Govt planning to set up index to track states on their digital initiatives

The index will establish better coordination among states for learning from each other's work in the domain

The government is planning a Digital Communication Readiness Index (DCRI) to track states' performance in digital initiatives.

The Department of Telecommunications' index will improve coordination among states to learn from each other's work in the domain. According to a report published by the Economic Times (ET), the cabinet secretariat and Niti Aayog have mandated DoT to set up the index. 

The report quoted unnamed government officials saying that the index will track various initiatives and policies for the telecom sector, including those for shared infrastructure, 5G rollout, and telecom skilling.

Earlier, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had released its recommendations on ‘Regulatory Framework for Promoting Data Economy through the Establishment of Data Centers (DCs), Content Delivery Networks (CDNs), and Interconnect Exchanges (IXPs) in India’ in November 2022.

The government plans to fulfill the information and communication requirements of citizens and enterprises alike. In order to achieve that, it is taking steps to establish digital communications infrastructure and services that are reliable, affordable, and accessible to all.