Key Findings
- 98.6 percent of respondents agree that India is a digital superpower.
- 97.3 percent want the government to have more control and oversight over the internet.
- 96.9 percent are of the view that digital innovations like the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Aadhaar have improved the lives of the average Indian citizen.
- 48.2 percent believe that the sectors with the highest potential in India are software development and IT services; 39.4 percent see the greatest potential in content creation (e.g., OTT, social media); and 12.4 percent consider hardware development (e.g., semiconductors and electronics) as the future.
- 96.6 percent agree that foreign tech companies and online service providers should abide by Indian data and individual privacy regulations.
- 96.3 percent want the Indian government to demand transparency from Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based platforms. 95 percent are in favour of high-risk AI platforms being subjected to trial mechanisms before being deployed for general use.
- 95.37 percent of respondents report feeling safer online this year than during the first ORF survey in 2022, with women being more likely than men to report this improvement in sentiment.
- Gen-Z youths are most likely to share personal information while using online services.
- 91.6 percent of respondents would be comfortable with the government sharing anonymised data with Indian startups so that they can build tech solutions for defence and security applications.
- The Quad is the preferred partner for digital cooperation; BRICS is the least preferred partner.
The Young India and Tech Survey is grounded in the concept of what is called the ‘digital trilemma’ between individual privacy, national security, and economic development. Young India’s priorities have been made clear.
The 2024 survey reveals that the youth are prioritising economic development and national security over individual privacy. On one hand, the success of DPIs like UPI and the predatory behaviour of Big Tech has driven home the need for transparency and regulation. On the other hand, continued wariness of Chinese technology and interests play a role in shaping security perceptions. This pushback against foreign tech platforms and Chinese security threats have led to a willingness to compromise individual privacy for the good of national security.
India’s rapid digital transformation is characterised by innovative public infrastructure and inclusive technology initiatives. Domestically, Young India has called for greater transparency, regulation, and accountability from the government but is also deeply aware of the challenges that the country faces as it continues to establish itself in the global digital economy.
Introduction
Over the last decade, India has been positioning itself to become a global powerhouse in electronics and information technology (IT). India has been at the forefront of innovation of digital public goods such as the India Stack, the National Digital Health Mission, and the National Data and Analytics Platform. The country also has ambitious goals for its electronics sector and aims to achieve manufacturing worth US$300 billion by 2026.[1] As India emerges as the world’s most populous nation, this revolution is being led by its sizeable young population. However, Young India’s relationship with technology is also fraught with auxiliary considerations, namely, individual privacy, national security, and economic development. These considerations form a Penrose triangle, or the digital trilemma, of which only two conditions may be satisfied at any given point. The furthering of any two of the policy objectives will necessarily come at the cost of the third. This trilemma underpinned the analysis in the 2022 edition of the Young India and Tech Survey and will be expanded upon in the present edition. This iteration attempts to create a trend analysis as a continuation of the previous edition and understand the trilemma in greater depth.
In this report, the authors explore how India’s youth perceive the role of technology in their own lives as well as in the future trajectory of their nation. The analysis uses data collected from a primary survey that investigates the youth’s opinions on matters relating to individual privacy, national sovereignty and security, and economic development, and the interaction of these parameters with each other. It also measures the relative importance given to each of the three considerations of the digital trilemma to identify policy pathways that align with this generation’s priorities.
Read the monograph here.
[1] Ministry of Electronics & IT, Government of India, https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1792189
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