Enterprise technology and Information Technology (IT) businesses in India have been the target of numerous regulations. When it just seems like one regulation is out the door, another one takes it place, restricting the movement and growth of the enterprise tech Industry. These regulations are especially hard on start-ups because their resources are limited to begin with, and innovating becomes close to impossible with all the rules in place.
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The current Indian Government has recently been vocal about and seemingly aware of the fact that the Indian IT industry suffers from a number of restrictive regulations.
Big push for tech platforms offering map-based services
The current Indian Government has recently been vocal about and seemingly aware of the fact that the Indian IT and enterprise tech industry suffers from a number of restrictive regulations.
The latest updates come regarding geospatial data. Regulations around this data are set to be more liberalised and freely available for use in innovation drives by small and big technology and enterprise tech companies.
Furthermore, the existing guidelines around map technology development is set to be revised which will directly benefit Indian enterprise tech companies.
Start-ups offering location-based services in key sectors including e-commerce, agriculture, and the construction industry will benefit from the freeing up of Geospatial data.
The government is recognizing and encouraging the use of Geospatial data to drive innovation and unlock economic growth.
This move will enable Indian small companies and start-ups in enterprise tech to develop domestic modern mapping technologies instead of relying on mapping technologies and services from outside the country.
Big Tech regulatory updates
The Central Government recently shared regulatory updates around rules governing Big Tech companies and enterprise tech giants like Facebook, digital news organisations, and OTT platforms.
To simplify things, big tech companies like Facebook are now responsible for keeping a tab of posts created on their platform. They are also liable to not only determine and verify the ‘originator’ of a piece of content, virtually going beyond post engagement to its very first appearance. What this means is, start-ups that are content authors and creators for platforms like Facebook whether for marketing or outreach efforts, need to be vigilant of what they are putting up. This is because social media networks are being forced to break their own data encryption and privacy guidelines to share content origination information to the government.
Typically, businesses in the Internet ecosystem fall under this compliance. Content churned out by them is under risk of being taken down.
Small internet firms are under risk of suffering from these regulations mainly because they cannot afford to engage in court battles or challenge the government. Enterprise Tech start-ups with limited resources or without the necessary political affiliations need to be wary around these regulations.
What’s in it for me?
The two big regulatory and compliance updates in enterprise tech will affect technology start-ups. Start-ups in logistics and urban transport like ride sharing platforms, whether public or private, can now make maps easily without the need for approvals, security clearances, or even to obtain licenses needed for the manipulation of geospatial data.
This is a big push for start-ups in this sector.
In terms of content, start-ups relying on online content like videos need to exercise caution because it will be easier to hold the firm responsible. The umbrella of protection around data encryption and privacy will no longer be a saving grace for start-ups using big tech platforms like Facebook, and Netflix. Small digital media and production houses need to familiarise with ‘Intermediary guidelines and the Digital Media Ethic code’ recently released by the government.
