As India prepares for its G20 presidency, the focus on its Digital Public Infrastructure gains momentum. India’s DPI, built on open, interoperable principles, offers a new approach to data governance that benefits both developing and developed economies. It aims for equitable data use, empowering individuals and enabling market innovation.

Ethanol, a fuel that emits 44%–52% less greenhouse gas than petrol, is presented as a viable step towards sustainability for India, a major sugar producer like Brazil. By adopting flex-fuel technology and ethanol production techniques, India could significantly reduce CO2 emissions without immediate radical changes to its energy infrastructure.

AI is being increasingly used in journalism and law. OpenAI’s GPT-3, can produce content nearly indistinguishable from human-written work. But we need to remember that AI is a tool, not a substitute for human creativity.

The Information Technology Act, 2000 governs cyber incidents and data protection in India. A recent amendment permits certain negotiable instruments and real estate contracts to be executed digitally. Though narrow in scope, this change could significantly impact the financial and real estate sectors, fostering innovation and modernization.

Data asymmetry allows those with access to large data sets to gain insights that can be used for various purposes, including manipulation. Solutions like India’s DEPA framework aim to reduce this asymmetry. However, challenges remain in knowledge and intelligence asymmetry, requiring democratisation of data science techniques and addressing biases in AI algorithms.

The Department of Telecommunications has released a draft bill to replace the Indian Telegraph Act of 1885, aiming to reimagine the regulation of the telecom sector in India. The draft includes provisions for the government’s exclusive privilege to provide telecommunication services. It also brings obligations from license agreements into the statute, requiring parliamentary approval for amendments. The draft has been criticized for its broad definition of “telecommunication services,” potentially affecting over-the-top (OTT) services, and for loosely defined terms that could create loopholes.

Given the Indian government’s increased use of technology, concerns around personal privacy necessitate the conduct of privacy impact assessments and the implementation of appropriate safeguards, such as a government privacy office, to balance the benefits of the technology with the potential harms to privacy.

In the 1600s, scientists collaborated more openly in physics but in secrecy in the field of alchemy. This is probably why physics has continued to this day while alchemy is a dead science. This is why we need open access in modern technology. Shared innovation fosters progress, while secrecy leads to stagnation.

The DOT is looking to revamp the Indian Telegraph Act to upgrade it to a modern law. If we had a blank slate to reimagine the law what would it look like. I suggest that we do away with the license regime and put all the regulations into the law. This way services providers just sign up a single document signifying that they are bound by the law and the regulations. Then we should simplify the entire system by simply dividing all telecom services into either carriage or access services and prescribing obligations in that manner. Lets make it technology neutral - especially when it comes to distinctions between voice and data.

The PM-EAC has recommended reforms to India’s patent system that primarily involved ramping up the work force (from about 800 to 2800 in a couple of years) and also introducing the utility system of patents as appropriate. I suggest we go a bit further and try and tweak the term of patent so that it is more appropriate for the invention being protected. So 20 years for pharma but no more than 5 for tech patents that in any event evolve to the next generation within that time.