A digital inclusion vision for next government

The period 2014-19 is set to witness a transition in political governance in India’s democratic landscape. A new transformation in wider governance areas and intervention, with new ideas, vision and milestones, is discernable. The country’s digital landscape for its billion plus population is set to build upon existing strengths and learning over the past decade…

Need for speed?

A friend recently blogged about the Indian elections and wrote in his post about a tweet from the Aam Admi Party’s Somnath Bharti, in frustration as he wasn’t able to upload a video of his party workers being beaten up in Amethi, that he would have done so if the broadband would have been better.…

Internet Governance Debates Gain Steam Within India

The conversation about internet governance has started making headlines in India over the past few months. Much of this can be traced back to the documents leaked by Edward Snowden, that broke the controversial news that US government had used top internet service providers and even content providers to carry out surveillance across the world. The same country, which had…

Human Rights and Rule of Law in Internet age

Freedom of Speech also implies responsibilities that justify that freedom Digital tools have exterminated the Government’s attempts to establish monopoly over news and other information media.  It largely promotes the need for transparency and accountability in the country. Digital technology connects the citizens to a wide range of resources, which empowers them in the field…

Put panchayat accounts online

The e-Panchayat project, implemented with a tech solution from the National Informatics Centre, is a positive development India’s right to information is perhaps a hallmark law, considering the fact that in the 21st century information is the basis of equity, empowerment, rights and access. While the law has caught the imagination of the people, it…

Internet Surveillance: Why Transparency Matters?

As activism has become increasingly reliant on social networking, repressive regimes have responded by cutting off internet access. When Hosni Mubarak, a former Egyptian President, leader and military commander, for instance, discovered that protesters were using Facebook to help foment dissent, he ordered the state-controlled ISPs to shut down Egypt’s internet for days. In China,…