Dept. for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade (DPIIT) launched website & mobile application [Learn to Protect, Secure and Maximize Your Innovation] on IPR. The modules of this e-learning platform [L2Pro India IP e-learning Platform and the L2Pro India Mobile App] will aid and enable, innovators, entrepreneurs, SMEs in understanding IPRs for their ownership and protection, integrate IP into business models and obtain value for their R&D efforts.

The increased proliferation of AI globally requires new policies for the enforcement of intellectual property rights, according to a joint report by India’s largest software services exporter Tata Consultancy Services and the CII. Currently patent laws treat AI software inventions as logical algorithms. While patent eligibility of algorithms is valid, there is little about how to deal with inventions that are heuristic in nature.  TCS Report

Even though non-personal data may be kept outside the purview of the Personal Data Protection Bill, clarity is required on several instances of overlap between personal and non-personal data. Govt formed a panel led by S Gopalakrishnan in Sept 2019. The government may wait for the committee on non-personal data to submit its report before placing the draft Personal Data Protection Bill before Parliament, people familiar with the development.

India has joined the league of 15 of the world's leading city networks and technology governance organizations for advancing the responsible and ethical use of smart city technologies. The G20 Global Smart Cities Alliance will create global norms and policy standards for the use of connected devices in public spaces, a World Economic Forum (WEF) release said.

Under Smart Cities initiative which is spread over 100 cities about 3,880 projects worth ?1.41 lakh crore (€17.6 bn) have been tendered, out of a total of about 5,000 projects. Joint Secretary, Smart Cities Mission Director, released the Smart Cities Progress Report and stated that 3,100 projects worth ?1,00400 crore (€12.5 bn)  are grounded, and completed 1,100 projects worth over ?20,100 crore (€2.5 bn).

The ministry has created a live dashboard, housed in the National Urban Observatory. This would help keep track of live updates from the smart cities’ progress. The Centre has got into a mission rethink mode to speed up the implementation of projects under SCM. In the fifth and final year of ‘Smart City Mission’, the Centre has set a new target –– Mission Rs. 2 lakh crore (€25 bn). With the current trajectory of project tendering and completion, the government would have awarded contracts till 2022.

India's ambitious smart cities project is going to drive the adoption of LoRaWAN based IoT in the country, Donna Moore, CEO & Chairwoman of the LoRa Alliance said, adding that use cases around agriculture, human safety, and environmental conservation will also give a push to the technology.

LoRa Alliance- an open association that supports and deploys LoRaWAN protocol is in talks with the Indian government to acquire tenders for the Smart City mission that is likely to be further rolled out in about 4000 cities.

NITI Aayog Additional Secretary (Energy) said that the government is in the process of finalizing an energy policy for the country. The new policy will address the issues of accessibility and affordability, energy security, thrust on clean source energy and the overall requirement of energy. Highlighting the potential of energy storage in India, the policy will also focus on Make in India for cells used in battery in electric vehicles along with policy for demand creation and measures to incentivize investments.

The National Investment & Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) & Energy Efficiency Services Ltd. (EESL), announced a new joint venture called Intellismart Infrastructure Private Limited or ‘IntelliSmart.’ This joint venture has been formed to implement, finance and operate the smart meter roll-out program of power distribution companies. Smart meters will play a transformational role in bringing efficiencies and generating significant commercial benefits for power distribution companies, while at the same time empowering end-consumers to make informed choices regarding power consumption.

NTPC, India’s largest power company, will not undertake any new coal-based generation for the next few years as part of measures to reduce its carbon footprint and has decided to invest about Rs 25,000 crore (€3.12 bn) to set up one of the world’s largest solar parks at Kutch in Gujarat. The solar park will be developed in phases over the next five years. The company also expects to disconnect some of its coal-based capacity from morning till evening to make way for affordable solar and wind power generation, said a senior company official.