Data is a critical capital asset, driving major business transformations. Industries from retail to transportation are adopting data-driven strategies, with sensor technology and analytics optimizing performance and service. Governments are recognizing data’s value in smart city development and predictive policing, suggesting a future where data not only informs decisions but also automates regulatory compliance, potentially revolutionizing governance and business operations.

Despite the potential benefits of digital payments, its widespread adoption in India is faced with numerous challenges. The real bottleneck is merchant acceptance, hindered by transaction costs and lack of infrastructure. The Unified Payment Interface (UPI) offers hope, integrating with Aadhaar for secure transactions and potentially lower costs, but success hinges on merchant adoption and regulatory support, shifting focus from consumer to merchant-centric solutions.

With the introduction of Aadhaar, the concept of anonymity on the Internet has been diminishing in India. While this shift has benefits, it contrasts with the continued presence of anonymous trolls online. Embracing verified accounts could restore normalcy and trust on the Internet.

India’s map regulations impose restrictions on the cross-border transfer of maps or map data - despite the global shift to cloud-based consumption. I investigate the origins of these arcane regulations to try and figure out how they came about and what can be done to set it right.

While Press Note 3 of 2016, was supposed to liberalise FDI in e-commerce in India, it is filled with contradictory provisions and unclear definitions - particularly regarding the inclusion of service and digital product sales in e-commerce. It is, in fact, a step back and is reflective of the fact that the government’s understanding of technology and its impact is inadequate. Effective regulation in the Network Age requires precise, flexible legislation, understanding network patterns, and a non-linear approach to policy formulation.

Consumption is one of the cornerstones of capitalism and modern society actively encourages it. Planned obsolescence feeds this philosophy by making a placing time limits on technology to make it stop functioning so that replacements can be purchased. If we prioritise access over ownership utilization will increase and products will no longer have to be made obsolete to encourage greater consumption.

The Internet and modern technologies have reduced information asymmetry in markets. With the abundance of data available today, can technology can replace regulations, ensuring data symmetry and achieving “minimum governance?”

There is a transformation in the dissemination of news now that it takes place through social media platforms and smartphones. As a result user-generated content has started to shape modern journalism. As a result there is a shift in the role of social media companies that raises new questions about the protection and support for this new form of citizen journalism.

Bitcoin’s distributed ledger technology offers a solution to the trust issue in online transactions, eliminating the need for intermediaries in e-commerce. This blockchain concept can extend beyond currency, revolutionizing contracts, intellectual property rights, and public records by ensuring tamper-resistant, verifiable transactions. Governments could adopt this technology for more efficient, accountable public services, as seen in Rajasthan’s state-guaranteed land titles, potentially paving the way for blockchain governance.

The University of Oxford’s study revealed that 47% of jobs today could be replaced by computers, including cognitive and evaluative roles. While lawyers have a low risk of displacement, paralegals and legal assistants face a 94% chance of being replaced. The rise of AI in law could disrupt traditional apprenticeship models and requires the legal industry to reorganize before technology claims their livelihood.