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Imposition of wider restrictions on technology exports to the other

India joins the regime at a time when export regulation of dual-use technology items have become increasingly complex.

Current discussions around the macroeconomic impacts of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) and its effects on the future of work tend to be sensationalist. Unlike previous waves of automation, GenAI has the capacity to affect tasks and professions of capital holders—or white-collar workers—as well as blue-collar workers—and can also contribute to a widening of the gender gap. Capital holders must strengthen the human aspects of work

In the biomedical field, laboratories must ensure biosafety while managing pathogens and microorganisms in order to protect personnel and the broader community against potential leaks and lab-acquired infections. Global standards provide a roadmap for the biosafety of laboratories, underscoring the importance of their design and equipment, personnel training, waste management, and communication in preventing potential biohazards from breaching co

No amount of advanced technology can compensate for low morale and training, weak command, poor tactics and strategy

Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Global South is being threatened by the mounting challenges facing developing countries due to the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic and the prolonged Russia-Ukraine war, and receding aid from traditional donor countries. As the achievement of the SDGs remains more relevant than ever, this brief proposes the creation of a Global South Development Assistance Committee (D

This brief examines the literacy landscape in India between 1987 and 2017, focusing on the gender gap in four age cohorts: children, youth, working-age adults, and the elderly. It finds that the gender gap in literacy has shrunk substantially for children and youth, but the gap for older adults and the elderly has seen little improvement. A state-level analysis of the gap reveals the same trend for most Indian states. The brief offers recommendat

Growing economic protectionism and recurrent geo-economic and geo-political tensions in recent years are testing the resilience of the global economic order. Erstwhile proponents of globalisation such as the United States and the European Union are themselves recoiling from the global value chains that are over-reliant on China. As the localisation of goods and services has become more critical, it calls to question the viability of a globalised

MIRV is a complex technology, and India’s test this week puts it among a small group of countries that have managed to develop it.

The rapid uptake of artificial intelligence (AI) in the military in the past couple decades has been accompanied by a slow but gradual build-up in attempts to understand how these AI systems work to achieve better results in military operations. The idea behind what is called ‘eXplainable AI’ (XAI), and the technologies driving it, are a manifestation of this trend. The question, however, is if XAI in its current form is the solution

The impact of technological changes on nuclear risks needs to be addressed much more directly.

Today, world powers are debating a regime to regulate outer Space activities. India cannot let itself be left out of any Space regime as happened over nuclear weapons. In order to be heard in the discussions of any new rule-making effort, India needs to demonstrate its capabilities in Space research and technology, something that the Mangalyaan amply did.

The presence of almost nine million Indian nationals in the Gulf region makes India a key source of human capital for the six GCC nations. The majority of these Indians are blue-collar workers engaged in low-paying jobs. As countries like the United Arab Emirates (UAE) move up the technology ladder, they are increasingly seeking workers with specific, certified skills. This report outlines a pilot project for the mapping, harmonisation and accred

How can access, equity, equality, and technology shape maternal health in India and South Africa?

This brief explores four scenarios of climate action for India using a systems dynamics model called the Energy Policy Simulator for India. It investigates policy trade-offs and co-benefits and estimates the costs of climate action. It finds that deep decarbonisation in the Indian economy is possible while also boosting jobs and GDP and avoiding millions of premature deaths due to harmful air pollution. The low-carbon transition will require mass

The prime minister has shown a refreshing approach towards Indian agriculture, but for the real challenges to be surmounted he needs a massive dose of digital technology in all part of the value chain.

For long we have been fed lies. Mumbai has no scarcity of houses and the key to the truth lies in using digital technology to unlock the city's housing potential.

The coordinated serial bombings in Mumbai on July 13, 2011, have raised serious questions about India's counter-terrorism (CT) policies which rely more on technology enablers and not as much on robust intelligence gathering and analysis at the local as well as national level.

Developing national digital strategies has become crucial for all countries, especially for developing nations. African countries, in particular, must find a niche in the global digital economy to accelerate inclusive social and economic development using technology. This brief compares the national digital strategies of 17 African countries and analyses them based on the typology of the relationship between state and society in the context of th

When comparing the current geopolitical landscape of Europe to the circumstances in the years following NATO’s establishment, it becomes apparent that very little has changed.

Biological weapons can come from naturally occurring microbes and viruses; but innovations in genomic editing are opening up new, potentially more threatening avenues for their development. These innovations can cause or spread disease or resist known therapeutic approaches. Addressing such threats of biowarfare requires obtaining reliable and informative taxonomies for the pathogens and timely and effective responses. This, in turn, calls for co

India remains an essential anchor in the Indo-Pacific

Emerging technologies have the potential to reshape our world. These innovations, also called disruptive technologies, have started to seep into the area of finding solutions for mobility. Is existing infrastructure prepared for such technological advancements? These and related themes were discussed in a roundtable organised by Observer Research Foundation (ORF) on 8 February 2016. The roundtable, Urban Transportation and Disruptive Technologies

A nuclear expert has said Article IV of the NPT, which allows signatory countries to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, offers nations enough leeway to engage in weapon development in the absence of a comprehensive inspection mechanism and enforceable sanctions.

The world is experiencing a crucial shift; a new industrial revolution. This time, the colour is green, and the aim is a cleaner, more livable world for future generations. This industrial revolution will require unprecedented access to critical minerals like graphite, cobalt, lithium, and copper, used for some of the most advanced technologies of our time. Many of these minerals are scattered around the globe, and states that do not have the nat

What India needs badly is FDI with it technology transfer and hopefully that would come after Obama's India visit. The inflows have already raised India's reserves to $322 billion recently. Also, the stock market has been on the roll before and after Obama's visit, though because of reasons other than the visit.

This brief analyses the impact of the Christchurch Call to Action, issued to gather countries and technology companies to stop the use of the internet for disseminating violent extremist content. The Call was the result of a summit organised shortly after a terrorist attack in New Zealand in March 2019. This brief finds that the Call lacks clear conceptual definitions and is singularly focused on social media platforms. It also raises questions a

Over the last 30 years, digital innovation has been met with vacillating opinions on whether technology is emancipatory or tends to benefit those with political and/or economic power. In the context of innovations in AI in the early 2020s, this brief tackles the question: In a digital age, what is new in who exercises power over whom? It focuses on the power of States in relation to both citizens and territory, and outlines four areas where funda

पाणबुडी निर्मितीसाठी भारताने सर्व अडथळ्यांवर मात करणे आवश्यक आहे. देशहिताच्या दृष्टिकोनातून P75(I) या कार्यक्रमात संस्थात्मक पातळीवर पुरेसे प्रयत्न करणे आवश्यक आहे.

Africa is experiencing a food crisis on an unprecedented scale. More than 150 million people in the continent are anticipated to be in danger of increased levels of hunger in the immediate future because of the impacts of the conflict in Ukraine, compounded by climate-related variability and extremes, economic slowdowns, and the lingering consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Within this context, social and gender disparities are increasing, wit

Trump 2.0 has given India-US ties a strategic uplift

There needs to be a technology acquisition drive to military modernisation plans.

What are India's options to make Space Based Solar Power a real viable option given the cost factor and technology? Can the governments and the private sectors of both India and the US make serious commitments to take the first step towards R&D investment on SBSP?

Advances in technology, the shifting sands of the global nuclear energy market, and the extant standards and practices surrounding the monitoring of radioactive materials raise important questions about the future of nuclear security. Technological advancements have enabled the retrieval of radioactive materials from unconventional sources and made fuel fabrication easier. The emergence of new players in the nuclear energy market also flags conce

Digital financial services have benefits but pose privacy risks that harm consumers, merchants, markets, and nations alike. Some payments systems in India suffer from vulnerabilities because they were not prospectively designed on the basis of the ‘privacy by design’ principle. At the back-end, the centralised storage of data is risky. At the front-end, faulty capture devices enable data misuse. Across the middle mile, data is transmitted wit

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, there has been a surge in cases of online child sexual abuse and exploitation (OCSAE) in many parts of the world. This brief discusses the cases of India and Australia. It examines their efforts to combat the increased incidence of OCSAE resulting from greater use of the internet as movement was restricted in response to the pandemic. The brief focuses on India and Australia as bo

Japanese are leaders in global technology dealing with energy efficiency and energy savings. As a result, Japan has lowest energy intensity amongst all countries. This situation was brought about in a dramatic change after the 1974 oil shock.

As part of this effort, the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) launched a report, Health Equity and Inclusion in Action, which seeks to examine the ways different health initiatives in six countries across Asia and Africa are exploring to address this complex problem. The report, created by the ORF in collaboration with Gilead Sciences who commissioned it, examines case studies from Bangladesh, India, Morocco, Rwanda, South Africa and Vietnam to

Quantum computing (QC) forms one of the cornerstones of emerging technologies as we know them today. The technology has seen rapid progress over the years, but practical hurdles remain. The recent boom in Artificial Intelligence and the corresponding boost it has provided to classical algorithms also presents an additional hurdle for quantum algorithms. Countries like the United States, China, and Canada have made significant strides in QC and ha

The Aadhar project remains complex - a herculean task. The UK government shelved its identity card project because it was untested and the technology not secure, and because of the risks to the safety and security of citizens. With India in the midst of an election, it remains to be seen what will happen when a new government is formed,

The electric two-wheeler segment represents a unique opportunity for India to become a global leader in the green technology space. The growth of this segment in the country is being driven by strong policy support, combined with homegrown engineering and innovation. However, the industry has yet to fully harness the global electric vehicle (EV) opportunity, and policy uncertainties are impeding innovation and investment. This brief makes a case

This brief examines the reciprocal relationship between science fiction and real-world technological, geopolitical, and policy developments throughout the 20th century and into the 21st. Beginning in the 1940s, the analysis explores how the genre has evolved amid historical events such as the World Wars and the Cold War, and the rise of digital technology. The brief gives particular attention to the role of science fiction during periods of criti

The 2024 advisory opinion issued by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), recognising GHG emissions as marine pollution, marks a pivotal intersection in maritime and climate governance. The opinion, while non-binding, establishes legal obligations for states to mitigate climate-induced marine impacts, including acidification, warming, and sea-level rise. It emphasises due diligence, transboundary impact assessments, and adher

The Observer Research Foundation (ORF), India and the Stanley Foundation, USA co-hosted an international workshop on climate change on February 25-27, 2014 in New Delhi. The central objective of the workshop was to unbundle the different policy responses resulting from the multilateral negotiations thus far and their impact upon the evolution of existing and future multilateral frameworks. This Policy Brief aims to capture some of the salient per

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly proliferating the healthcare landscape and has immense promise for improving health outcomes in a resource-constrained setting like India. With emerging technology still finding its footing in the healthcare industry in the country, there are systemic roadblocks to hurdle before AI can be made transformative up to the last mile of public health. AI also carries immense challenges for India’s mostly t