Uncertain steps towards an E-commerce policy

India recently unveiled a second draft of its ‘E-commerce Policy’, for feedback from the public. Although one may laud the attempt to put a long-term lens on complex and uncharted technology-market issues through such a policy, the draft fails at locating the drivers of innovation and value generation within the digital space. Specifically, it draws a direct correlation between access to data and the rate of innovation and success in the digital economy. However, while data is valuable, it is not the foundational catalyst for digital innovation.

Rather, innovation stems from the provision of incentives – a fundamental premise of the many intellectual property (IP) frameworks that safeguard the value generated by innovation the world over. IP rights are granted to innovators for their creations, allowing them to commercialise their work without fear of misappropriation.