the Government of Australia, IT for Change, Project Liberty Institute and Global Solutions Initiative
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) are two key domains of digitalisation over which policymakers are increasingly fixated. Increasingly, these two domains are coming together, either through ‘DPI for AI’ (data collected through DPI improving frontier AI models) or ‘AI for DPI’ (AI’s general purpose nature enhancing DPI across sectors, such as AI-enabled diagnoses in public health systems).
However, much of the foundational infrastructure of AI – such as large datasets, cutting-edge semiconductors and compute capabilities – rests in the hands of corporate monopolies. Scaling digital public infrastructure through these pathways has a high risk of vendor lock-in and technological dependencies, foreclosing pathways for digital sovereignty. At the same time, without appropriate safeguards, the innovation dividends generated through digital infrastructure can entrench the interests of data capital and global tech corporations, while exacerbating issues of access, inclusion and inequality in public services delivery. Without governance frameworks that ensure democratic participation in the design, deployment and governance of digital infrastructure, the convergence of AI and digital infrastructure risks scaling efficiency without legitimacy, intelligence without accountability, and public infrastructure without public trust.
In order to unpack what the term 'public' in digital public infrastructures means, especially in the era of AI, IT for Change organized a multistakeholder dialogue that brought together governments, public interest technologists, civil society and academia on the sidelines of the India AI Impact Summit 2026. Co-organised by the Government of Australia, IT for Change, Project Liberty Institute and Global Solutions Initiative, this 90 minute closed-door dialogue explored the nuts and bolts of the institutional framework to steward AI and digital infrastructure for public value and collective well being, as well as outline policy pathways that can help realise the vision of democratic and accountable AI infrastructures.
Read the agenda here.