6 September 2020, NIICE Commentary 5939
Farida Chawala and Saurabh Singh
Massive industrialization and technological advancements are transforming the world at an unprecedented pace. With significant growth in the technological architecture, India and ASEAN during the past decade has remarkably positioned themselves as pragmatic and aspiring economies globally. They have strategically adopted and implemented some effective and sustainable policies: both domestic and foreign, to digitalise the domains of commerce, governance, connectivity and security. Digitalisation has become the new normal in the current times more than ever with the pandemic in picture.
However, the onset of the COVID-19 and the lockdown conditions pushed countries globally to analyse the limitations and gaps in their digital infrastructure and need for better cooperation and innovation. The discrepancies that persisted as digital divide can be witnessed in a clearer light in the current times of pandemic due to increased dependency on digital resources. This unequal access to digital facilities at an intra and international level is one of the biggest challenges towards strengthening digital diplomacy.
Understanding the Digital Divide and Digital Diplomacy
Digital divide refers to the gap between the underprivileged and privileged sections of the society or in terms of access to digital infrastructure. The fact that the “gap” is further widening instead of being curtailed makes it more urgent to be addressed on an international level. Digital divide is significantly related to the socio-economic imbalances which persist in the society along with accessibility gaps of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) being a critical factor in the equation.
Digital diplomacy is an ever-evolving phenomenon. It can be described as ‘new methods and modes of conducting diplomacy with the help of the internet and ICTs, and their impact on contemporary diplomatic practices, thus, strengthening international relations. At the regional level, it can be integrated to protect common interests by breaking the hegemonic influence of other dominating states that exploit data security. ASEAN is the most rapidly growing regional bloc in terms of digitalisation. Like India, the estimated digital economy of ASEAN will be USD 1 trillion by 2025. There are a number of areas for coaction between India and ASEAN to make them self-reliant and reduce the existing digital divide. The divide is not only significant among the two economies but also within the economic bloc of ASEAN.
Abridging India – ASEAN Digital Divide
India and ASEAN have collaborated on a number of existing partnership projects. To establish a more integrated and strategic partnership, developing and investing in digital architecture catering to the needs of present times is the way out to digital equality. Digital cooperation can be introduced in all major critical avenues. Let us discuss the six priority areas of cooperation.
India – ASEAN Submarine Optical Fibre Cable
Setting up of a new India – ASEAN Submarine Optical Fibre Cable that promises 5G connectivity which provides an alternative to the Chinese and Western domination of OFC (Optical Fibre Cable) in the region to gain international connectivity. India already holds a USD 1 billion line of credit for digital connectivity with ASEAN countries. Countries such as Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam can take advantage of the OFC by digitally connecting highways to the north-eastern states through a protected ring architecture and extension by 700 kilometres and in turn strengthening the role of India’s North East.
Enhancing E-Commerce and Banking Facilities
E-commerce is expanding profusely in India and ASEAN. The Business-to-Consumer (B2C) market is one of the fastest growing channels in the two economies. In order to further boost the digital trade, India and ASEAN can sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the ASEAN central banks and National Payments Corporation of India (NCPI) to foster real-time electronic payments settlement system with low cost per transactions and provide a secure and resilient digital platform to protect the consumers and businesses from cyber fraud. India and Singapore are already leading as an example in establishing such payment mechanisms when in 2018 the two countries signed an MoU by linking the RuPay card payments system to Singapore’s 33-year-old NETS system, enabling the RuPay users to make payments at all across Singapore.
Advocating for Data Governance, Privacy and Localisation Policies
With the increasing cross-border flow of data, data privacy and security are concerns for a number of countries. The ASEAN countries have various regulations with respect to data privacy and security. India can surely learn from such initiatives. Countries such as Singapore, Thailand and Laos are well established Data Secure countries with stringent data protection and governance laws in place. India too, recently came up with the new Data Protection Bill, 2019 which is still being drafted in the parliament. India and ASEAN can jointly formulate laws to protect and govern the data being exchanged between the two economies making them the big data giants and end the data exploitation by other nations.
Smart Sister Cities Network: The Good Governance Initiative
One of the common grounds where India and ASEAN can cooperate to bridge digital divide is the Smart Cities Network Project. Both the economies have recently introduced the Smart Cities Network Project in their respective jurisdiction i.e. ASEAN Smart Cities Network (ASCN) and Smart Cities Mission (India). India and ASEAN can collaborate their key projects to launch a Smart Sister Cities Network (SSCN) where identical cities in India and ASEAN countries can be listed in terms of population size, sustainable development initiatives, economic outputs, literacy level and other socio-economic indicators. This will improve people-to-people (P2P) connection and promote democratic decentralization as the local administration can directly interact and cooperate with each other for various projects and initiatives. The primary goal of the SSCN will be to improve the lives of its citizens using technology as an enabler. It will also enhance mutual understanding across cultures and uphold the human rights and fundamental values. It will also champion the cause of sustainable development and good governance across India and ASEAN.
The India – ASEAN Cyber Security Cooperation Initiative
Cyber Security is a pressing global issue. India and ASEAN can identify potential areas of collaboration such as cyber security policy formulation, increasing research and development in cyber domain, signing MoUs and establishment of multi-stakeholders dialogues such as governments, law enforcement agencies, academia, business houses, cyber security service providers, establishing a need based critical information sharing channels. This will make both the economies vigilant and resilient to counter the Chinese influence in the digital governance architecture and cyber space in the Indo-Pacific. India and Cambodia are already leading with an example – in order to secure youth from cybersecurity threats. India will fund a ‘Child Online Risks Awareness Campaign’ through the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications of Cambodia under a Quick Impact Project in 2020-2021.
Upgrading Disaster Management Infrastructure
Disasters are a common occurrence for India and ASEAN for which both the economies have mastered the art of skilful planning and coordination and devising adaptation and mitigation strategies. India’s National Disaster Management Act, 2005 and ASEAN’s Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response, 2009 proved to be a significant milestone in mitigating disasters. Natural disasters are also triggered by human actions which further exacerbate the situation by putting life and property in grave danger. Recently, India proposed Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) which will act as a convening body to pool best practices and resources from around the world for reshaping construction, transportation, energy and telecommunication services with an objective to protect infrastructure. It will fill the gap of funds and technology and help developing countries to build disaster-resilient infrastructure. ASEAN with its technology, resources and past experience can play a crucial role and be a potential partner in this initiative.
Conclusion
India and ASEAN can be the stalwarts of digital diplomacy by collaborating through effective planning and action. Digitalisation is to the Asian Century; what industrialisation was to European century. Digitalisation will help in mobilising the population towards innovations and newer possibilities, hence accelerating development. India and ASEAN should grab this opportunity to balance the power curve in the digital domain and strengthen relations through strategic partnership.
