The report argues that the Digital India Act should be future-ready to beat the prevailing gaps within the Information Technology Act, 2000. It notes that sure provisions of the IT Act are at odds with rising know-how, rendering some use-cases unlawful and denying their advantages to society. In addition, new digital actions could also be incompatible with present definitions, creating roadblocks for enforcement and business uncertainty. Examples embody on-line gaming, the metaverse, and autonomous automobiles, all touted as applied sciences of financial significance.
A key lever for future-readiness, the report contends, is the inclusion of a taxonomy of applicable phrases within the Digital India Act that may deliver all digital companies, together with those who might emerge sooner or later, inside the purview of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY). The MEITY’s place as nodal ministry doesn’t stop different wings of the Government from taking part in digital governance. Indeed, it mustn’t as a result of it might result in appreciable capability considerations. Rather, MEITY and completely different sectoral ministries should coordinate their efforts on digital governance. Another essential advice within the report is the Digital India Act should espouse co-regulation. State-led governance is sub-optimal as a result of it includes the introduction of static legal guidelines which will or is probably not out of contact with technological realities. Similarly, self-regulation may be too watered down and consequently, ineffectual.
Finally, the report argues that the Digital India Act should engender belief by means of larger emphasis on accountability, transparency, and basic rights. Towards this, it recommends that the Indian state should: