#ResponsibleTech Bulletin
Subhashish Bhadra
Associate Partner, Dalberg Advisors | Rhodes Scholar | Author, Caged Tiger (Bloomsbury ‘23) | Ex - McKinsey, Omidyar Network, Klub
2 November 2020. Does India block access to a new privacy-protecting internet protocol? Should the government regulate the price of data? How can India prevent foreign firms from extracting all the value from its citizens' data? Can 'One Nation, One Subscription' work? This, and more, in this week's #ResponsibleTech bulletin.
1) With advent of new protocols, it is more difficult for internet providers to monitor or block what websites you visit. Countries like Iran have blocked these advances. Centre for Internet & Society tested if the protocols are available in India; find that they are. For now. https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/investigating-encrypted-dns-blocking-in-india
2) After freedom, India decided to regulate the industrial economy, with serious impact on economic growth. Prakhar Misra and Sharmadha Srinivasan of IDFC Institute warn that state interference in data - especially trying to regulate price - could similarly stunt growth of data economy https://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/on-digital-governance-don-t-repeat-mistakes/story-J7XLYEzESd2Vw5FSuBzBkO.html
3) Foreign firms are appropriating most of the economic value from Indians' data. Tandem Research argues that the govt's current approach may not address this. Instead, they propose better competition law and steps towards reducing market power of Big Tech firms https://tandemresearch.org/publications/response-to-the-expert-committee-report-on-non-personal-data-governance-framework
4) 'One Nation, One Subscription' envisages that the Govt will purchase subscriptions to major scientific journals and make it available to all public institutions and taxpayers. Anubha Sinha of Centre for Internet & Society evaluates how India can make it a genuine success https://science.thewire.in/the-sciences/india-research-publishing-open-access-one-nation-one-subscription-k-vijayraghavan/
5) As use of AI accelerates, we must be prepared for many known and unknown issues. Privacy, transparency, and accountability will be our safety valves. This Centre for Communications Governance blog explains what these principles - mentioned in a NITI Ayog working document - could mean https://ccgnludelhi.wordpress.com/2020/10/30/building-an-ai-governance-framework-for-india-part-iii/
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