MeitY to bring Digital by Design platform for DPDP implementation: Vaishnaw

The platform to be implemented jointly by Digital India Corporation and National Informatics Centre

Union Minister for Electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday said that the government will soon come up with a “digital by design” platform to be developed jointly by the Digital India Corporation (DIC) and National Informatics Centre (NIC) for facilitating the implementation of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDPA).

“The entire implementation process for the DPDPA will be digital by design. In parallel to the drafting of the rules, we are working on creating a digital by design platform so that the implementation of the DPDPA can be done in digital form,” said Vaishnaw, while talking to the press.

“The platform will be developed in-house, either by the NIC or the DIC, or with a joint effort of both,” he added.

The Minister said that the notification of rules for the DPDPA is a top priority for the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology under the new government.

“Drafting of DPDPA rules is in very advanced stages. We will start the industry consultation now and we’ll go as extensive as we can, like we did during the telecom bill and the DPDPA bill,” said the minister.

He further said that the government will prefer a much more extensive approach during consultation around the rules and won’t rush through any stage of the process.

Vaishnaw, who is heading the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology for the second consecutive time, said that there would be continuity in terms of the digital regulatory framework that the government has developed over time.

The DPDPA, Information Technology Rules and the upcoming Digital India framework have been the top priority areas for the Modi government in the regulatory realm of technology policy space.

The DPDPA, passed by Parliament in August last year, still awaits the notification of the rules. Once the rules are notified, a public consultation period of 45 days is expected to be followed by the setting up of the Data Protection Board.

As India’s first-ever dedicated legislation for digital privacy, the DPDPA provides broad principles of collection and processing of personal information in digital form. The Act prescribes monetary penalties of up to Rs 250 crore for each instance of a data breach and blocking of entities in case of repeated violations.

Aim to Double Electronics Production

In the area of electronics manufacturing, Vaishnaw said that there was an increased amount of interest from component manufacturers to join India’s manufacturing ecosystem.

He further said that the government will aim to double the electronics production (including for exports) in this term, which will generate 50 lakh jobs in the sector.

“India’s electronics production is around $125-130 billion, with employment numbers at 20–25 lakh. In this term, we can double it to about 50 lakh in terms of employment numbers and $200-300 billion in total production,” he said.