NEW DELHI: Rajya Sabha member Rajeev Chandrasekhar Friday said that there was a need to review digital policies and examine their cross-sectoral impact, and if needed, the digital framework should be redesigned afresh to fit new realities.

Chandrasekhar was speaking at a Webinar organized by CUTS International, a research and advocacy group.

Citing an example of India’s IT/IT-BPM sector, he said that its success hinges on minimal regulatory intervention and entrepreneurship skills, and cautioned against heavy-handed government interventions, which felt would be counterproductive to the sector’s growth.

Gulshan Rai, Chief Information Security Officer at Prime Minister Office (PMO), said that there was a need to consider data localisation, not from the lens of security, but technology and practical enforceability perspective.

Amar Patnaik, another Rajya Sabha member said that ensuring data security and data sovereignty would be critical, and believes that there was a need for incentivising local storage of data by creating an enabling environment for the data centre industry.

“The government should adopt a regulatory sandbox approach for framing optimal regulations, and unlocking India’s potential of becoming the world capital of data storage and processing,” Patnaik added.

Ankhi Das, Director, Public Policy, South & Central Asia, Facebook said that there was a need to base economic policy decisions on evidence-based research, and added that the existing paucity of evidence showing data localisation leading to economic development, although its adverse impact has been well documented.

Bipul Chatterjee, Executive Director at CUTS International underlined the need for Indian policymakers to transition from a control to a facilitation model and highlighted various adverse impacts of data localisation on India's digital services exports, which he believes could have a ripple and adverse impact on employment and economy. 

Underlying the strategic opportunity for the IT-BPM industry, Udai S. Mehta, Deputy Executive Director at CUTS International said that India should strengthen its leadership in the IT industry, and advance its growth through digital trade, riding on cross-border data flows.