What are the challenges on the road to Digital India?

India has a vision of becoming a $5 trillion economy, and realisation of this vision depends on the smooth and sustainable development of Indian cities. Because cities, which occupy only 3 per cent of India’s land and host 34 per cent of country’s population, generate as much as 60 per cent of the country’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product), making them epicentres of the Indian economy

Cities, the epicentres of the Indian economy are administered by Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), alongside national and state governments. Thus making them a major partner in the realisation of the $5 trillion economy vision, for which sustainable and equitable growth of cities is paramount, the absence of which leads to urban poverty, unemployment and growth of slums.
Against this backdrop, digitalisation has emerged as a key component in improving local-level governance and inclusivity using the power of mobile internet as there were around 566 million internet users in the country in 2018. Similarly, a monthly report published by the Department of Telecommunications, Government of India, shows that there were around 1170.10 million telephone connections in India (651.82 million in urban India) by the end of November 2022, out of which 1143.01 million were wireless telephones.
Apart from the benefits, digitisation has also brought along some of the new age challenges which, if not properly addressed, could not only hamper the progress of our country but could also cause great harm to us.

Challenges Digital literacy

A major hurdle in the path of digitalisation is access to internet facilities and the level of digital literacy among the Indian population. As mentioned, the internet has penetrated almost every nook and corner of the country, with over 1.14 billion wireless telephone users. However, the progress of digital literacy is not in tandem with the progress of telephone users.
The National Statistics Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Planning Implementation, defines a digitally literate person as someone who is above the age of 5 years and could use the internet to “find, evaluate and communicate information” via email or social media tools. Going by this definition, only 20.1 per cent of people in India and 33.8 per cent in urban areas could use the internet, says the 75th survey on household social consumption on education in India, conducted from July 2017 to June 2018.
Similarly, the National Family Health Survey – 5 (NFHS) also shows that only 33.3 per cent of women and 57.1 per cent of men between the age of 15 and 49 years have used the internet at least once in their life. While in urban areas, 51.8 per cent of women and 72.5 per cent of men had used the internet at least once in their lifetime.

Data Privacy/ Protection

In a survey conducted by LocalCircles in 2022, six out of 10 citizens reported personal data breaches by their loan service provider. Four out of 10 people said their personal details have been compromised by insurance service providers or banks alone. As per the survey, in the last five years, 59 per cent of people with existing loan services received detailed alternative offers from another firm via call, SMS, WhatsApp and email etc.
Such instances are a cause of concern as they instil fear in people towards digital communication technology and could hamper digitalisation-propelled economic growth. Therefore, personal data security is an urgent need, a need which could not be fulfilled by a two-decade-old Information and Technology (IT) Act, 2000. For instance, Section 43A of the act talks about the accountability of only ‘body corporate’ in case of violation of privacy. Here ‘body corporate’ means a firm, sole proprietorship or other association of individuals engaged in commercial or professional activities. However, it is silent on instances of the breach happening on the part of government agencies or other non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

Cybersecurity Threats

The scope of digitalisation is not only restricted to e-governance but also includes innovative solutions to improve service delivery, including electricity and healthcare systems, which are controlled through the internet. Though it improves the timeliness and efficiency of the service, it also makes them vulnerable to cyber-attacks.
As per a report released by CloudSEK, a cyber security agency, India suffered the highest number of cyber-attacks on the healthcare industry in the Asia-Pacific region, with a massive 29.7 per cent share of all attacks. India came in second place, following USA, with a 7.7 per cent share in all the worldwide attacks on health infrastructure.
The report also highlighted that on May 27 2021, a database, containing vaccination records of over 150 million Indian citizens, was advertised on a private Telegram channel and later sold for $1,000.
Similarly, an annual report of the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), for the year 2021, revealed that the apex agency for computer security reported a total of 14,02,809 cybersecurity incidents, including phishing, virus/ malicious code, ransomware attacks and website intrusion & malware propagation.
All this happened when India was ranked in 10th place, with an overall score of 97.5, in the Global Cybersecurity Index, 2020, published by the International Telecommunication Unit (ITU). In the Asia-pacific region, the country was ranked 4th with a score of 97.49.

Way Forward

A lot of work is being done at the front end by bringing governance to the digital platform, but there hasn’t been much success at the back end in improving digital literacy, which was the third pillar of India’s flagship Digital India Mission. Digital literacy demands a major boost, in the absence of which digitalisation will only be restricted to a few pockets in the country, which goes against the objective of inclusivity, a fundamental principle of digitalisation.
Similarly, a new and improved personal data protection policy is the need of the hour for improved data security and to ensure the accountability of agencies which collect and store consumer data. The move will generate confidence in people towards digitalisation and make them believe that their personal data is safe and secure, and they could take legal action if anyone violates their data privacy. In addition, there should be a proper mechanism to penalise the firms that share or sell the personal data of their consumer without their consent.
When it comes to cyberattacks, India needs to strengthen its existing cybersecurity measures. There are several national-level agencies like CERT-In, National Cyber Coordination Centre (NCCC) and Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), but there needs to be a similar and equally efficient network of organisations at the state and local levels. Apart from that, there needs to be a global-level framework along with international agencies like United Nations and International Telecommunication Union (ITU) because often these cyberattacks are performed by hackers outside the country, and a country’s national law could not be enforced outside of its territory.

A lot of work is being done at the front end by bringing governance to the digital platform, but there hasn’t been much success at the back end in improving digital literacy, which was the third pillar of India’s flagship Digital India Mission. Digital literacy demands a major boost, in the absence of which digitalisation will only be restricted to a few pockets in the country, which goes against the objective of inclusivity, a fundamental principle of digitalisation