We are anonymous, we are legion

TACTIS Symposium 2014

praskrishna — 2014-02-04T07:32:01Z

Tata Consultancy organized the TACTIS Symposium at TCS Siruseri, Chennai on January 28 and 29, 2014. Sunil Abraham participated in the event and gave the key note address.

Click to download the event brochure here

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/data-privacy-day-chenna-2014

Tactical Tech's ONO Party!

praskrishna — 2011-04-04T07:19:47Z

Tactical Tech has made friends with ONO Robot , a friendly Robot Guide and the star of four animated shorts of a series called Survival in the Digital Age, and we'd like to invite you to watch the series with us at our ONO Party.

Activists and independent journalists don't often realise that the information and communications technologies they use can compromise their security and have implications for privacy, freedom of expression and access to information. As an organisation working at the meeting point of advocacy and technology, Tactical Tech finds these issues essential to anyone using technologies to facilitate and strengthen their advocacy work. To raise awareness about the digital traces we leave behind Survival in the Digital Age aims to engage activists to better understand the information and communications technologies they use, so that they can make more informed decisions about the risks they may face.

We're going to be showing the four shorts over party games, snacks and drinks at our ONO Party so do join us on Thursday, March 3rd

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/events/CIS-tacticaltechONO

T20 Mumbai 2017: Dialogue on the Emerging World Economy

praskrishna — 2017-02-27T15:04:05Z

Gateway House, Indian Council on Global Relations organized a dialogue on emerging world economy in Mumbai on 13 and 14 February 2017. Elonnai Hickok participated in the event.

The G20 is the premier multilateral platform for global economic and financial issues. It has a rotating presidency, and this year, Germany is the president of the G20. In that role, it is hosting a number of meetings with government officials (G20), business leaders (B20) and experts from think tanks (T20).

The T20 is an official sub-forum of the G20 process, responsible for contributing ideas and research to the G20 on global economic issues.

Think-20 (T20) was first initiated by the Mexican presidency in 2012 and continued by subsequent G20 presidencies. It serves as an “ideas bank” for the G20 by organizing the analysis of global think tanks and high-level experts on relevant international economic issues. Think-20 recommendations are synthesized in policy briefs and presented to G20 working groups, ministerial committees and leaders summits to help the G20 deliver concrete policy measures.

The Kiel Institute for the World Economy and German Development Institute have been appointed by the German government as coordinators for the think tank activities for the year. The institutes hosted the T20 kick-off meeting on December 1-2, 2016 in Berlin with experts from more than 80 countries., and are scheduled to host the first-ever T20 Africa conference on February 1-3, 2017 and eventually the T20 Summit on May 29-31, 2017.

Gateway House has hosted T20 meetings during the 2015 Turkish presidency and during the 2016 Chinese presidency of the G20. The meetings brought together experts from think tanks working international economic governance and foreign economic policy issues, business leaders and relevant government officials from India and the G20 countries to Mumbai. For Gateway House, the meetings were the outcome of the focus on geoeconomics and on-going research on international economic relations and global financial architecture.

At G20 2017, Germany has announced Resilience, Sustainability and Responsibility as its core vision. This will cover global issues such as financial market regulation, fin-tech, trade and investment, digitization, healthcare, migration and agriculture. This meeting in Mumbai is an important indicator of intellectual partnership between German and Indian think tanks and an opportunity to bring up new ideas and deliver concrete policy suggestions that can help Germany achieve its vision for G20 in 2017.

For more info click here

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/t-20-mumbai-2017

T20 Germany and Beyond: Digital Economy

praskrishna — 2017-06-06T15:25:46Z

Elonnai Hickok participated in a round-table discussion organized by GIZ and EPF in Berlin from May 29 to 30, 2017.

The Think20 (T20) is a network of research institutes and think tanks from the G20 countries. The T20 provides research-based policy advice to the G20, facilitates interaction among its members and the policy community, and communicates with the broader public about issues of global importance. Click to read more

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/t20-germany-and-beyond-digital-economy

Symposium on India’s Cyber Strategy

Admin — 2018-10-02T06:02:59Z

CIS organised a Symposium on India’s Cyber Strategy.

The event saw a total of around 30 participants from industry, academia, law/policy, media, and civil society, and had a panel comprised of Asoke Mukerji, Madhulika Srikumar, and Parminder Jeet Singh.

Presentations

India’s Strategic Interests in the Norms Setting Process in Cyberspace (Presentation by Ambassador Asoke Kumar Mukerji, Former Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations)
The Potential for the Normative Regulation of Cyberspace (Presentation by Arindrajit Basu)

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/symposium-on-india2019s-cyber-strategy

Symposium on Human Rights and the Internet in India

praskrishna — 2015-02-07T00:50:00Z

On January 17, 2015 the Center for Communication Governance at National Law University, Delhi in collaboration with the UNESCO Chair on Freedom of Communication and Information at the University of Hamburg hosted a pubic symposium on “Human Rights and Internet in India” as a Network of Centers (NoC) regional event. Bhairav Acharya was a panelist.

See the concept note here.

The event convened a diverse group of collaborators working on issues of Privacy, Surveillance, Data Protection, Freedom of Expression and Intermediary Liability in India, the surrounding region, and internationally.

Agenda | Saturday, January 17 | Public Symposium

Opening words
Prof. (Dr.) Ranbir Singh, Vice Chancellor, National Law University, Delhi
Prof. (Dr.) Wolfgang Schulz, Director, Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet & Society

17:45 – 19:00 Panel I: Surveillance & Databases: Experiences & Privacy
The panel will explore how surveillance in India might become more consistent with international human rights standards and Indian constitutional values. It will also discuss the consequences of ubiquitous database programs for citizens’ human rights. This will include comparative perspectives around similar problems and a discussion of privacy-compatible practices in other countries.

Panelists:
Dr. Usha Ramanathan, Independent Law Researcher

Mr. Bhairav Acharya, Lawyer, Supreme Court of India and Adviser Centre for Internet & Society, Bangalore

Mr. Saikat Datta, Editor (National Security), Hindustan Times

Professor KS Park, Former Commissioner, Korea Communications Standards Commission and Professor, Korea University Law School

19:00 – 20:15 Panel II: Unpacking the Intermediary Liability Debate in India
The panel will focus on the legal framework governing Internet platforms in India, especially with regard to online content and its implications for rights of the citizens. It has been argued that the current legal framework creates incentives for online intermediaries to take down content even when no substantive notice or legitimate reasons have been offered. The panel will consider the debate around intermediary liability in India in light of the ongoing litigation at the Supreme Court. It will reflect on the international experience with intermediary liability legislation and discuss how to ensure that laws support an innovative and competitive environment for intermediaries, while ensuring that they prioritize the preservation of their users’ human rights.

Panelists:
Dr. Joris van Hoboken, Fellow, Information Law Institute at NYU School of Law

Professor (Dr.) Wolfgang Schulz, Director, Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet & Society (HIIG)

Mr. Raman Jit Singh Chima, Lawyer

Chinmayi Arun and Sarvjeet Singh, Centre for Communication Governance at National Law University, Delhi

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/symposium-on-human-rights-and-internet-in-india

Symposium on Data Privacy and Citizen's Rights

Admin — 2018-09-18T15:18:37Z

Shweta Mohandas was a panelist at the Symposium on Data Privacy and Citizen's Rights on September 9, 2018. The Symposium was organised by the Tech Law Forum of NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad.

Concept Note

The National Academy of Legal Studies and Research (NALSAR) University of Law, Hyderabad is organising a Symposium on DATA PRIVACY AND CITIZEN’S RIGHTS to provide multiple stakeholders one platform to discuss and deliberate on the BN Srikrishna Committee Report and Draft Bill.

The Committee headed by Retd. Justice BN Srikrishna released its Report and Draft Bill on the 27th of July, 2018. It comes at a time when there is increasing discussion about the individual privacy and surveillance by both private organisations and state authorities. Especially in light of the 9-judge Puttaswamy judgment affirming the Fundamental Right to Privacy, there was a need to concretise the right in the form of a statute. The Bill proposes an elaborate data protection framework by utilising concepts such as anonymisation, pseudonymisation, data localisation, guardian data fiduciary, among others. While the Bill has been lauded for providing a data protection framework largely similar to the one proposed by civil society, there are several areas of concern with the Bill such as the amendments suggested to the RTI Act, the impact of the Bill on Free Speech and the lack of substantial provisions regarding surveillance. There has been further criticism that the discussions regarding these issues have been conducted in silos, with little to no dialogue taking place between the various stakeholders and experts in the field.

We believe that there is a need to provide a common forum for these stakeholders to interact with each other in providing suggestions that are representative in nature and nuanced in their expression.

Themes

Privacy and Free Speech This interaction aims to examine the juxtaposition of the constitutional right to free speech and the now constitutionally affirmed right to privacy. Will a new data protection law impact the publication of leaked documents or sting operations like the Radia tapes or Tehelka’s ‘Operation Westend’? If so, how can journalists mitigate the risk of getting sued for breach of privacy? While the jurisprudence concerning the right to privacy is in its most nascent state, it becomes important for us to explore its contours in light of already established constitutional guarantees.

Right to Information and Right to Privacy How does the right to privacy impact the right to information? The guarantee of these two rights arise from diametrically opposite ideologies, in that privacy aims to shield from the public domain information and data concerning individuals and institutions while the right to information aims to promote transparency and disclosure of information held by the state. However, the question remains, is the existence of these two rights necessarily mutually exclusive? Will a new data protection law make it difficult to promote transparency under the Right to Information Act? Is there is a possibility of a clash between the Information Commissions and the proposed Data Protection Authority? This panel would analyze the co-existence and competitive nature of these two rights in the context of the Indian legal space.

Surveillance - As we move towards a form of governance that is increasingly capable of surveilling individual movements and actions, it becomes extremely necessary for us to understand the nature of surveillance. Can data privacy be compromised for surveillance that may be necessary for increased safety in our physical and virtual living spaces? Are there any provisions that protects data in cases of it becoming exploitable? What is the interaction of international statutes (like ICCPR) and the latest Indian statute in terms of its recognition of necessity of surveillance in contrast to the necessity of protection of data.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/symposium-on-data-privacy-and-citizens-rights

Syllabus: “Policy and regulation conducive to rapid ICT sector growth in Myanmar: An introductory course”

praskrishna — 2013-10-24T03:56:31Z

A five-day course is being offered by LIRNEasia in collaboration with Myanmar ICT Development Organization, with support from the Open Society Foundation and the International Development Research Centre of Canada in Myanmar from September 28 to October 5, 2013.

Sunil Abraham will be supporting Prof. Samarajiva on the last optional day of this course in Yangon. Read about the Introductory course on “Policy and regulation conducive to rapid ICT sector growth in Myanmar”

Goal

To enable members of Myanmar civil-society groups (including academics and those from the media) to marshal available research and evidence for effective participation in policy and regulatory processes, thereby improving policy processes and helping achieve the government’s objective of providing ICT access to all.

Outcomes

The objective of the course is to produce discerning and knowledgeable consumers of research who are able to engage in an informed manner in ICT policy and regulatory processes in Myanmar. The course will benefit those working in government and operators as well.

At the end of the course attendees will:

Have an understanding of telecom policy and regulatory processes
Be able to find and assess relevant research & evidence
Be able to summarize the research in a coherent and comprehensive manner
Have the necessary tools to improve their communication skills

- Have some understanding of how media functions and how to effectively interact with media

Assignments

Participants will be formed into teams on Day1. Each group will work on an assignment that addresses both substantive and procedural aspects of law, policy and regulation. Teams will be assigned topic areas that are being developed into regulations under the new Act. They will have to make presentations on what the desirable provisions should be. We will emphasize the procedural aspects as well as the substantive. Disciplined and focused team presentations, preferably using slides, are required.

It is necessary to use the Internet for the assignments. All who have laptops are encouraged to bring them. Arrangements will be made for Internet connectivity at the hotel.

Tentative topic areas

Licensing and authorization regulations
Essential facilities and anti-competitive practices
Universal service policy
Price and quality regulation
Independence of regulatory agency

Course schedule

	Day 1 (September 28)	Day 2 (September 29)	Day 3 (September 30)	Day4 (October 1)	Day 5 (October 2) (optional)
09:00-10:30	S1 Introduction to course: What have been the results of reform & rationale for regulation. Rohan Samarajiva (RS)	S5 Regulatory legitimacy, including procedural legitimacy (RS)	S10 Challenges of monitoring complex license commitments (HG)	S14 How does the Internet work? (TBA)	S16 Internet governance The big picture. Sunil Abraham (SA)
10:30-11:00	Break	Break	Break	Break
11:00-12:00	S2 Interrogating supply-side indicators & research based on them. Helani Galpaya (HG)	S6 Current status of telecom law and policy in Myanmar (RS)	S11 How evidence is used in policy & regulation (panel discussion, KS, RS	S15 The art of media interaction (RS)	S17 Economic & technical interface with telecom industry (RS)
12:00-13:00	S3 Finding information on the web. Roshanthi Lucas Gunaratne (RLG)	S7 Presenting evidence in slides & written submissions (HG)	S12 Essential facilities and anti-competitive practices (RS)	A3 Mock public hearing (RS & panel)	S18 How Internet is governed within India (SA)
13:00-14:00	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch
14:00-15:00	A1 Group formation; Assignment explained (HG and RLG)	S8 Licensing and authorization (RS)	A2 Midpoint check on assignment/group work (HG and RLG)	A4 Mock public hearing & critique (RS & panel)	S19 Content regulation (TBA)
15:00-15:30	Break	Break	Break
15:30-17:00	S4 Demand-side research (RS)	S9 Price and quality regulation (RS & HG)	S13 Universal service subsidies: Theory & practice (RS & KS)	Reflection on the course	S20 Surveillance & privacy (SA & RS)
17:00	Group work	Group work	Group work
19:00	Welcome dinner Speaker: TBA

Faculty

Sunil Abraham is the Executive Director of CIS. He is also a social entrepreneur and Free Software advocate. He founded Mahiti in 1998 which aims to reduce the cost and complexity of Information and Communication Technology for the Voluntary Sector by using Free Software. Today, Mahiti employs more than 50 engineers and Sunil continues to serve on the board as a board member. Sunil was elected an Ashoka fellow in 1999 to 'explore the democratic potential of the Internet' and was granted a Sarai FLOSS fellowship in 2003. Between June 2004 and June 2007, he managed the International Open Source Network, a project of the UNDP's Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme serving 42 countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Between September 2007 and June 2008, he also managed ENRAP, an electronic network of International Fund for Agricultural Development projects in the Asia-Pacific facilitated and co-funded by International Development Research Centre, Canada.

Helani Galpaya is LIRNEasia’s Chief Executive Officer. Helani leads LIRNEasia’s 2012-2014 IDRC funded research on improving customer life cycle management practices in the delivery of electricity and e-government services using ICTs. She recently completed an assessment of how the poor in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka use telecenters to access government services. For UNCTAD and GTZ she authored a report on how government procurement practices can be used to promote a country’s ICT sector and for the World Bank/InfoDev Broadband Toolkit, a report on broadband strategies in Sri Lanka. She has been an invited speaker at various international forums on topics ranging from m-Government to ICT indicators to communicating research to policy makers. Prior to LIRNEasia, Helani worked at the ICT Agency of Sri Lanka, implementing the World-Bank funded e-Sri Lanka initiative. Prior to her return to Sri Lanka, she worked in the United States at Booz & Co., Marengo Research, Citibank, and Merrill Lynch. Helani holds a Masters in Technology and Policy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Bachelor’s in Computer Science from Mount Holyoke College, USA.

Roshanthi Lucas Gunaratne is a Research Manager at LIRNEasia and is currently managing the Ford Foundation Funded project on Giving Broadband Access to the Poor in India. She is also contributing to the IDRC Customer Lifecycle Management Practices Project by conducting research on customer lifecycle management practices in telecommunication sector in Bangladesh. Before joining LIRNEasia, Roshanthi worked at the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Geneva, Switzerland as a Strategic Information Officer. She contributed to the process of defining the Global Fund Key Performance Indicators, and also worked on improving the performance measurements of their grants. Prior to that, she worked as a telecom project manager at Dialog Telecom, and Suntel Ltd in Sri Lanka. As Suntel she managed the design and implementation of corporate customer projects. She holds a MBA from the Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, UK and a BSc. Eng (Hons) specializing in Electronics and Telecommunication from the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka.

Rajat Kathuria, PhD

Rohan Samarajiva, PhD, is founding Chair of LIRNEasia, an ICT policy and regulation think tank active across emerging Asian and Pacific economies. He was Team Leader at the Sri Lanka Ministry for Economic Reform, Science and Technology (2002-04) responsible for infrastructure reforms, including participation in the design of the USD 83 million e-Sri Lanka Initiative. He was Director General of Telecommunications in Sri Lanka (1998-99), a founder director of the ICT Agency of Sri Lanka (2003-05), Honorary Professor at the University of Moratuwa in Sri Lanka (2003-04), Visiting Professor of Economics of Infrastructures at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands (2000-03) and Associate Professor of Communication and Public Policy at the Ohio State University in the US (1987-2000). Dr. Samarajiva was also Policy Advisor to the Ministry of Post and Telecom in Bangladesh (2007-09).

Koesmarihati Sugondo

Resource Material

infodev, ICT regulation toolkit. http://www.ictregulationtoolkit.org/en/Index.html

infoDev. Broadband strategies toolkit. http://broadbandtoolkit.org/en/toolkit/contents

infoDev (2011). Tenth anniversary telecom regulation handbook. http://www.infodev.org/En/Publication.1057.html

ITU (2011). The role of ICT in advancing growth in least developed countries: Trends, challenges and opportunities. Geneva: ITU. http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ldc/turkey/docs/The_Role_of_ICT_in_Advancing_Growth_in_LDCs_Trends_Challenges_and_Opportunities.pdf

Samarajiva, Rohan (2000). The role of competition in institutional reform of telecommunications: Lessons from Sri Lanka, Telecommunications Policy, 24(8/9): 699-717. http://www.comunica.org/samarajiva.html

Samarajiva, Rohan (2002). Why regulate?, chapter 2 of Effective regulation: Trends in Telecommunication Reform 2002. Geneva: International Telecommunication Union.

Samarajiva, Rohan (2006). Preconditions for effective deployment of wireless technologies for development in the Asia-Pacific, Information Technology and International Development, 3(2): 57-71. http://itidjournal.org/itid/article/view/224/94

Samarajiva, Rohan & Zainudeen, Ayesha (2008). ICT infrastructure in emerging Asia: Policy and regulatory roadblocks, New Delhi & Ottawa: Sage & IDRC http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-117916-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/policy-and-regulation-conducive-to-rapid-ict-growth-in-myanmar

Sweden 'must raise its net freedom profile'

praskrishna — 2013-07-02T09:57:51Z

While promoting internet freedom is a policy priority for Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, Sweden's efforts remain largely unknown, according a new report that concludes Sweden needs to do more to raise its global profile as a leader on the issue.

The article by David Landes was published in "The Local" on May 30, 2013. Pranesh Prakash is quoted.

Last week, Bildt and his colleagues at Sweden's Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed hundreds of delegates to the Stockholm Internet Forum to discuss what Sweden considers one of the "great global issues of the future".

"Our aim is clear: to create an international, inclusive platform for constructive discussions on the importance of internet freedom for development," Bildt told conference attendees in Stockholm last week.

"We will work to connect the unconnected to an open, secure internet that drives innovation and growth, and that contributes to better democracy and the enjoyment of free speech."

But while Bildt's message was clear to everyone in the audience in Stockholm, a report released on Wednesday suggested that Sweden has so far failed to adequately explain its commitment to internet freedom to a wider audience.

"Sweden does a lot right already, but we are too unknown. We're a small player. So we need to work with others to raise our profile," United Minds analyst Paul Alacron, one of the authors of the report, told The Local.

The report, Freedom and Development on the Internet, was published by the Swedish Institute, together with the United Minds opinion research firm, and is designed to give a qualitative view of internet freedom in six countries, as well as insights into Sweden's perceived importance for the issue.

In-depth interviews with 18 internet experts and activists in Russia, Pakistan, India, China, the United States, and Egypt revealed that there is a demand for Sweden's expertise on internet freedom, but that awareness of what Sweden has to offer is limited.

"If you ask a regular Chinese, most would probably think that the United States is the best role model [for internet freedom]. Most Chinese don't know anything about Sweden," one Chinese blogger is quoted as saying in the report.

Meanwhile, Pranesh Prakash from the Centre for Internet and Society in India, said Sweden could better leverage its strong reputation to help promote internet freedom.

"If the Americans push an issue, many go against it simply because they're behind it. If Sweden takes up the same proposal, the chances are greater that the debate will be about the proposal itself," he said in the report.

According to report co-author Javeria Rizvi Kabani of the Swedish Institute, Sweden has kept a low profile in part due to safety considerations for activists who have participated in exchange programmes organized by the Swedish Institute.

"The safety of those in the of human rights defenders and net activist networks we've created over the last few years and who have visited Sweden always comes first. So we've focused on that rather than Sweden's profile on these issues," she told The Local.

The low-profile approach is nothing new for Sweden, she added.

"We have been very strong in recent years in foreign aid and supporting the process of democratization around the world, but unlike other countries, we haven't put 'brand Sweden' next to that work," Rizvi Kabani explained.

While Sweden is generally recognized as a country that promotes transparency and the freedom of information, the report revealed that the ongoing case involving Sweden's attempts to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has dented some people's belief that Sweden is committed to internet freedom.

"The trial of Julian Assange makes Sweden's relationship with the issue of internet freedom complicated," Egyptian journalist Nasry Esmat said in the report.

"I'm aware that the accusations against Assange pertain to something completely different, but that makes Sweden appear like a country that doesn't support WikiLeaks."

The report also pointed to a "troublesome development" in some countries whereby regimes are trying to exert more control over the internet and the spread of information.

According to Alacron, such developments, while concerning, are simply one more argument for why Sweden needs to raise its profile as a staunch supporter of internet freedom.

"Sweden has an important role to play. That's very clear," he said.

"Knowledge and understanding about Sweden may be rather low, but at the same time there are high expectations for what Sweden can do. The conditions are ripe, therefore, for Sweden to play an even more important role in these issues."

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/the-local-may-30-2013-sweden-must-raise-its-net-freedom-profile

Sustainable Smart Cities India Conference 2015, Bangalore

vanya — 2015-09-21T02:24:19Z

Nispana Innovative Platforms organized a Sustainable Smart Cities India Conference 2015, in Bangalore on 3rd and 4th September, 2015. The event saw participation from people across various sectors including Government Representatives from Ministries, Municipalities, Regulatory Authorities, as well as Project Management Companies, Engineers, Architects, Consultants, Handpicked Technology Solution Providers and Researchers. National and International experts and stakeholders were also present to discuss the opportunities and challenges in creating smart and responsible cities as well as citizens, and creating a roadmap for converting the smart cities vision into a reality that is best suited for India.

The objective of the conference was to discuss the meaning of a smart city, the promises made, the challenges and possible solutions for implementation of ideas by transforming Indian Cities towards a Sustainable and Smart Future.

Smart Cities Mission

Considering the pace of rapid urbanization in India, it has been estimated that the urban population would rise by more than 400 million people by the year 2050[1] and would contribute nearly 75% to India’s GDP by the year 2030. It has been realized that to foster such growth, well planned cities are of utmost importance. For this, the Indian government has come up with a Smart Cities initiative to drive economic growth and improve the quality of life of people by enabling local area development and harnessing technology, especially technology that leads to Smart outcomes.

Initially, the Mission aims to cover 100 cities across the countries (which have been shortlisted on the basis of a Smart Cities Proposal prepared by every city) and its duration will be five years (FY2015-16 to FY2019-20). The Mission may be continued thereafter in the light of an evaluation to be done by the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) and incorporating the learnings into the Mission. This initiative aims to focus on area-based development in the form of redevelopment, or developing new areas (Greenfield) to accommodate the growing urban population and ensure comprehensive planning to improve quality of life, create employment and enhance incomes for all, especially the poor and the disadvantaged.[2]

What is being done?

The Smart City Mission will be operated as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) and the Central Government proposes to give financial support to the Mission to the extent of Rs. 48,000 crores over five years i.e. on an average Rs. 100 crore per city per year.The Government has come up with 2 missions:Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and Smart Cities Mission for the purpose of achieving urban transformation.The vision is to preserve India’s traditional architecture, culture & ethnicity while implementing modern technology to make cities livable, use resources in a sustainable manner and create an inclusive environment. Additionally, Foreign Direct Investment regulations have been relaxed to invite foreign capital and help into the Smart City Mission.

What is a Smart City?

Over the two-day conference, various speakers shared a common sentiment that the Governments’ mission does not clearly define what encompasses the idea of a Smart City. There is no universally accepted definition of a Smart City and its conceptualization varies from city to city and country to country.

A global consensus on the idea of a smart city is a city which is livable, sustainable and inclusive. Hence, it would mean a city which has mobility, healthcare, smart infrastructure, smart people, traffic maintenance, efficient waste resource management, etc.

Also, there is a global debate at United Nations regarding developmental goals. One of these goals is gender equality which is very important for the smart city initiative. According to this, a smart city must be such where the women have a life free from violence, must be made to participate and are economically empowered.

Promises

The promises of the Smart City mission include:

Make a sustainable future, reduce carbon footprint, adequate water supply, assured electricity supply, proper sanitation, including solid waste management, efficient urban mobility and public transport, affordable housing especially for the poor, robust IT connectivity and digitalization, good governance, especially e-Governance and citizen participation, sustainable environment, safety and security of citizens, particularly women, children and the elderly, and health and education.

The vision is to preserve country’s traditional architecture, culture & ethnicity while implementing modern technology. It was discussed how the Smart City Mission is currently attracting global investment, will create new job opportunities, improve communications and infrastructure, decrease pollution and ultimately improve the quality of living.

Challenges

The main challenges for implementation of these objectives are with respect to housing, dealing

with existing cities and adopting the idea of retro-fitting.

Also, another challenge is that of eradicating urban poverty, controlling environment degradation, formulating a fool-proof plan, proper waste management mechanism, widening roads but not at the cost of pedestrians and cyclist and building cities which are inclusive and cater to the needs of women, children and disabled people.

Some of the top challenges will include devising a fool-proof plan to develop smart cities, meaningful public-private partnership, increasing the renewable energy, water supply, effective waste management, traffic management, meeting power demand, urban mobility, ICT connectivity, e-governance, etc., while preparing for new threats that can emerge with implementation of these new technologies.

What needs to be done?

The following suggestions were made by the experts to successfully implement government’s vision of creating successful smart cities in India.

Focus on the 4 P’s: Public-Private-People Partnership since people very much form a part of the cities.
Integration of organizations, government bodies, and the citizens. The Government can opt for a sentiment analysis.
Active participation by state governments since Land is a state subject under the Constitution. There must be a detailed framework to monitor the progress and the responsibilities must be clearly demarcated.
Detailed plans, policies and guidelines
Strengthen big data initiatives
Resource maximization
Make citizens smart by informing them and creating awareness
Need for competent people to run the projects
Visionary leadership
Create flexible and shared spaces for community development.

National/International case studies

Several national and international case studies were discussed to list down practical challenges to enable the selected Indian cities learn from their mistakes or include successful schemes in their planning from its inception.

Amsterdam Smart City: It is said to be a global village which was transformed into a smart city by involving the people. They took views of the citizens to make the plan a success. The role of big data and open data was highly emphasized. Also, it was suggested that there must be alignment with respect to responsibilities with the central, state and district government to avoid overlap of functions. The city adopted smart grid integration to make intelligent infrastructure and subsidized initiatives to make the city livable.
GIFT City, Gujarat: This is an ICT based sustainable city which is a Greenfield development. It is strategically situated. One of the major features of the City is a utility tunnel for providing repair services and the top of the tunnel can be utilized as a walking/jogging track. The city has smart fire safety measures, wide roads to control traffic, smart regulations.
TEL AVIV Smart City, Israel: It has been named as the Mediterranean cool city with young and free spirted people. The city comprises of creative class with 3 T’s-talent, technology and tolerance. The city welcomes startups and focuses on G2G, G2C and C2C initiatives by adopting technologically equipped initiatives for effective governance and community building programmes.

Participation

The event saw participation from people across various sectors including Government Representatives of Ministries, Municipalities, Regulatory Authorities, as well as Project Management Companies, Engineers, Architects, Consultants, Handpicked Technology Solution Providers and Researchers.

Foundation for Futuristic Cities: The conference saw participation from this think tank based out of Hyderabad working on establishing vibrant smart cities for a vibrant India. They are currently working on developing a "Smart City Protocol" for Indian cities collaborating with Technology, Government and Corporate partners by making a framework for Smart Cities, Big Data and predictive analytics for safe cities, City Sentiment Analysis, Situation Awareness Tools and mobile Apps for better city life by way of Hackathons and Devthons.
Centre for SMART cities, Bangalore: This is a research organization which aims to address the challenge of collaborating and sharing knowledge, resources and best practices that exist both in the private sector and governments/municipal bodies in a usable form and format.
BDP – India (Studio Leader – Urbanism): The Organization is based out of Delhi and is involved in providing services relating to master planning, urbanism, design and landscape design. The team includes interior designers, engineers, urbanists, sustainability experts, lighting designers, etc. The vision is to help build and create high quality, effective and inspiring built spaces.
UN Women: It is a United Nations Organization working on gender equality, women empowerment and elimination of discrimination. They strive to strengthen rights of women by working with women, men, feminists, women’s networks, governments, local authorities and civil society to create national strategies to advance gender equality in line with national and international priorities. The UN negotiated the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in August 2015 (which would be formally adopted by World leaders in September 2015) and it feature 17 sustainable development goals, one of them being achievement of gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls.
Elematic India Pvt. Ltd.: The Company is a leading supplier of precast concrete technology worldwide providing smart solutions for concrete buildings to help enable build smart cities with safe infrastructure.

Conclusion

The event discussed in great detail about what a smart city would look like in a country like India where every city has different demographics, needs and resources.

The Participants had a mutual understanding that a city is not gauged by its length and width, but by the broadness of its vision and height of its dream. The initiative of creating smart cities would echo across the country as a whole and would not be limited to the urban centers. Hence, the plan must be inclusive in implementation and right from its inception, the people and their needs must be given due consideration to make it a success. The issue of the road ahead was resonating in the minds of many, as to how would this exactly happen. Hence, the first step, as was suggested by the experts, was to involve the citizens by primarily informing them, taking their suggestions and planning the project for every city accordingly. While focusing on cities which would be made better by human ingenuity and technology, along with building mechanism for housing, commerce, transportation and utilities, it must not be forgotten that technology is timely, but culture is timeless. The cities must not be faceless and community space must be built with walkable spaces with smart utilization of limited resources. Also, it must be ensured that the cities do not cater to the needs of the elite and skilled population, but also the less privileged community. Adequate urban mapping must be done to ensure placement for community facilities, such as restrooms, trash bins, and information kiosks.

A story shared from personal experience by an expert Architect in building Green infrastructure was highly instrumental in setting the tone of the conference and is bound to stay with many of the participants. The son of the Architect, a small child from Baroda left his father speechless when he questioned him about the absence of butterflies from the Big City of Mumbai since he used to play with butterflies every morning in his hometown in Gujarat. The incident was genuinely thought provoking and left every architect, government representative and engineer thinking that before they step on to build a smart cities with technologically equipped infrastructure and utilities - can we, as a country, come together and ensure to build a smart city with butterflies? Can we pay equal attention to sustainability, environment and requirements of a community in the smart city that is envisioned by the Government to make the city livable and inclusive?

Questions that I, as a participant, am left with are:

Building a Greenfield project is comparatively easier than upgrading the existing cities into Smart ones, which requires planning and optimum utilization of resources. The role of local bodies needs to be strengthened which would primarily require skilled workforce, beginning from planning to execution. Therefore, what must be done to make the current cities “Smarter” and how encourage and fund ordinary citizens to redefine and prioritize local needs?
The conference touched upon the need for a well-planned policy framework to govern the smart cities; however, what was missing was a discussion on the kind of policies that would be required for every city to ensure governance and monitor the operations. Chalking out well thought of urban policies is the first step towards implementation of the Project and requires deliberation in this regard.
The Government plans seem to cater to the needs of a handful of sections of the society and must focus on safety of women, chalk out initiatives to build basic utilities like public toilets, plan the infrastructure keeping in mind the disabled individuals, etc.

This is of paramount importance since it is necessary for the Government to consider who would be the potential inhabitants of these future smart cities and what would be their particular needs. Before the cities are made better by use of technology, there is a requirement of more toilets as a basic utility. Thus, instead of focusing on technological advancement as the sole foundation to make lives of the people easy, the cities must have provision of utilities which are accessible to develop livable smart cities. Hence, what measures would the Government and other bodies involved in the plan take to ensure that the urban enclaves would not oversee the under privileged class?

Another issue that went unnoticed during the two-day event was pertaining to the Fundamental Rights of individuals within the city. For example, the right of privacy, right to access services and utilities, right to security, etc. These basic rights must be given due recognition by the smart city developers to uphold the spirit of these internationally accepted Human Rights principles. Therefore, it is important to ask how these future cities are going to address the rights of its people in the cities?

Apart from plans of working on waste management, another important factor that must not be overlooked is sustainability in terms of maximization of the available resources in the best possible ways and techniques to be adopted to stop the fast paced degradation of the environment.

The conference could suggest more solutions to adopt measures like rain water harvesting, better sewage management in the existing cities.

Also, the importance of big data in building the smart cities was emphasized by many experts. However, the question of regulation of data being generated and released was not talked about. Use of big data analytics involves massive streaming of data which required regulation and control over its use and generation to ensure such information is not misutilised in any way. In such a scenario, how would these cities regulate and govern big data techniques to make the infrastructure and utilities technologically efficient on one hand, but also to use the large data sets in a monitored fashion on the other?

An answer to these crucial issues and questions would have brought about a lot of clarity in minds of all the officials, planners and the potential residents of the Smart Cities in India.

[1] 2014 revision of the World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, July 2014, Available at : http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/publications/2014-revision-world-urbanization-prospects.html

[2] Smart Cities, Mission Statement and Guidelines, Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India, June 2015, Available at : http://smartcities.gov.in/writereaddata/SmartCityGuidelines.pdf

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/sustainable-smart-cities-india-conference-2015-bangalore

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Internet Economy

praskrishna — 2015-10-16T15:40:15Z

Internet Governance Forum (IGF) 2015 will be held at Jao Pessoa in Brazil from November 10 to 13, 2015. The theme of IGF 2015 is Evolution of Internet Governance: Empowering Sustainable Development. Multistakeholder Advisory Group (MAG) is organizing a session on “Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Internet Economy” on November 11, 2015 from 9.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. Sunil Abraham is participating in this session as a speaker.

The discussions at the IGF session aim to reflect the importance of Internet Economy and Internet Enablement for the fulfillment of different SDGs and also identify some best practices to inform policy makers on the ways in which Internet can serve broader and more strategic developmental objectives.

The session will include discussions on the following :

The Vision toward 2030: Sustainable Development long term opportunities and challenges
Internet Economy & Internet Role in Delivering the SDGs (Key opportunities & key Success Factors): Human Capital (a) Internet Entrepreneurship (b) Equality (c) ICT Capacity building: Applications (d) Right to Health, Education, timely Justice, environment protection, society engagement (e) Access to Information (f) Availability of Local Content Online (g) Intellectual Property Right: Access and Infrastructure - Internet Availability and Affordability: Policy and Regulatory Support and Business eco-system: To enable Access, Applications and Content development and usage, Entrepreneurship and Capacity building.
Aligning the next phase of IGF with the SDGs /Post 2015 UN Develpment Agenda: Optimizing Eco System and Multistakeholder approach

About IGF 2015

Internet Governance Forum (IGF) is a multistakeholder, democratic and transparent forum which facilitates discussions on public policy issues related to key elements of Internet governance. IGF provides enabling platform for discussions among all stakeholders in the Internet governance ecosystem, including all entities accredited by the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), as well as other institutions and individuals with proven expertise and experience in all matters related to Internet governance.

After consulting the wider Internet community and discussing the overarching theme of the 2015 IGF meeting, the Multistakeholder Advisory Group decided to retain the title “Evolution of Internet Governance: Empowering Sustainable Development”. This theme will be supported by eight sub-themes that will frame the discussions at the João Pessoa meeting

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/sustainable-development-goals-sdgs-and-internet-economy

Survey on Data Protection Regime

Aditi Chaturvedi and Elonnai Hickok — 2017-02-10T10:47:00Z

We request you to take part in this survey aimed at understanding how various organisations view the changes in the Data Protection Regime in the European Union. Recently the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 was passed, which shall replace the present Data Protection Directive DPD 95/46/EC. This step is likely to impact the way of working for many organisations. We are grateful for your voluntary contribution to our research, and all information shared by you will be used for the purpose of research only. Questions that personally identify you are not mandatory and will be kept strictly confidential.

The survey form below can also be accessed here.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/survey-on-data-protection-regime

Surveillance: Privacy Vs Security

praskrishna — 2013-08-19T05:32:55Z

The Foundation for Media Professionals is organizing a debate at the India International Centre, New Delhi on August 17, 2013. Shri Kapil Sibal will give the opening speech. Natgrid chief Raghu Raman is one of the debaters. Pranesh Prakash is participating in this event as a panelist.

This was published by the Foundation for Media Professionals on their website. Also read the blog post by Vivian Fernandes and Ninglun Hanghal.

In the backdrop of the recent disclosures by US defense contractor Edward Snowden about the activity of the National Security Agency (NSA) and reports that NSA may have collaborated with India on surveillance program in the country that have raised concerns about privacy and right of citizens, Foundation for Media Professionals (FMP) in partnership with Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) invited Pranesh Prakash to a panel discussion on "Surveillance: Privacy vs. Security".

Guest Speaker
Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Govt. of India

Panelists

Pranesh Prakash, Policy Director, Centre for Internet and Society

Dr. Usha Ramanathan, Independent Law Researcher
Saikat Datta, Resident Editor, DNA
Capt. Raghu Raman, National Intelligence Grid (Natgrid)

Moderator

Paranjoy Guha Thakurta

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/foundation-for-media-professionals-august-17-2013-surveillance-privacy-v-security

Surveillance technology companies operating in India - spreadsheet

maria — 2013-04-27T16:29:14Z

The Centre for Internet and Society has started investigating surveillance technology companies operating in India! This spreadsheet entails the first 77 companies which are being researched.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/surveillance-technology-companies-operating-in-india

Surveillance Technologies

elonnai — 2012-03-22T05:40:24Z

The following post briefly looks at different surveillance technologies, and the growing use of the them in India.

Surveillance...

New security technologies are constantly emerging that push the edge between privacy and a reasonable level of security. Society's tolerance level is constantly being tested by governments who use surveillance and monitoring technologies to protect the nation. Governments claim that they need absolute access to citizens life. They need to monitor phones, look through emails, peer into files – in-order to maintain security and protect against terrorism. Though as a side note, in an Economic Times article published on Nov. 4 2010 it was reported that government computers were being hacked into through viruses, and top secret documents were being stolen. The irony of the story is that the viruses were introduced to the computers through porn websites visited by officials.

...In a Car? On the Street? In an Airport?

Despite the fact that governmental monitoring might make the common man uncomfortable, the reality is that governments will always win the national security vs privacy fight. The story becomes more complicated when it moves from the government directly monitoring individuals, to security agencies monitoring individuals. For instance the use of full body scanners at airports, or trucks equipped with scatter x-ray machines used to control crime in neighborhoods - is a much more heated debate. There are other ways in which to check passengers for banned items, and other ways to keep crime off the streets without mandating that individuals submit themselves to invasive scans, or scanning unaware individuals.

...In the Movie Theater????..for Marketing Purposes????

Surveillance technology has now been taken even another step further. No longer is it being just used to prevent violent crimes or terrorist attacks. Today the movie industry is using controversial anti-piracy tools to protect the films they produce. For instance the security company Aralia Systems manufacturers products such as: CCTV cameras and anti-camcorder systems that shine infrared light beams on audiences as they watch a movie. The light beams reflect off camcorders and alerts the theater that there are camcorders present. Though this practice can be seen as invasive - individuals might be opposed to being probed by light beams throughout movies, the extent of potential privacy invasion does not stop there. Aralia Systems has partnered with Machine Vision Lab and has created a system that harvests audiences emotions and movements as they watch movies. The data can then be used by market researchers to better tailor their behavioral advertising schemes. Essentially movie theater monitoring has merged surveillance technologies with behavioral marketing technologies in a twisted invasion of movie watchers personal privacy.

Is this technology in India?

Though behavioral monitoring and piracy technologies such as ones produced by Aralia Systems are not yet used in Indian movie theaters – security measures against piracy are used. Movie theaters across India are equipped with metal detectors at the door, and security personel check your handbag or back pack for camcorders. According to a Indian Express article, the organization Allegiance Against Copyright Theft believes one of the reasons monitoring technology is not yet used in theaters is because there is no present Indian legislation that penalizes recording in halls. Once legislation is passed, they speculate there will be a push to use these technologies. Even though monitoring technology is not yet used in theaters, monitoring of consumers behavior is increasing. Recently in India the WPP owned research agency IMRB International has developed an online audience measurement system that uses tailored metering technology to track the sites that users visit. The Web Audience Measurement System has launched this technology in a sample size of 21,000 Indian households, covering 90,000 individuals. IMRB has said that the meters are capable of capturing usage data from multiple computers, and that they can then use the information to market to the individual. Does it seem ironic to anyone that companies now charge for a service – movie tickets, internet services, telephone services – and make an extra profit by data mining at the expense of a persons privacy?

Sources

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/Govt-depts-asked-not-to-store-sensitive-info-on-Net-connected-computers/articleshow/6874631.cms
http://www.research-live.com/news/technology/imrb-unveils-web-measurement-service-for-indian-market/4003941.article
http://blogs.computerworld.com/17276/anti_piracy_tool_will_harvest_market_your_emotions?source=rss_blogs
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/antipiracy-unit-joins-hands-with-cinema-halls-to-curb-camcording/695439/2

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/privacy/surveillance-technologies