Development and Democracy

The current AI innovation paradigm is driven by large-scale extraction and (mis)appropriation of creative and cultural resources into proprietary AI systems. As AI systems increasingly mediate cultural production and information access, questions of who controls these knowledge infrastructures have become increasingly urgent. These developments…

Current debates in the AI context turn to prevailing Intellectual Property (IP) frameworks and their applicability to the AI moment. Yet, this only intensifies the crisis of the knowledge commons. As experts have noted, on the one hand, copyright frameworks and their ‘fair use’ exemptions may not be fit-for-purpose to deal with questions of…

IT for Change submitted its feedback/comments on the draft amendment to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 ("IT Rules") relating to synthetically generated information released by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. Our submission highlighted two key issues of the…

IT for Change is celebrating a critical milestone: 25 years of imagining and building a just and equitable digital world.

From feminist engagements with the digital economy to pioneering work on technology in education, community informatics, and global policy advocacy, IT for Change’s work has consistently challenged dominant digital…

Anita Gurumurthy, Nandini Chami and Rudraksh Lakra authored a policy brief on "Designing an effective data-sharing framework for AgriStack". The brief outlines a binding, sector-specific data-sharing framework for agricultural data systems. It addresses both personal and non-personal data governance issues and calls for strong safeguards around…

IT for Change joined with Privacy International, Human Rights Watch, Derechos Digitales, TEDIC in a group of more than 30 civil society organisations and labour unions in endorsing the call for the International Labour Organization (ILO) to adopt a binding Convention supplemented by a Recommendation to secure decent work in the platform economy…

In April 2024, IT for Change responded to an online call for submissions titled ‘How can the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) better support countries in addressing governance of agrifood systems transformation…

The Global Digital Justice Forum (GDJF) welcomes and commends the recent joint statement issued on 26 February by the Presidents of Chile, Spain, Brazil, Colombia, and Uruguay, titled ‘Commitment to Democracy and Global Governance’. This landmark declaration recognizes the urgent need for “joint actions to address…

In August 2024, IT for Change responded to the Office of the Secretary-General's Envoy on Technology's AI Opportunity Scan. The scan was meant to gather respondents' expectations for AI’s positive impact in terms of scientific breakthroughs, economic activities and the SDGs. The survey asked only about possible positive implications of AI.…

On September 26, 2024, IT for Change and FIAN International organized a briefing for the Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights on the implications of digitalization on these rights. We invited our partners Third World Network, TNI, Medicus Mundi and GI-ESCR.

We helped provide an overview of the imperative of acting to…