VISION

Creating a vibrant community of researchers and practitioners

In order to promote sound governance procedures and the development of India's digital economy, DGN wants to create a self-sustaining, multidisciplinary community of experts. The network aims to bring institutions, individual experts, and stakeholders from industry, government, and academia together through its data-backed research, policy discussions, and convening activities. This will result in an insightful and varied knowledge exchange that shall contribute to enhancing technology-focused policy research.

In 2022, the Data Governance Network has entered its second phase, where it has expanded its members and scope of research activities with leading voices from IT For Change, Centre for Communication Governance, Centre for Internet & Society, Digital Futures Lab, eGovernments Foundation, xKDR and Artha Global. The objective is to generate research on India’s data governance framework- in a way that empowers individuals and maximizes public good. DGN hosts and convene research seminars, industry working groups and roundtables to bridge divergent perspectives and create platforms for new research insights.

MOTIVATION

Aligning Policy interventions with the core principles of data protection

With more than a billion Indians having a mobile phone and more than 650 million connected to the Internet, we are creating data on a massive scale. Such an exponential rise in data creation and collection creates urgent policy challenges, such as developing methods to operationalize meaningful consent, and designing organisational principles for a data protection authority in the near future.

A Window of Opportunity for India

India has made significant judicial and legislative strides in the previous several years on the regulation of data use, the focus on cybersecurity, the trend toward data center(s), and principally a thrust towards Digital India. The proposed Digital India Act, Draft Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, and the National Data Governance Policy all serve as the cornerstone of an exceptional opportunity to advance the study that will help India pave the way for improved data governance.

India Emerging as a Technology Leader for the Globe

Digital platforms for the public benefit have been developed as a result of the use of developing technologies like AI, IOT, ML, and open-source technologies. Globally, India has become a leading force in implementing such technology in platforms like UPI, ABDM, and many others that have significantly touched the lives of numerous people.

Recent Regulatory Developments Strengthening the Ecosystem for Digital Economy

In the past two years, India has experienced a windfall of judicial and legislative advancements governing the use of data. The 2017 Supreme Court judgement declaring privacy as a fundamental right, the draft Personal Data Protection Bill in Parliament and the recent regulatory amendments to the existing IT Acts together form the basis of a unique political opportunity structure. Now is the time to support & encourage research that enables India to build a robust ecosystem of good data governance.

India has the potential to be a staging ground

Given the recent development of public platforms such as India Stack, which provides developers a unique digital infrastructure toward innovation for social good, India is poised to develop a citizen-centric approach rooted in the Indian context. This is distinct from other global models, including the free enterprise approach of the United States and the harms-based approach of the European Union. India's journey toward data empowerment may offer important lessons for the rest of the world but is unlikely to succeed without sustained investment in intellectual capital.

“The transformative potential of the digital economy to improve lives in India and elsewhere, is seemingly limitless at this time” 
 

Committee of Experts under the Chairmanship
of Justice B.N. Srikrishna

PRINCIPLES

Promoting capacity building

DGN members aim to assist pertinent and relevant stakeholders by laying the groundwork for tech-related policy frameworks. As the scope expands with the network's present capabilities, it would be helpful to have other institutions offer distinct perspectives on the identified pockets of data governance and other areas of emerging technologies relevant to data design, monitoring, and compilation.

Sharing research approach

DGN members vow to assist pertinent and relevant stakeholders by laying the groundwork for tech-related policy frameworks. As the scope expands with the network's present capabilities, it would be helpful to have other institutions offer distinct perspectives on the identified pockets of data governance and other areas of emerging technologies relevant to data design, monitoring, and compilation.

A strong evidence base

Data governance is an emerging field and has attracted a lot of attention. However, there is a huge lack of primary research in this area. DGN will aim to produce high-quality primary research that serves as a foundation for further analysis and informs public policy.

Nonpartisan work

Regardless of ideological affiliation, all stakeholders stand to benefit from rigorous research. DGN will work across the ideological spectrum to create sound data governance frameworks.

Sharing research roadmaps

Given that data governance is a new field with few existing capabilities, DGN members agree to share their research roadmaps and minimise (but not necessarily eliminate) duplication. In areas like primary research, it would be ideal to avoid duplication, as that would be costly and wasteful. In areas like the design of a Data Protection Authority, it would be good to have multiple institutions bring different perspectives to the same topic.