New Delhi | February 21, 2026: In a major push toward digital inclusion, a comprehensive Policy Report on Voice Technology and a Developers Toolkit were launched at the India AI Summit Expo 2026 to promote open, inclusive, and responsible voice technology ecosystems in India.

The initiative aims to strengthen India’s multilingual digital infrastructure and ensure equitable access to public services, information, and the digital economy through voice-enabled technologies.

Strategic Collaboration for Responsible Voice AI

The policy report and toolkit were jointly developed by ARTPARK @ IISc, Digital Futures Lab, and Trilegal, with support from Bhashini and the Fair Forward – AI for All initiative.

The project was implemented by GIZ and funded by Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), bringing together research expertise, policy insight, and ecosystem collaboration to advance responsible speech technologies in India.

Voice Technology as a Foundation of Digital Public Infrastructure

In a linguistically diverse country like India, voice technologies play a crucial role in reducing digital access barriers—especially for citizens with limited literacy or limited digital infrastructure access.

However, the growth of voice AI raises complex challenges related to:

1. Data governance and management
2. Inclusion and fair representation
3. Transparency and model accountability
4. Quality assurance
5. Responsible deployment

The newly released policy report analyzes structural barriers across data collection, model development, infrastructure, and governance, while proposing targeted policy recommendations to strengthen India’s voice-tech ecosystem.

Key Policy Recommendations

The report suggests:

1. Recognizing foundational speech datasets as digital public goods

2. Improving model transparency and linguistic representation

3. Investing in sustainable public digital infrastructure

4. Building safeguards to prevent misuse while enabling innovation

Complementing this, the Developers Toolkit provides a lifecycle-oriented framework to help developers build inclusive, robust, and fair speech AI systems—from product design to deployment.

Leadership Perspectives

Amitabh Nag, CEO of Bhashini (Digital India), emphasized that as India moves decisively toward a voice-first digital ecosystem, it is essential to anchor this transformation in strong policy foundations and practical implementation frameworks.

He noted that voice technology is not merely innovation but a critical tool for digital inclusion, capable of bridging language, literacy, and digital divides at scale.

Dr. Ariane Hildebrandt, Director General at Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, highlighted that voice AI in local languages can unlock access to public services, healthcare, education, and economic participation for millions.

Strengthening India’s Multilingual AI Ecosystem

The initiative builds on Bhashini’s growing work in multilingual AI solutions designed to make language and technology accessible to all.

It also reflects broader collaboration among policy institutions, AI researchers, corporate governance experts, and global development agencies to ensure that India’s voice technology ecosystem evolves in an inclusive, transparent, and responsible manner.