On 21 February 2024, Shreeja Sen represented IT for Change and the Global Digital Justice Forum at a virtual consultation, seeking feedback on the Zero draft of the Pact for the Future, which was launched on 26 January 2024. In line with the written submissions, Shreeja's inputs emphasized that digitalization is ubiquitous across sectors, and…
Data and Development
2024
2023
The Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act of 2023 has rightly been criticised for failing to uphold good consent and data subject rights. One provision that has been largely overlooked is Section 16, which pertains to the transfer and processing of personal data outside India. Section 16 permits data fiduciaries to transfer personal data…
2022
With our societies getting increasingly digitalized and datafied if governments are to keep fulfilling their central societal role they too must get digitalized and datafied. But this must be undertaken in appropriate ways that protect and enhance people’s rights, requiring strong new institutional checks and balances, on one hand, and new…
2021
IT for Change's Parminder Singh is the co-chair of the Data Principles Circle of Transform Health, a global initiative which works in coalition towards Universal Health Coverage goal of the SDGs. The initiative recently released its draft Health Data Governance Principles. This is the first set of global health data principles which goes beyond…
2021
Karnataka’s Open Data Policy opens up a Pandora’s box of concerns for public interest and citizen rights
Last week, the Government of Karnataka (GoK) notified its Open Data Policy (ODP) to open up government-held personal and non-personal datasets for “innovation, co-creation and research”. The government’s logic fits very much into the…2021
IT for Change, along with other civil societies advocated on a number of critical issues regarding the UNCTAD XV held from 3-7th October, 2021 in Barbados.
These statements, few of many sent to member states at a crucial moment of discussion by civil societies managed to leverage pressure and improve on the nature of the mandate…
2021
IT for Change recently responded to the call for consultation by National Health Authority (NHA) and National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) on the Unified Health Interface (UHI).
ITfC deems the creation of digital public goods in the health sector a critical imperative and appreciates the NDHM’s initiative in setting up the UHI. However…
2018
Reorienting "data for development"
"Data for development" enjoys high currency in global policy circles. It has come to stand for the idea that developing countries need to acquire the capacity to produce "quality, accessible, timely and reliable disaggregated data" and use the promise of big data to…