A steady stream of public commentary is flowing in about the implications of the draft Rules on Social Security Code, 2020, and the Motor Vehicle Aggregators Guidelines, 2020, for the rights of platform workers. We interrogate these developments from a data rights standpoint. The draft Rules on Social Security Code, 2020, propose the creation…
Advocacy
2020
Technology is often heralded as the ultimate answer to all developmental issues, although it is a mere tool. Through its flagship programs like Digital India, Smart Cities, and Startup India, India is gearing up for a technological revolution, but it holds as many threats as promises for our political and social system. From education to health…
2020
With the pandemic forcing the teaching and learning process to migrate to the online mode, the education system has faced an upheaval like never before. This has posed several challenges to teachers and students in India. V. Madhurima and Gurumurthy Kasinathan discuss the challenges and possible solutions in a conversation moderated by…
2020
Working closely with the trade unions All India Gig Workers Union & Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers, and the civil society organisations Aapti Institute, the Centre for Internet and Society, Tandem Research and TWN Trust, IT for Change co-drafted an input from the standpoint of platform and gig workers' rights for the…
2020
The Political Economy of Data
Data and data governance are hotly contested issues in the 21st century. Typically, they have been perceived as questions of policy and political economy. Data is attributed multiple characterizations, one of which is that of a resource. There are…
2020
The digital gender divide has become “a matter of life and death,” in the words of the UN Secretary General in June 2020. Health care information (particularly about COVID-19), education, and economic activity moved online to prevent the spread of the virus. Internet services witnessed a surge in usage between 40 and 100…
2020
IT for Change provided feedback for the EU Consultation for the New Competition Tool and the Digital Services Act Package.
This was followed up with a questionnaire that included our inputs.
The EU proposal for a New Competition Tool is one of the measures aimed at addressing gaps in the current EU competition rules and allowing…
2020
The Covid pandemic has starkly visibilized the underlying inequality and injustice of the global economic paradigm. It has not only exposed the cumulative failings of the neoliberal order, but also testified to the inevitability of crisis and catastrophe inherent to it. IT for Change participated in the project, 'A Digital New Deal: Visions of…
2020
Statement Issued by a Group of Educationists and Social Work Organizations
Concerns
Between lock-downs and relaxations, governments are trying to find the right balance between saving lives and keeping the economy going. A similar balance is essential in education as well. A very small percentage of students are able to connect to online…
2020
Schools and educational institutions have tended to use proprietary software applications: software that is not sold, but ‘licensed’, by the vendor. Here, the institution is only a ‘user’, and neither owns the software nor has any control over it. Over the last decade, however, the Indian public school and higher education systems have made…