G20 Digital Economy Ministers Meeting

 G20 Digital Economy Ministers Meeting

• 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.

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 defense 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 the 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 defense, privacy, and security of citizens.

Source: PIB