'Digital Democracy in India' is our ongoing attempt to examine the emergence of a new governance paradigm in the country, characterized by the rise of ‘governance by networks’ and ‘rule by data’, from the standpoint of inclusive citizenship. We are primarily concerned with tracing critical directions for institutional overhaul, so that the interests of citizens at the margins are preserved and promoted in the transition to digitally-mediated service delivery and public decision making.
We have produced issue-briefs and also initiated a public dialogue in this area. A critical milestone was the workshop we convened in November 2016, on evolving a roadmap for ‘Democratic Accountability in the Digital Age'. The workshop was a starting point in being able to bring together a coalition of committed and invested individuals, and begin a comprehensive dialogue about a framework for democratic accountability in the digital age.
The 'Charter on Democratic Accountability in the Digital Age' was our next step to distill the critical principles identified at the workshop. It was refined through a follow-up round table titled 'Towards concerted action on democratic accountability in the digital age' in March 2017.
In 2017-18, we seek to improve the charter further, by taking it to a wider constituency of traditional development organisations, digital rights activists, academics and lawyers in the country and use it as a springboard for stepping up advocacy efforts to overcome new and emerging exclusions in Digital India.
Research briefs
Resources from workshop- ‘Democratic Accountability in the Digital Age' (November 2016)
Videos I FAQs on digital governance in India I Report of proceedings
Resources from round table - 'Towards concerted action on democratic accountability in the digital age' (March 2017)
Presentation I Report of proceedings
Charter- 'Democratic Accountability in the Digital Age'
Abridged Version I Full draft with comments