ICT Including Services
Government will give 5G spectrum for trials to all players
India will not bar any equipment suppliers, such as China's Huawei, in the upcoming trials for 5G. Telecom Minister said that the government will allocate airwaves to all telecom service providers for conducting trials of super-fast speed 5G networks. Huawei rivals western equipment makers, such as Ericsson, and is banned in the US. Many countries, however, have allowed telecom service providers to use Chinese gears. And now, India has also indicated its unwillingness to keep any company out of 5G trials.
NITI Aayog, a policy think tank of Government of India, to develop National Data Platform
NITI Aayog will develop a National Data and Analytics Platform (NDAP) to make all government data accessible to stakeholders in a user-friendly manner. Releasing the Vision Document for NDAP, Niti Aayog said that the NDAP will strive to ensure that the data is assured, consistent, coherent and credible. According to the vision document, data across sectors should be coherent to support analysis and dissemination. The NDAP will host multiple datasets, present them coherently and provide visualisation and analytics tools.
Cabinet sanctions Digital India, worth INR 113,000 (14 billion Euro)
The union cabinet has approved sanctions for Digital India, a campaign intended to transform the nation into digital empowered society and knowledge economy, with a cost of Rs 113,000 crore (14 billion Euro). This programme envisaged by Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY), is to impact the ministry of communications & IT, ministry of rural development, ministry of human resource development, ministry of health and others. This programme will also benefit all states and union territories.
Govt will give 5G spectrum for trials to all players
India will not bar any equipment suppliers, such as China's Huawei, in the upcoming trials for 5G. Telecom Minister said that the government will allocate airwaves to all telecom service providers for conducting trials of super-fast speed 5G networks. Huawei rivals western equipment makers, such as Ericsson, and is banned in the US. Many countries, however, have allowed telecom service providers to use Chinese gears. And now, India has also indicated its unwillingness to keep any company out of 5G trials.
ICT related notifications/consultation Papers/recommendations/policies and directives, whitepapers
o MEITY released a whitepaper on National Open Digital Ecosystems for public comments/inputs. Read more/Download
o Draft Recommendations on Network Testing before Commercial Launch of Services for Wireline Access Services. Read more/Download
o Consultation Paper on Traffic Management Practices (TMPs) and Multi-Stakeholder Body for Net Neutrality. Read more/Download
o Consultation Paper on 'Provision of Cellular backhaul connectivity via Satellite through VSAT under Commercial VSAT CUG Service Authorization'. Read more/Download
o Reforming the Guidelines for Transfer/Merger of Telecom Licenses Read more
NITI Aayog released its National Block-chain Policy Draft Paper
Indian government policy “think tank” NITI Aayog has released its national blockchain policy draft paper, titled “Blockchain – The India Strategy”. The policy explains different use cases of blockchain in the country alongside some conclusions from ongoing pilot projects. The strategy document is aimed at clarifying the concepts surrounding the blockchain technology. Its target stakeholders include enterprise leaders, the government, and citizens of the country.
This first part of the two-part Strategy document deals with fundamental concepts, trust systems, the economic benefit of smart contracts and blockchain, ease of doing business and other ongoing use cases. Part two, which will be released soon, will mainly cover different recommendations for using blockchain in India.
Niti Aayog to develop National Data Platform
Niti Aayog will develop a national data and analytics platform to make all government data accessible to stakeholders in a user-friendly manner. Releasing the Vision Document for the National Data and Analytics Platform (NDAP), Niti Aayog said that the NDAP will strive to ensure that the data is assured, consistent, coherent and credible. According to the vision document, data across sectors should be coherent to support analysis and dissemination. The NDAP will host multiple datasets, present them coherently and provide visualisation and analytics tools.
National Cyber Security Strategy to go for cabinet nod soon
The draft of National Cyber Security Strategy 2020, that envisages creating a secure cyberspace in India, is ready and will soon be sent to key ministries for comments before seeking the Cabinet approval. We have got industry inputs, the draft of the (National Cyber Security) strategy is ready, we'll do a quick round of sending it to some 2-3 critical ministries and we will put up to the Cabinet for release to the public. The vision of the strategy ... is to ensure a safe, secure, resilient, trusted and vibrant cyberspace for India’s prosperity,” National Cyber Security Coordinator Rajesh Pant said at an event.