Digital transformation in a large democracy: the case of India

ABSTRACT

This article examines India’s ambitious digital transformation program that has sustained over the last decade. The digital transformation effort started around 2009 with the creation of the digital identity program and continues until now with additional layers of digital payments, data empowerment architecture, open network for digital commerce, and several others. Using the interpretive narrative approach, we examine the empirical case of three core digital transformation initiatives commonly referred to as the India Stack: (1) Aadhar – the digital identity system, (2) Unified Payment Interface – the digital payment infrastructure, and (3) Data Empowerment and Protection Architecture – a data sharing architecture. Our findings suggest that institutional leadership and stakeholder co-production are the main drivers behind the success of digital transformation in India. The leadership provided the sustained vision, institutional continuity, and the legal and regulatory framework for digital transformation initiatives. Stakeholder partnerships from across public, private, and non-profit agencies were crucial to the design and delivery of the program. This study offers theoretical insights and practical lessons for scholars and practitioners alike for how a large-scale digital transformation is implemented and sustained in a complex environment.

KEYWORDS:

• Digital transformation
• India stack
• institutional leadership
• stakeholder co-production
• Asia pacific region

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data sharing

The study utilises open-source data, which will be made available upon request.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Pallavi Awasthi

Pallavi Awasthi, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Public Administration at the H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship, Nova Southeastern University. Pallavi completed a Ph.D. in Public Affairs from Florida International University in 2020. She has 15 years of research and consulting experience in public sector leadership development. Her current research explores successful leadership approaches in city governments, particularly ‘servant leadership’ and how it enables the development of agile and lean processes and strategies for faster adoption of emerging digital innovations and sustainable community development practices in local governments.

Sukumar Ganapati

Sukumar Ganapati, Ph.D. is a Professor of Public Administration at Florida International University. Sukumar obtained his Ph.D. in Planning in 2003 from the School of Policy, Planning, and Development at the University of Southern California. Dr. Ganapati’s research interests are both international and domestic. His research focuses on housing, community development, e-government and information technology applications. He has over 25 refereed publications. Before he joined FIU in 2004, he taught at California State University, Northridge; California Polytechnic State University, Pomona; University of Southern California; and Manipal Institute of Technology (India).

Kuang Ting Tai

Kuang Ting Tai, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Public Administration at the H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship, Nova Southeastern University. He holds a Ph.D. in Public Administration from Rutgers University-Newark. Kuang-Ting’s research interests mainly focus on the applications of advanced information technologies in the public sector with a specific purpose to examine how information technologies can reshape the interface between the public and government. His prior studies have addressed the related issues regarding transparency, e-participation, and open government.