What can the EU learn from India on tech policy?

Описание: Europe's heavy-handed approach to tech regulation is backfiring, fueling transatlantic disputes and stifling the very innovation it needs to compete. We explore India's "Third Way" as a strategic escape route: a smarter model that moves beyond the pitfalls of America's hands-off past and Europe's prescriptive present.

More info: https://ecdpm.org/work/how-india-stac...

Episode 3 of 'Europolis: the Global Europe podcast' features an interview between Gautam Kamath and Rahul Matthan, one of India's leading technology lawyers and a key figure behind India's data protection framework within its digital public infrastructure. The episode explores India's decade-long experience in digitising its economy, offering valuable lessons for Europe's own digital future.

Rahul introduces "the third way," which proposes embedding regulatory principles directly into technology architecture and infrastructure. This approach contrasts with the US's "no regulation" laissez-faire internet evolution, where the private sector dictates rules, and Europe's more prescriptive regulatory approach, which, while leading globally, can sometimes lead to "too much regulation" and stifle innovation.

The India Stack is presented as a remarkable manifestation of techno-legal regulation, demonstrating its application at a population scale to implement principles directly into infrastructure, thereby offering an effective way of enforcement. This approach ensures that all participants on the infrastructure comply with regulations by default.

A crucial piece of advice for European policymakers is the need to become "technologically skilled". This doesn't mean regulators need to code or build systems, but they must deeply understand technology to ensure that the protocols being built reflect legislative policy principles. This thinking needs to permeate Brussels.

Both the EU and India share fundamental concerns about maintaining sovereignty and control over their digital ecosystems, despite potentially different immediate policy focus areas. This shared interest presents a significant opportunity for collaboration on developing interoperable frameworks and aligning policy objectives. India's experience offers valuable lessons for Europe's emerging Euro Stack initiative