With two of largest economies in the world – the European Union and China – developing their own digital economy frameworks and governance systems and seeking to export those to their respective spheres of influence, America and India risk being isolated. With its comprehensive digital economy regulatory regime, including limits on cross border data flows, onerous privacy rules, and aggressive antitrust enforcement directed at U.S. internet companies, the EU is seeking to export its digital governance model globally. China is doing the same. Its strategy of a protected domestic market, coupled with a state that is a massive provider of data to Chinese IT firms, being exported through its digital silk road initiative.
As Rob Atkinson and Pradeep Mehta write for Global Trade Magazine, it is time for a high-level digital alliance between India and the United States. Given their past and present partnership, India and the United States are not only naturally placed to develop a shared global vision for digital economy but are also equally equipped to present an optimal alternative to the Chinese or EU approaches.
