CIPOD JNU Lecture on Digital sovereignty and geopolitics - which route for India? by Ingrid Schneider | 25 January at 11 am

Jawaharlal Nehru University

School of International Studies

Centre for International Politics, Organization and Disarmament (CIPOD)

Cordially invites all for a seminar

by

Ingrid Schneider (Professor in Department of Informatics, Universität Hamburg)

On

Digital sovereignty and geopolitics: Which route for India?

CHAIR: Santana Khanikar, Political Geography, CIPOD

25 January 2023 (Wednesday)

11 am – 1 pm

Room No. 344, SIS- II, JNU

Abstract: Only 20 years ago, the internet was perceived as a borderless, open "cyberspace". At present, however, the internet seems to get fragmented and may even turn into a "splinternet". The US-China rivalry plays out by creating techno-political spheres of interest. The US is dominant with regards to the GAFAM platforms (Google/Alphabet, Apple, Facebook/Meta, Amazon, Microsoft), and pursues mostly a libertarian, hands-off approach to regulation. In international trade agreements, the US tries to imprint its "free flow of data" attitude upon other states, at the advantage of its own corporations. China has created the "Great Chinese Firewall" and is exercising its power outwards by infrastructural projects and standard setting. Europe portrays itself as a "regulatory superpower" and wants to path a "third way" to the US-China rivalry. According to the narrative of the "Brussels effect" (Anu Bradford), the EU's GDPR and other regulations have become a gold standard and provoke a "race to the top" in terms of regulation. Which way is India choosing in these struggles for digital sovereignty and possibly domination?