35 Million Empowered through Digital Interventions
Enabling Digital Inclusion
Wisdom TreeOur PresenceList of DEF’s initiatives websites
Bridging the Digital Divide Through Community-Led Access
Latest Insights and Updates from DEF
Visual Impact Stories
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Insights and perspectives from DEF’s Think Tank on Digital Inclusion, Policy, and Social Change
DEF’s Vertical of Development
IMPACT TILL TODAY..
35 million people reached through our initiatives
We have empowered socio-economically backward communities, women, artisans, youth, persons with disabilities, and elderly with digital access, knowledge, and opportunities.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Dialogues towards digital inclusion
DEF hosts global multistakeholder events to create a dialogue on digital inclusion and advocate for inclusive and meaningful digital empowerment.
Digital Citizen Summit
9th and 10th December 2026
DCS 2026 will anchor conversations on technology in digital rights and community participation by creating space to critically examine the existing public digital systems. It will bring together ideas, stories, questions, and solutions grounded in experiences. It will also look at evidence of both inclusion and exclusion to shape more…
Community Network Xchange
9th and 10th December 2026
CNX 2026 will take forward critical engagements on community internet infrastructure, existing challenges, and emerging models that will decentralise digital public infrastructure. It will explore the ways in which community internet infrastructures are not only ‘alternative’ but can be part of a larger ‘DPI’ at local scales. The summit will…
Just AI – Data & Algorithms for Communities
9th and 10th December 2026
AI is being increasingly integrated into Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) across countries and is emerging as another technology suite with significant potential for public good. The Just AI Awards will recognise some of these solutions through the lens of ethics and human rights principles, that are responsibly and inclusively designed,…
Digital Artisans of India Awards (DAOI)
9th and 10th December 2026
The DAOI Awards will showcase grassroots entrepreneurship initiatives and how digital tools are supporting local innovation and livelihoods, especially among artisan communities. The awards will also highlight how DPI systems, including but not limited to UPI, can enable more equitable economic participation through easier access to payments, markets, and digital…
Museum of Digital Society (MoDS)
9th and 10th December 2026
The Museum of Digital Society is a community-centred learning ecosystem that documents the journey of digital development in India and its transformative effects on society. A living archive of real-world stories, showing how digital infrastructures and systems can transform lives, the MoDS track highlights and creatively explores Digital Public Infrastructure…
MESSAGE FROM FOUNDER-DIRECTOR
In an increasingly digital world, the gap between the connected and the unconnected continues to widen. While technology holds immense potential to transform lives, for millions on the margins, access remains a distant reality. At Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF), we firmly believe that digital inclusion is not a privilege — it is a right. Our mission is clear: to ensure that every individual, regardless of geography or circumstance, can harness the power of digital for social and economic empowerment.