Analysis

This working paper is the first in a series of papers that will explore the governance of Digital Communication Networks (DCNs).  DCNs have been defined in the paper as composite entities consisting of: Capability: Internet-based products/services that enable instantaneous low-cost or free communication across geographic, social, and cultural boundaries. This...

Read the full edition and subscribe here Matsyanyaaya #1: High-Tech Self-Sufficiency is a Delusion — Pranay Kotasthane (An edited version of this article first appeared in Times of India Plus on 22nd June 2021) The near-daily cadence of reports highlighting China’s growing technology prowess has set the cat among the pigeons in many democracies....

This is an excerpt from Edition 45 of MisDisMal-Information For the complete edition, go to: Of crisis disciplines, breaking and fixing algorithms and democracies – MisDisMal-Information (substack.com) In this edition The impact of digital communication networks on collective behaviour as a ‘crisis discipline’. The idea of ruining and fixing personal algorithms. Exporting...

Read the full edition and subscribe here Competitive Advantage: Everyone Wants to DARPA — Pranay Kotasthane Japan. The UK. Germany. Even the US. These countries are now attempting their own versions of the original Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The success of DARPA’s 2013 grant to Moderna for using m-RNA...

This article was first published in The Hindu Business Line. Views are personal. While e-commerce is still in a nascent stage in India, it has been a key driver for growth. It has laid the foundation for India to adopt technology and withstand the effects of a global pandemic As...

This is an excerpt from Edition 44 of MisDisMal-Information For the complete edition, go to: Of Unbundling social media, fake news, importing conspiracies – MisDisMal-Information (substack.com) In this edition Various proposals to ‘unbundle’ social media platform features. Fake engagement and its negative externalities … Meanwhile, in India – Twitter’s travails, Conspiracy theories,...

This is an excerpt from Edition 43 of MisDisMal-Information For the complete edition, go to: Of the many influences of influence – MisDisMal-Information (substack.com) The influence of Influence This was prompted by recent investigations on influence operations from India (DFRLabs -covered in 42) and Pakistan (Graphika Labs). I’ve divided the section into 3 parts:...

Read the full edition and subscribe here Cyberpolitik #1: China’s actions create common ground for cooperation — Aditya Pareek China does not shrink from using asymmetric means to achieve its political and geostrategic goals. Cybersecurity is an important emergent asymmetric domain where Chinese, North Korean and Russian grey zone activities have...

This is an excerpt from Edition 41 of MisDisMal-Information For the complete edition, go to: Of Spaghetti on the wall, one nation one internet, fact(un)checked – MisDisMal-Information Newsletter (substack.com) Not spaghetti on the wall In a study titled ‘Combining interventions to reduce the spread of viral misinformation’, a team comprising Joseph B. Bak-Coleman, Ian Kennedy,...

India Policy Watch: Radically Networked Succour Insights on burning policy issues in India — Pranay Kotasthane When the going gets tough, we become desperate for signs of hope. Unfortunately, the union government has inspired no such thing. It has instead opted for image management over accepting responsibility, complacency over taking...