India has leadership role to play in global tech regulations: Pichai

Google is “engaging constructively” with the Indian government in lieu of the country’s upcoming tech regulations, chief executive Sundar Pichai said on Monday. Speaking at the ‘Google For India’ conference in New Delhi, Pichai added that India stands at “an important moment in time” with regards to framing the right set of tech laws. 

“India has a leadership role to play here, given the scale and technology leadership it will have. It’s important to make sure that you put in safeguards for people, and are creating innovative frameworks so that companies can innovate on top of certainty in the legal framework,” Pichai said. 

Pichai’s statement came in light of Union information technology (IT) minister Ashwini Vaishnaw’s statement on the country’s upcoming set of tech regulations. In a chat with Pichai, Vaishnaw said, “Just as technology offers plenty of opportunities, it also offers challenges. Given that the cost of data is so low, and tech adoption is so rapid — in such a scenario, how do we create an equivalent regulatory structure that in tune with the times, matches India’s needs, and are based on our realities?” 

Vaishnaw added that the government is in process of creating a “comprehensive and equal regulatory framework,” for which “three horizontals” are being created — which include the Draft Telecom Bill, Draft Digital Personal Data Privacy Bill, and the upcoming Digital India Act. 

According to Vaishnaw, while the first two are expected to be tabled and passed by the Parliament “by July or August”, the Digital India Act is also expected “within the next 14 to 16 months”. 

On top of the regulations, Pichai also highlighted how products in India will be increasingly built for the world. 

As examples, he cited the examples of Google Pay unified payments interface (UPI) service, and Google’s artificial intelligence-driven flood management and mitigation platform. “After having built for India, we are now using the same tool for the rest of the world, starting with Bangladesh,” the top executive added. 

“India will be a great export economy, and would benefit from an open and connected internet. Getting that balance right will be important,” Pichai underlined.