Bengaluru, India – October 2025: The Symposium on Data for Public Good 2025, India’s leading forum on data, AI, and Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), concluded its third edition on October 14–15, 2025, at the JN Tata Auditorium, IISc Bengaluru, marking two days of transformative discussions, global participation, and innovation in action.

Organised by the Centre of Data for Public Good (CDPG), the Symposium brought together leaders from MeitY, Microsoft Research India, Google DeepMind, FIWARE, Gaia-X, ETSI, GLEIF, OGC, World Bank, Mercedes-Benz, WRI India, GIZ India, and IIIT Bangalore, reaffirming its role as India’s premier cross-sector platform for advancing data and AI for societal impact.

More than 1,000 participants from government, academia, industry, and civil society convened over 40+ sessions to explore how data sovereignty, interoperability, and trust can power equitable digital ecosystems for the future.

Opening and Keynotes: Setting the tone for India’s data and AI future

The Symposium opened with a Welcome Address by Prof. Govindan Rangarajan, Director, IISc Bengaluru, followed by Prof. Inder Gopal, Chairman, CDPG & Research Professor, IISc, who outlined the conference and its mission.

The keynote sessions set a strong foundation for the two-day dialogue:

• Shri S. Krishnan, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), spoke on “Driving the Future: The Role of Government in Accelerating Data Science and AI Innovation.” He highlighted how government-led digital initiatives and policy frameworks are shaping India’s AI and data landscape.
  
  
• Shri Sharad Sharma, Co-Founder, iSPIRT Foundation, delivered an address on “Why India’s Data Economy Matters to the World.” His talk underscored India’s pivotal role in building a data economy that empowers citizens, drives entrepreneurship, and fosters equitable global impact.
  
  
• Shri V. Srinivas, Secretary, Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), shared insights on “Data-Driven Governance: Harnessing Innovation for Citizen-Centric Public Services.” He emphasized how open data and digital platforms are strengthening transparency, efficiency, and accountability in public administration.
  
  
• Mr. Peter Rabley, CEO, Open Geospatial Consortium(OGC), spoke on the topic “AI: Will it Eat Geospatial?”, focusing on the growing global importance of geospatial data and standards, and the valuable role of AI in geospatial inferencing and analytics.

Together, the inaugural keynotes captured India’s growing leadership in Digital Public Infrastructure – from governance and innovation to global collaboration.

Tracks and Thematic Focus

The symposium was structured around four distinct tracks – Data Spaces and Digital Product Passport, Mobility, WebSciX, and Privacy & Security for the Future of India – each designed to explore a key dimension of how data can be leveraged for public good.

While Day 1 set the stage by introducing these focus areas through high-level discussions, Day 2 delved deeper into the technical and implementation layers within each track.

• The Data Spaces and Digital Product Passport track featured sessions led by FIWARE, Gaia-X, and GLEIF, examining the frameworks that enable secure and verifiable global data exchange.
  
  
• The Mobility track, curated by WRI India and GIZ, focused on sustainable, data-driven mobility systems through open digital platforms, with city-scale case studies from Bengaluru and beyond.
  
  
• The WebSciX track by IIIT-Bangalore explored how localized web science can tackle regional digital challenges through the interplay of AI, Web, and society.
  
  
• The Privacy and Security track spotlighted future-ready approaches to privacy, AI governance, and secure data infrastructure, featuring voices from Microsoft Research India, the World Bank, and CDPG.
  
  

Notable sessions, panel discussions and expert insights from thought leaders included:

• Urmila Chatterjee, Executive Director DPIC, Univ. of Chicago Trust
• Chandra Challagonda, CEO, FIWARE Foundation & Board Member, Gaia-X AISBL
• Pierre Gronlier, CIO, Gaia-X AISBL 
• Vikas Panwar, Country Business Manager – India, GLEIF – DPP & LEI.
• Nishanth Chandran, Senior Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research India 
• Prof. Shalini Urs, Executive Director Emerita, iSiM, University of Mysore
• Prof. Sakthi Balan Muthiah, Shiv Nadar University 
• S. Swaminathan, Former Ambassador
• Vikas Kanungo, Global AI Strategist, World Bank
• Kapil Vaswani, Head, SPARC-FRO, FSID
• Shalabh Jain, Head – Security & Privacy, CDPG

“The Symposium has become a bridge between research, policy, and implementation. This year’s discussions reflected India’s growing leadership in Digital Public Infrastructure – not just as a user, but as a global contributor to trusted, open, and interoperable systems.”

• Inder Gopal, Chairman, CDPG & Research Professor, IISc

Innovation in action: Two hackathons that stole the spotlight

The Bengaluru Last Mile Challenge 2025

The Bengaluru Last Mile Challenge brought together innovators from across India to design multimodal transport solutions for one of the world’s most congested cities.

Co-organised by BMTC, Namma Yatri, CDPG, and CiSTUP (Centre for Infrastructure, Sustainable Transportation and Urban Planning), IISc, and hosted onIEEE DataPort with prizes sponsored by Maruti Suzuki India Limited, the challenge celebrated creativity, collaboration, and impact.

• 1st Prize – Team Chennai TriMobility, Exacube, Chennai
• 2nd Prize – Team Bengaluru Vega, ZHCET, Aligarh Muslim University
• Special Recognition – Team A (IISc Bengaluru), Team WorkFromTraffic (RVCE Bengaluru), Team Dijkstra (RVCE Bengaluru)

Dr Raghu Krishnapuram, Senior Scientist, CDPG, presented the winners and commended their vision for data-driven, sustainable urban mobility.

2025 Hackathon on Interoperability of Digital Public Infrastructure

Held from 11-13 October 2025 in hybrid mode (IISc Bengaluru + online), and organised by INPACE, FIWARE and CDPG with technical support from Gaia-X AISBL and GLEIF, the hackathon brought together participants from India, Europe, and the Indo-Pacific to tackle the challenge of cross-border digital identity interoperability.

Teams built prototypes demonstrating how a European citizen could securely access data from an Indian organisation registered on MOSIP, using frameworks such as Gaia-X, FIWARE, vLEI, and NGSI-LD, while ensuring compliance with GDPR and India’s DPDPA.

Winner: Team Builder, recognised for its innovative approach, seamless integration, and strong vision for a globally interoperable digital ecosystem.

A tribute to a pioneer

Amidst the energy and innovation, the Symposium took a moment to honour Prof. Pushpak Bhattacharyya — a visionary academic and the “Father of Indian NLP”.  Prof. Bhattacharyya, Bhagat Singh Rekhi Chair Professor at IIT Bombay, Abdul Kalam National Fellow, and former Director of IIT Patna, was celebrated for his pioneering contributions to Natural Language Processing in India.

His dedication to mentoring young minds, advancing AI for human understanding, and bridging technology with compassion continues to inspire generations of researchers and innovators.

Event Co-organisers

FIWARE • WRI India • IIIT Bangalore • GIZ India
Media Partner: Elets
Community Partner: Concur – Consent Manager

For more details and session recordings, visit 👉 dataforpublicgood.org.in/symposium-2025

About CDPG

The Centre of Data for Public Good (CDPG) is a pioneering initiative under FSID (Foundation for Science Innovation and Development), IISc Bengaluru, committed to leveraging data and technology for societal impact. We work at the intersection of technology, policy, and society, enabling responsible data sharing and innovation across sectors such as urban development, agriculture, geospatial services, healthcare and more. 

We foster collaboration between academia, industry, and government to address pressing challenges across sectors and empower stakeholders to develop solutions that drive equitable and sustainable progress. Anchored in translational research and real-world applications, our software platforms, AI/ML models, innovative applications and data policies facilitate the use of data for public good. 

Website: https://dataforpublicgood.org.in/

Media Contact:
Namrata Agrawal
namrata.agrawal@cdpg.org.in
Ph: 7829121121