January 14, 2025
Technology and Innovation
The Data Governance Network | A Community of Research and Practice
A network to bring together leading civil society organisations in India to collaborate on a new vision for India's digital policy landscape.
Context
In the past decade, India’s markets and governance underwent rapid and sweeping digital transformation. Despite the enormous promise, what policy structures are needed to protect citizens and consumers from rights violations and growing digital inequality?
In 2019, we launched the Data Governance Network (DGN) to bring together leading civil society organisations for a platform where leading practitioners and thinkers could present their vision for an Indian data ecosystem that was safe, just and equitable. The network’s focus areas included privacy, consent, digital and data rights, surveillance, and platform regulation.
Methodology
This project anchored and guided the inception of India’s largest data and technology policy collaborative, the Omidyar Network-funded Data Governance Network (DGN) – shepherding DGN’s policy research and evolved the Network into a platform for collaboration with a wide range of CSOs, private sector entities, and government bodies such as NITI Aayog and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY).
Outcomes
DGN and Artha Global’s research directly informed critical policies like India’s draft Data Accessibility and Use policy and contributed to the Competition Commission of India’s investigation into digital competition issues
DGN also provided valuable capacity-building resources, facilitating knowledge exchange between international experts and senior government to officials leading flagship digital governance initiatives, including Aadhaar and the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission.
Artha Global supported state governments in developing and implementing their own State Data Policies. DGN collaborated directly with key government bodies like NITI Aayog, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY), the National Informatics Centre (NIC), and the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) and state governments to provide research and inputs on new regulatory paradigms for digital markets and Big Tech.
DGN’s impact extended beyond government collaboration. It served as a platform for thought leaders, seeding innovative projects like Vasant Dhar’s”Brave New World” podcast, which explores technology’s impact on humanity.
