TRAI has released a consultation paper seeking the views of stakeholders on issues related to cloud computing, such as security, service equality and regulatory frameworks on 10 June. This has been done to get the industry and all stakeholders to start working towards the issues raised by Department of Telecom. The last date for responses is the 22nd.
The authority has initiated this consultation for Cloud Service Providers to submit to the territorial jurisdiction of India for offering lawful access to information. This is being done to come up with effective guidelines for CSPs.
TRAI has also sought views on systems, processes and policies that are needed to form a governance framework in cloud, especially if it is hosted in a different country. This is imperative as laws of the user’s country may not allow disclosure/transfer of certain information across borders.
The paper said, “What is your view on providing license or registration to CSPs so as to subject them to the obligations thereunder? Please comment with justification.” In the field of IT, cloud computing accounted for about one-third of the total expenditure.
Huge verticals in India like retail, manufacturing, railways, manufacturing, banking, healthcare and education have resorted to cloud computing for their on-premise applications. The entire market in this field in India is worth about $1.08 billion, with manufacturing and government sectors being the largest contributors.
The paper also asked for views on how the government can promote this in e-governance projects and establish data centers to boost Digital India and smart cities initiatives.
These pre-regulatory actions are an effort by the government to push the main centers of PM Modi’s campaigns such as ‘Digital India’, ‘Make in India’ and ‘Smart Cities initiative’, etc. The efforts in these areas have been very result oriented and as a result, foreign investments have been breaking all bounds.
Source: TRAI.
