Governing India's Digital Revolution

Grand Tamasha

This week, Grand Tamasha kicks off its eleventh season with a special return guest to the podcast. The Third Way: India’s Revolutionary Approach to Data Governance is an important new book by the lawyer-scholar-and-author Rahul Matthan. Rahul is a partner at the law firm Trilegal, where he heads their technology practice. Over the past several years, he has worked closely with the Government of India, most recently as DPI advisor to the Ministry of Finance during India’s G20 presidency.

Rahul joins Milan on the show this week to discuss India’s unique approach to building digital public infrastructure (DPI)—an ecosystem that can have transformative impact at home but also build partnerships for India abroad. They talk about India’s DPI evolution, India’s unique public-private model, and whether India’s approach can be replicated abroad. Plus, the two discuss how India can mitigate the risks posed by excessive surveillance, privacy breaches, and beneficiary exclusion.

Episode notes:

1. “What the Personal Data Protection Act Means for India (with Rahul Matthan),” Grand Tamasha, Septemner 27, 2023.

2. “Book Discussion: The Third Way: India’s Revolutionary Approach to Data Governance,” Carnegie India Global Technology Summit 2023, December 7, 2023.

3. Rahul Matthan, “Tech policy in India has had a year packed with action,” Mint, December 27, 2023.