GEOPOLITICS IN TECHNOLOGY
Science and technology acts as a portion of geopolitics where technological developments boost Geo-political domination of the country. Global transition to future technologies like Artificial Intelligence, 5G and Big Data among others have started affecting the global geopolitics which can be evidently seen in the global 5G adoption.
Importance of Technology
- National Security: Technological development can play significant role in national security like saving country from cyber threat or creating deterrence by new defence technology.
- For example: Use of Iron Dome system by Israel in Israel-Palestine conflict.
- Economic development: New technological innovations open up new market opportunities and is essential for long term development.
- For example: Control of data driven technologies is being seen as key technological variable which will drive the future economic competition among countries.
- Geopolitical: Technology is a potential tool in to control any country, as rightly said data is the new oil. Whoever control data will be able to control the geopolitical affairs.
- For example: Companies like Twitter and Facebook, holds a considerable amount of people sentiments in any country.
- International affairs: Possession of high-class technology fetches greater power and control in International arena.
- For example: Intermediate powers like Canada and Israel are best examples in the international arena because of their S&T capabilities.
Importance of Countries due to S&T
- USA
- World Super power: Country has been the world’s superpower for the past 70 years, because of their headship in S&T.
- Atomic weapon: World War II led to the development of the atomic weapon and Foundations of Silicon Valley.
- Space leader: The diplomatically important US space program was the seed of cold war.
- Technological giants: Companies like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Tesla, Facebook, Twitter are all US based companies and control more than 60% of the world technology field.
- Implications: Today all countries want to align with US not only economically but also politically.
- China
- Establishing hegemony: Chinese innovation policy is a geopolitical apparatus to advance economic and military hegemony.
- Policy priority: China’s New Industry Policy 2025 aims to make itself an “innovative country”.
- Power play: Chinese moves in clean energy and space have made technology a prime pawn in the international power play.
- Leadership: China aims to become a superpower in Artificial Intelligence, leading to a technology race with the US. Ex- Roll out of 5G technology
- Control over data: China is a data authoritarian state and does not share data with anybody to control its own geopolitics.
- Implications: China emerged as a major player in Asia and constantly challenging US hegemony
- Israel
- Getting important: Being a small country, it embraces a great geo-political importance because of its high-tech ecosystem.
- Triple purpose: Technology of Israel serves the triple purpose of boosting economic growth, ensuring national security, and offering international leverage.
- Implications: Israel is getting importance more than any other country. One of the causes for India’s latest tilt regarding Israel is the latter’s strength in S&T, especially in agriculture.
- India
- Picking up: India’s fresh works to focus on its domestic defence manufacturing industry to become net exporter of defence equipment.
- Space leader: Already developed a regional satellite for South Asia, and an independent GPS and increasing footprint of ISRO in space can make India regional leader in space.
- Enhancing education system: Establishing 20 world-class universities, are all seen as foot works in the S&T advancement to reach the power
- Software Industry: India’s software industry is one of the biggest in the world which has earned the title of software giant.
- Implications: Can become big regional player and provide better alternative to China
Data Diplomacy and Digital Geopolitics
- Digital authoritarians: Countries that have closed their data markets to external actors are commonly referred to as digital authoritarians. For Ex: China
- Digital democracies: Countries guided by judicial standards, the rule of law, and support movement of data have come to be known as digital democracies.
- Geopolitics of technology: The political, ideological, and economic tensions between, and within, these categories of actors shape what might be called the geopolitics of technology.
- New focus: This form of geopolitics is as much about competing domestic regulations, the renewed focus on anti-trust laws, and domestic standards on privacy legislations, as it is about international affairs.
- Cooperation across border: Greater cooperation on Artificial Intelligence (AI) or blockchain technologies, between entities in different countries, requires mediation and cooperation across borders.
- Data diplomacy: This is a matter of data diplomacy. At least 14 countries have appointed negotiators to shape data diplomacy.
Potential of India in Data diplomacy
- Become focus for all: Today all countries want to deal with India. It is, after all, the largest open data market in the world. Close to 600 million Indians currently use 4G data.
- High data consumption: India also has the highest per capita consumption of data (above 10 GB per month) anywhere in the world.
- Priority for big tech firms: It is a treasure trove for big tech firms, as much as it is for those firms within India wanting to expand operations outside its borders.
Challenges
- Not sustainable in long term: India’s unique data demography is unlikely to sustain current levels of international interest and domestic needs in the long-term.
- Question of Data Openness: A lot will depend on the kind of digital democracy that India aspires to be. How open or closed will it be to the movement of data across its borders, is the moot question for the fast-growing number of global “tech ambassadors”.
- Threat on national security: India’s banning of Chinese Apps shows India’s stand on future technology threats and it has to bring down a clear data policy or Act.
- Balancing Act: This is about ensuring India’s evolving domestic data architecture supports its international interests, with the clear view to benefit from the same
India’s Personal Data Protection Bill (PDPB)
- Data openness: To an extent, the question of data openness will be resolved as India’s Personal Data Protection Bill (PDPB) becomes a law, potentially in 2021.
- Data localisation: This crucial legislature will outline localisation requirements for personal data, thereby setting out clearer rules for the cross-border movement of data.
- Data protection authority: It will also lead to the creation of a Data Protection Authority (DPA) to regulate the use of personal data.
- Legal digital architecture: Over the next year, there is a very good chance that India will have developed its legal digital architecture.
Recent Developments
India’s data diplomacy efforts
- New NEST division: The ministry of external affairs created the new, emerging, and strategic technologies (NEST) division in January 2020.
- Focus: On strategic technologies such as 5G, emerging technologies, and tech diplomacy.
- Assess the effects of disruptive technology: The office of the principal scientific adviser to the government to assess the transformational effects of disruptive technologies such as digital currencies, big data computing, communication hardware, and others.
- Moreover, senior officials in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) oversee diverse elements of domestic and international data-related developments.
Way Forward
- Bring clarity: India needs to consider what exactly it wants out of the fast-changing geopolitics around technology. This goes beyond banning Chinese apps or considering how India can absorb the slow move to diversify global supply chains.
- Create balance: The aim must be to negotiate its weight in data and find the right balance for India’s future between localisation and internationalisation.
- Implement policy: Create a plan to implement National Policy of Science and Technology 2020 for better development of technology in the country.