G20 Digital Economy Ministers Meeting | 23 Jul 2020
Why in News
Recently, a virtual meeting of G20 Digital Economy Ministers was hosted by Saudi Arabia in which Indian Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology represented India.
- Saudi Arabia is holding the presidency of G20 currently.
Key Points
- Few major initiatives taken by India to tackle Covid-19 were highlighted:
- Early lockdowns which helped in curbing the spread of the virus as well as preparing for the upcoming challenges effectively.
- Digital innovations for managing Covid-19:
- Initiatives like Aarogya Setu mobile app, Covid-19 Quarantine Alert System (geofencing system for monitoring quarantined patients) and Covid-19 Savdhan (bulk messaging systems).
- Digital innovations for helping people in general:
- Direct Benefit Transfers and digital payments ensured that even the weakest in the society was provided various financial relief during the lockdown.
- India Emphasised Upon:
- Emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence should be leveraged for inclusive growth and development especially in healthcare and education.
- In the wake of a pandemic like Covid-19, there is a need for building a resilient global supply chain.
- India’s potential as an attractive destination for investment closely integrated with global supply chains was also brought into focus.
- All digital platforms need to be accountable and sensitive towards concerns related to defence and data privacy of citizens of sovereign countries.
- The comments follow the Indian government’s move to ban 59 Chinese applications citing a threat to national security and sovereignty.
- India’s Step for Data Protection:
- India is soon going to put in place a robust personal data protection law (Personal Data Protection Bill 2019) which will not only address the data privacy-related concerns of citizens but also ensure availability of data for innovation and economic development.
Way Forward
- The digital economy must go hand in hand with the data economy because data is an important component to accelerate the digital economy.
- There is a need to acknowledge who has sovereignty over data. Data must belong to the sovereign nation concerned, to protect the privacy of its people, to protect digital concerns for its people.
- Digital platforms having a presence in many countries must become trustworthy, safe and secure.
- Digital platforms anywhere in the world should be responsive and accountable towards the sovereign concerns of countries including defence, privacy and security of citizens.