NXT SUMMIT 2026: UK MP Dan Carden Hails India’s UPI As Global Benchmark For Digital Public Infrastructure: ‘Built For Inclusion, Not Extraction’

NXT SUMMIT 2026: Speaking at the NXT Summit 2026 in New Delhi on March 13, UK MP Dan Carden shed light on the future of lawmaking.

At the summit, UK Member of Parliament Dan Carden also offered insights into how the world is changing so fast in terms of legislation, governance, and democracy. The NXT session touches on the way lawmakers should be able to coping with emerging political, technological and global challenges. 

UK MP Dan Carden Praises India’s UPI

Speaking at the NXT Summit 2026, UK MP Dan Carden praised India’s UPI system, saying, “We need a framework, data trusts, public data funds, mandatory royalty arrangements that ensure that the people who generate economic resources receive a share of its value. India has already shown what organised public digital infrastructure looks like. UPI- the payment system now processes more transactions per day than visas. It was built on public infrastructure owned by the Indian people designed for inclusion rather than extraction.” 

Carden also stated, “This is how one should be organised around the AI economy rather than being simply subjective. No matter how much the economy changes, there must be a floor below which no worker falls. 

While addressing the audience in the national capital, Dan Carded added,

“Not just in income, but in security, in dignity and the sense of being valued. That means stronger employment rights, not weaker ones.  It means portable benefits that follow workers across jobs and platforms. And it means unions that can represent gig workers and platform workers as well as employees. And it means government. “

Carden further stated, “Governments that are willing to say plainly that the productivity gains from AI must be shared, not accumulated at the top, while the people who generated the underlying data receive nothing in return. So agitation in the trade union sense means refusing to accept that this is all inevitable. And I believe the way we respond to AI will determine whether our generation passes the test that our previous leaders met.” 

Who Is Dan Carden? 

Daniel Joseph Carden, born on October 28, 1986, has been Liverpool Walton’s MP since 2017. He’s a Labour Party member, sees himself as a socialist, and aligns with the party’s conservative left. Up until 2024, he was part of the Socialist Campaign Group, but the following year, he launched the Blue Labour parliamentary caucus, which takes a left-wing stance on economics and sticks to socially conservative values.

Carden took on the role of Shadow Secretary of State for International Development between 2018 and 2020. After that, he became Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury, but only from April to October 2020. He stepped down because he disagreed with Labour’s leadership over the Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Bill.

He’s also a patron of LGBT+ Labour and was among eight LGBT MPs elected in 2017. As a declared socialist, Carden honoured Eric Heffer, his predecessor, in a memorial lecture back in January 2019.

ABOUT NXT SUMMIT 2026

NXT Summit 2026 is shaping up to be a big deal. It’s a three-day international gathering, running from March 12 to 14 at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi headlines the event, which is all about the future, tech, innovation, and how countries can work better together. You’ll see world leaders, policy makers, and top industry experts all in one place.

Here’s what stands out: The conversations dive deep into humanity’s future, technology, the economy, and geopolitics. Modi kicked things off and set the tone by talking about national unity, tackling energy security and LPG access even during global turmoil, and spotlighting India’s knack for managing crises. He wasn’t the only big name. Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and plenty of other officials join the lineup for the discussions.

ITV Network runs the show, teaming up with the Sunday Guardian Foundation and NewsX. At its core, the summit is a stage for India to connect with global leaders and share its progress through the “Bharat Progress Report.”

Watch the full session here:

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