The Internet continues to alter the structure of the economy; more fundamentally, it has altered how people and institutions relate to each other. It has contributed tremendously to GDP disruptions in businesses while also creating socio-political tensions, which demand nuanced governance responses. Moreover, the pervasive use of the Internet in the daily organisation of social lives and its global reach raise issues of security and privacy of individuals and communities, which warrants an understanding of how to manage and govern the Internet, both in the national and international contexts. The MeitY Chair for Internet Policy at ICRIER primarily put together policy based research on aspects of internet openness, security and governance. The objective was to undertake evidence based research that will build capacity for India’s participation in international fora while strengthening domestic policy.
Towards achieving these objectives, the first year of the programme focused on a study related to the domain name market in India and the performance of the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) inparticular. The second paper looked at data flows and data localisation policies in India within the global context. Over the course of the second year, ICRIER carried out a study on the digital divide in India and examined the challenges and opportunities in transitioning to Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6).
Along with the research papers, a fortnightly news digest on Internet policy related news was prepared and widely disseminated as a part of this research programme through the two years. A database curating content on global internet infrastructure and policy related datasets are also being developed on a dedicated website www.internetpolicy.in. As part of this research programme, ICRIER also hosted a one-day conference on ‘Internet Governance in India: People, Purpose and Process’ in February 2020.
Publications:
- Gangesh Varma and Isha Suri | The Chair on Internet Policy: Value, Security and Governance | ICRIER, August 2020.
- Richa Sekhani, Ujjwal Krishna, Gangesh Varma and Isha Suri | ccTLD .IN Policy Brief | ICRIER, July 2020.
- Chavi Asrani | Bridging the Digital Divide in India: Barriers to Adoption and Usage | ICRIER, June 2020.
- Kaushambi Bagchi , Gangesh Varma and Sashank Kapilavai | Data Flows and Data Localisation: An Economic Analysis | ICRIER, June 2020.
- Rajat Kathuria, Satya N Gupta and Isha Suri | IPV6 Transition in India | ICRIER, June 2020.
- Mansi Kedia, Richa Sekhani, Gangesh Varma, Ujjwal Krishna and Raj Kumar Shahi | A Review of the Domain Name Market in India | ICRIER, May 2020.
