UPSC Prelims 2022 Q31: Science & Technology – Computer & Information Technology

UPSC Prelims 2022, General Studies Paper I · Science & Technology

Consider the following: 1. Aarogya Setu 2. CoWIN 3. DigiLocker 4. DIKSHA Which of the above are built on top of open - source digital platforms?

Answer: (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

Explanation

India's digital public goods and open-source platforms

Platform	Purpose	Open-source basis
Aarogya Setu	COVID-19 contact tracing	Source code released as open source (2020)
CoWIN	COVID vaccination booking and certificates	Built on the open-source DIVOC platform; offered as a digital public good
DigiLocker	Digital documents wallet	Built on open APIs and open standards (India Stack)
DIKSHA	Digital learning for school education	Built on the open-source Sunbird platform

All four are part of India's Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), shared with other countries.

India Stack layers:

Layer	Example
Identity	Aadhaar
Payments	UPI
Data	DigiLocker, Account Aggregator

Answer: (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4.

(a) Incorrect. It leaves out DigiLocker and DIKSHA, both built on open platforms.
(b) Incorrect. It leaves out Aarogya Setu, whose code was made open source.
(c) Incorrect. It leaves out CoWIN, built on the open-source DIVOC platform.
(d) CORRECT. All four are built on open-source platforms as part of India's digital public infrastructure.

Aarogya Setu, CoWIN (DIVOC), DigiLocker and DIKSHA (Sunbird) are open-source-based digital public goods.

Aarogya Setu, CoWIN, DigiLocker and DIKSHA are all built on open-source platforms.

Assuming government apps are closed-source; India promotes open-source digital public goods.
Not knowing DIKSHA runs on Sunbird, an open-source platform.
Forgetting that CoWIN was offered free to other countries.

India's DPI model = open source + open APIs. UPSC often tests this through 'all of the above'.