Roundtables
17 October 2021
For almost a year now, the pandemic has dominated headlines in India and around the world. The initial focus was on incidents, transmissions, virulence, fatality rate and so on. In more recent times, the focus has shifted to the development of vaccines, safety, efficacy et cetera. The country has also shifted focus to the role of data in managing the vaccination phase of this pandemic - how data is collated, analysed and extrapolated, as well as data incompleteness, inaccuracies, privacy and standardization. India has begun, with its vaccination program, the arduous journey of digitization of health care provision. This Round Table was organized on the very important subject: Vaccine development, procurement, distribution and deployment - The role of data.
The impact of COVID-19 on the economy is far from fully understood and perhaps the ravage that the pandemic is causing is not over yet. It has impacted both the supply side and the demand side of the value chain, worldwide. As a result, GDP growth rates have declined for a number of countries worldwide - not only for the developing ones, but also the developed economies. For India, given the large share of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), in both GDP and employment, and the vast informality in the sector, the situation is perhaps graver. Why? Perhaps, because our understanding of this sector, in the absence of systematic data availability is limited.
COVID-19 has also encouraged thought processes – on what is deficient and how it should be resolved using (cost-) effective solutions. If we apply this rationale to the job market, it is to be noted that there emerged not only a need for matching and linking job seekers and job providers, but also a dire demand for reskilling and upskilling. A key challenge people and businesses participating in the labour market is availability of information – information on where and what are the jobs on one hand, and information on where the workers on the other. Data and technology can help alleviate this problem. But how? What is the promise and what are the challenges?
Over the last year, COVID-19 has caused huge disruptions in the education of millions of students: low ownership of computers or smartphones in households in India; problems with internet connectivity and challenges with power availability in large parts of the country; ability of our teachers to teach online. Problems of access to technology and internet also apply to teachers. At the same time, it is important to note that the role of technology in education is not limited to just the use of communication technology in education, or ‘online education’. This Round Table was an attempt to think and reflect upon how to use technology as an aid in the Indian education ecosystem to achieve the objective of quality education for all.
Lending to Indian farmers presents both a huge challenge and immense opportunity. The majority of farmers in India have small or marginal landholdings and operate in the informal market with no transaction history. Also, they mostly take working capital loans. Thus, in this setting how can data make lending more efficient and inclusive? The discussion centered on the challenges and advantages of setting up a credit bureau in agriculture. The second and more important point that emerged was that digitalization and modern technological applications make it possible to carry out lending using data associated with transaction history. Specific to Indian agriculture, data makes it possible for lenders to create loan portfolios.
The issue of market dominance in the digital economy is much in focus with the Competition Commission of India (CCI) launching investigations into several markets in the recent past. The discussion focused on the need to recognize that the objective of the Competition Authority is not to increase competition but to prevent consumer harm. Competition regulation should also not anticipate outcomes but step in when market dominance is being abused. This is especially true for the digital economy where business models and market structures are still very fluid and in the nascent stage.
The discussion focused on aspects of the use of new technologies in improving health care provision in India. With the notification of Electronic Health Records (EHR) standards and the report on the National Digital Health Blueprint, the Indian government has already signalled its interest in harnessing digitalization as a means for improving health care provision in the country. There are also significant challenges given the mix of public and private health care provisions, vast variation in quality, size and type of health care providers. Thus, the shape and form that a digital healthcare policy for India could take and the challenges that need to be overcome were discussed.
Using data for public good is increasingly being seen as vital for building a sustainable and equitable digital economy. This approach also means that valid concerns regarding national security and individual privacy are taken into account. It also means that legitimate interests in respect of commercial opportunity or technology development all need to be a part of the calculus. The discussions were carried out in the light of three basic forms that data can be characterized under: (a) as a facilitator in commercial transactions (b) as capital in artificial intelligence and machine learning and (c) as the basic infrastructure in a digitized economy.
The launch event featured technical sessions and the keynote address by Mr. Ashok Kumar Gupta, Chairperson of the Competition Commission of India (CCI).
2nd ICCI Conference 2023- Competition Policy & Innovation in the Digital Economy India Development Foundation is organizing a 2nd Initiative on Choice, Competition, and Innovation (ICCI) conference, “Competition Policy and Innovation in the Digital Economy” on Saturday, 22nd July 2023. The Initiative on Choice, Competition, and Innovation (ICCI) at the Centre for The Digital Future, India Development Foundation, was established in 2021. ICCI researches Choice (for consumer and user benefits), Competition (within and across sectors), and Innovation (entry of new products or services and new players) in the digital economy. The conference will bring academicians, professionals, and policymakers together in substantive discussions concerning competition economics issues in digital markets.
