Observation
– Our respective scientific, technological and economic diplomacies already know both the potentiality and the strategic interest 1 of building an Indo-French Innovation and Economic Ecosystem at the intersection of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and Artificial Intelligence (AI);
– The only uncertainty laid in the possibility of gathering around such a project a relevant collective capable of carrying it out over the middle term.
Objective
Verify and identify the existence of a dynamic human ad-hoc community, capable of supporting and developing such an Indo-French ecosystem, and motivated to do so.
Approach
The #2 Indo-French Workshop on Data Spaces, Digital Public Infrastructures and AI Regulation was simultaneously held in Bangalore and Paris (and remotely) on 11-13 December 2024.
This workshop was organized by the Indian think tank iSPIRT Foundation, the French Embassy in India and the General consulate of France Bangalore, La French Tech in India.
The workshop was based on different principles:
– Gathering high level contributors from India and France: industrials, transdisciplinary academics, diplomats, officials, business founders, think tank members, technology makers;
– Pushing a Workshop format allowing participant to speak from Paris, from Bangalore or remotely (not an event, not a round table, not a scientific conference), organizing 3 different days with 3 different viewpoints:
1. philosophical/epistemological/human
DPI (where India is advanced): Infrastructures that make data accessible in a fair, interoperable, and sovereign manner. Data: Fundamental resource for AI and DPI, but relies on transparent management frameworks to avoid uncontrolled extraction. AI (where France is advanced): Leverages data to generate innovative solutions, but relies on DPIs for data quality, scale, and security. In summary: DPIs structure and regulate access to data as a public good, ensuring its interoperability and sovereignty, while AI leverages this data to create innovative solutions, relying on DPIs for its quality, scale, and ethical governance. India has already developed a “DPI for AI” architecture, Data Empowerment and Protection Architecture (DEPA).
sciences, 2° economical/techno-legal/social sciences/adoption, 3° application domains and use cases (Health, Culture, Creative Cities, Agriculture);
– Targeting recommendations toward the AI Action Summit (Paris, February 2025).
Results
– More than 80 speakers, 100 participants in person (in Bangalore or in Paris), 200 participants online;
– 14 different countries represented all over the world (India, France, Canada, USA, Mexico, Guatemala, Brazil, Germany, Netherland, Italia, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Thailand);
– An opening session figuring the Ambassador of India to France H.E. Mr. Jawed Ashraf, the French Digital Affairs Ambassador H.E. Mr. Henri Verdier, the Consul general of France in Bangalore Mr. Marc Lamy;
– A rich repository of content, including speaker presentations and slides
(https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1eTDbRgw1g8EOBtXS7uRim9I6gtQRbCZB?usp=sharing).
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- We have identified a dynamic human community, capable of supporting and developing an Indo-French Innovation and Economic Ecosystem at the intersection of DPI and AI, and motivated to do so
- We have identified several collaborative actions, that were immediately activated (e.g. the visit to Bangalore of PariSanté Campus and Health Data Hub in January 2025)
- We have identified some R&D questions to investigate (e.g. building a multilayer Digital Empowerment and Protection Architecture tool (DEPA), to allow DPI and Digital Commons to better integrate)
- We have identified some application domains to work on with high priority (Health & AI, Urbanity & AI, Agriculture & AI, Culture & AI), knowing that they are interrelated
Middle-term targets
Building an Indo-French Innovation and Economic Ecosystem at the intersection of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) would be a key proposal:
- To the AI Action Summit in Paris (Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi will co- preside it together with President of France Emmanuel Macron)
- To the India-France Year of Innovation (2026)
- To the Indo-French Strategic Partnership: Towards a Century of French-Indian Relations (2047 perspective)
That ecosystem could be settled as follows:
- Creation of a Franco-Indian Center of Excellence in AI and DPI: Establish a joint institute dedicated to research, development and training in the fields of AI and DPI, promoting innovation and sharing of best practices
- Development of Open Data Infrastructures: Create common open data platforms, facilitating access to public data for researchers and companies, while respecting data protection regulations
- Development of Pilot Projects in Digital Health: Collaborate on AI solutions applied to health, such as AI-assisted diagnostic systems or telemedicine platforms, using DPI to ensure equitable access to health services
- Training and Skills Exchange Program: Launch cross-training initiatives for students, researchers and professionals, including academic exchanges and internships in companies, in order to strengthen skills in AI and data management in both countries
- Collaboration on DPI Cybersecurity: Work together to strengthen the security of public digital infrastructures, by sharing technologies, defense strategies and incidentresponse protocols
- Promotion of Responsible Innovation in Startups: Set up joint programs to support startups developing responsible AI solutions, including funding, incubators and mentoring networks
Next steps
- Launching a ‘Imagining the Indian Cities’ program to explore Urbanity & AI in India
- Launching a secured trans-frontier data exchange use case with Health Data Hub, to prefigure a visible Indo-French project in Health sector
- Exploring some use case in Agriculture & AI and Culture & AI domains