PDAG organised and convened “Digital Inclusion and Empowerment in India,” a two-day symposium held in New Delhi from 24–25 July 2023, marking the launch of the India chapter of DiSTO — “from Digital Skills to Tangible Outcomes” — a global research initiative based at the London School of Economics' Department of Media and Communications and led by Professor Ellen Helsper.

DiSTO's underlying research agenda addresses a gap in how digital inclusion is typically measured: having internet access is not the same as being able to convert that access into meaningful social, economic and civic outcomes, and the initiative studies the skills, confidence and social position that determine whether digital access actually translates into tangible benefits for different groups.

PDAG brought this global research agenda into conversation with the Indian policy and practice context, organising the symposium in collaboration with LSE and the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). The event opened with a keynote address from Professor Helsper and ran across six themed panels covering the relationship between digital inclusion and labour markets, digital literacy and access to government services, the impact of digital technologies on everyday life, digital infrastructure and security, digital financial inclusion, and strategies for extending digital inclusion to marginalised communities.

The symposium convened academic researchers, practitioners and policymakers, creating a space to connect empirical evidence on digital inequality with live policy questions in India, and to shape the India chapter's subsequent research agenda and knowledge products.