The Global Digital Capacity Building Alliance (GDCBA), an initiative of the Capacity Building Commission (CBC) of the Government of India, has completed six months of operation since its launch on 20th February 2026 at the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi. The Alliance serves as an international platform for cooperation on public-sector capacity building, bringing together governments, multilateral institutions, development organizations, training institutions, academia, industry, civil society, and public-sector practitioners to exchange knowledge and strengthen institutional capabilities.
The GDCBA builds on India's Mission Karmayogi, the National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building, which demonstrated the value of competency-based learning, digital infrastructure, and whole-of-government approaches at national scale. The Alliance has four primary goals: strengthening institutional capability across public-sector systems, supporting evidence-informed capacity-building decisions, fostering a global community of practice for governance, and building a repository of implementation knowledge, case studies, and practical guidance.
In its first six months, the Alliance has expanded to engage 10 countries including Brazil, Sri Lanka, and Mauritius, with over 250 public officials participating across various administrative levels from divisional offices to national ministries. Institutional partners now include the Gates Foundation, World Bank, National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG), Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), Dakshin, UNICEF, the Commonwealth, BRICS/FICCI, Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), Observer Research Foundation (ORF), Apolitical, and Nalanda University.
The Alliance's engagement activities have included live workshops, roundtables, summit panels, and flagship sessions creating opportunities for knowledge exchange and relationship building. Future plans include expanding through technical working groups, policy forums, roundtables, country collaboration, knowledge exchange, global frameworks, playbooks, toolkits, expert discussions, an annual Summit, and a State of Capacity Building Report to benchmark progress.
The initiative is guided by the principle of 'Welfare for All, Happiness for All' and aims to create capable, ethical, and adaptive public institutions that can leverage technology to strengthen governance, expand inclusion, and improve citizens' lives.