and processes that make up a framework of encryption to protect and authenticate digital communications.

'Seamless integration'

"India hereby takes the initiative to lead this subject and hereby publishes the draft Framework," Arvind Kumar, Controller of Certifying Authorities, said on the second day of Global DPI Summit in Pune adding that countries have arrived at a consensus on the need for a common framework.

"This will be useful for implementation and adoption of Digital Public infrastructure (DPI) across border, along with seamless integration with national systems of participating countries enabled by PKI and based on a common framework," Kumar said at the event.

The draft framework says that countries should publish their root trust anchor or a list of trusted certifying authorities.

In a PKI, a trust anchor is a certification authority, which is represented by a certificate that is used to verify the signature on a certificate issued by that trust anchor.

The framework also says that countries shall ensure that they have an active and compliant National PKI Framework. "The countries shall demonstrate their compliance via globally accepted practices," it adds.

"PKI Mutual Recognition framework is essential for enabling secure and interoperable communication n today's globalised world. By promoting trust and security, reducing complexity and costs, and increasing interoperability, the framework provides a standardised and trusted approach that can benefit organisations and governments," Kumar added.