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The government is looking to create the National Data Governance Policy as a new national framework for sharing research between startups and academia in an anonymised format.

“To unleash innovation and research by start-ups and academia, a data governance policy will be brought out. This will enable access to anonymised data,” the Budget speech noted.

The Electronics and IT Ministry (MeitY) issued the draft National Data Governance Framework Policy (NDGFM) in May last year, which focused on sharing non-personal data for building a repository of research datasets for the use of startups and academia.

An India Data Management Office (IDMO) will be set up under the Digital India Corporation in MeitY, which will be responsible for formulating a data framework by developing rules, standards, and guidelines under the policy.

“Bringing in the National Data Governance Policy is a game-changer for the research and innovation ecosystem, providing access to non-personal and anonymised data from both government and private entities,” said Ruchir Shukla, MD (India) at cybersecurity firm SafeHouse Tech. “We hope that the government will also consider adding a component of cybersecurity to the policy in order to ensure the safety of internet users, which is a crucial requirement.”