<p>The India-European Union Trade and Technology Council (TTC) was launched in April 2022 against the backdrop of increasing geopolitical tensions to expand the diplomatic space for economic and technological collaborations, which is key to a multipolar world order in both parties’ interests. The TTC complements the EU’s TTC with the US and digital partnerships with Japan, Korea, Singapore and Canada. The US and India are part of the US-India Initiative on Critical Emerging Technology (iCET), and the TTC aligns with India’s imperative for strategic autonomy and investment in bilateral relationships that expand India’s options. </p>.<p class="bodytext">The TTC’s working group on ‘Strategic Technologies, Digital Governance and Digital Connectivity’ is particularly relevant to cooperation in open tech. India and the EU have a shared value system in democratic principles like freedom and the rule of law, and open technologies are key to a digital world that is fair, inclusive, reliable and transparent. <br />The wide dissemination of these technologies leads to a culture of experimentation and innovation, driving costs down and contributing to skill development and economic growth. They also hold a geopolitical significance. By providing access to technologies diversified from global supply chain vulnerabilities, open technologies help achieve technological resiliency. </p>.<p class="bodytext">The EU is committed to developing and supporting open technologies. The Open Source Software Strategy and the European Union Public Licence (EUPL) have led to the procurement and use of open-source software by public administrations. The recently announced European Open Source Academy, funded by the European Commission, aims to highlight the strategic value of open technologies to businesses and policymakers. The inaugural Open Source Awards will celebrate the contributions of developers, projects and innovative business models.</p>.<p class="bodytext">While open tech is a broad term encapsulating the freedom to access, modify, use and distribute data, hardware, software and science, there is an urgent need to develop mutually compatible technical standards that would facilitate the deployment of critical technologies. </p>.<p class="bodytext">Technical standards are specifications about how products must be built so they may interconnect for a broader range of commercial applications. Open underlying standards promote interoperability and efficiency between products, competitiveness <br />and choice in the market, as well as a level playing field for all stakeholders. </p>.<p class="bodytext">India would benefit from an open standards collaboration in the India-EU TTC. For one, The US-EU TTC already has a working group specifically dedicated to information sharing, joint initiatives and active collaboration in setting technical standards. The group has effectively advanced international standards for heavy-duty vehicle charging systems, plastics recycling and additive manufacturing. India must ensure that its interests are not left behind.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Secondly, international standard development organisations (SDOs), where most standards governing much of the internet and other critical technologies are developed, tend to have an undue influence of large private tech companies and government agencies, with little participation from non-western nations. </p>.<p class="bodytext">Thirdly, standards are becoming increasingly weaponised by Chinese participants at the SDOs. In 2021, China issued a national plan for technical standards emphasising their role in “building a modern socialist country” and detailing the need for “active participation in international standardisation activities”, with an entire section focused on critical emerging technologies. While it is still unclear how successful Chinese representatives at the SDOs are in skewing the decision-making to their advantage, distrust is increasingly taking hold.</p>.<p class="bodytext">India must seek to balance Chinese influence at the SDOs in partnership with like-minded partners and push for competent, cost-effective and reliable open standards. Early-stage critical tech research should not be bound by standards that are set top-down and at the mercy of geopolitical pressures without the full understanding and knowledge of the base technology itself. </p>.<p class="bodytext">Finally, interoperability between India’s and the EU’s digital public infrastructures is another area where open standards, along with knowledge transfer, if not technology transfer, from India to the EU, could mutually benefit the partnership while establishing India’s soft power. </p>.<p class="bodytext">The India-EU relationship has much room for economic and strategic growth. While the EU is India’s largest trading partner, accounting for €124 billion worth of trade in goods in 2023, India is only the EU’s 9th largest partner. The Roadmap to 2025 launched in 2020 at the India-EU Summit has largely been underwhelming. More robust engagements between the partners are needed to enhance the relationship. The India-EU TTC must be expanded in scope and ambition to deepen the India-EU partnership. On the technological front, collaboration in developing open standards that will benefit both partners and the global community is an urgent need. The TTC must go beyond government participation and engage with the private sector to open up funding, expertise and projects in this regard. </p>.<p class="bodytext">(The writer is a research analyst with the High-Tech Geopolitics Programme at the Takshashila Institution, Bengaluru)</p>
<p>The India-European Union Trade and Technology Council (TTC) was launched in April 2022 against the backdrop of increasing geopolitical tensions to expand the diplomatic space for economic and technological collaborations, which is key to a multipolar world order in both parties’ interests. The TTC complements the EU’s TTC with the US and digital partnerships with Japan, Korea, Singapore and Canada. The US and India are part of the US-India Initiative on Critical Emerging Technology (iCET), and the TTC aligns with India’s imperative for strategic autonomy and investment in bilateral relationships that expand India’s options. </p>.<p class="bodytext">The TTC’s working group on ‘Strategic Technologies, Digital Governance and Digital Connectivity’ is particularly relevant to cooperation in open tech. India and the EU have a shared value system in democratic principles like freedom and the rule of law, and open technologies are key to a digital world that is fair, inclusive, reliable and transparent. <br />The wide dissemination of these technologies leads to a culture of experimentation and innovation, driving costs down and contributing to skill development and economic growth. They also hold a geopolitical significance. By providing access to technologies diversified from global supply chain vulnerabilities, open technologies help achieve technological resiliency. </p>.<p class="bodytext">The EU is committed to developing and supporting open technologies. The Open Source Software Strategy and the European Union Public Licence (EUPL) have led to the procurement and use of open-source software by public administrations. The recently announced European Open Source Academy, funded by the European Commission, aims to highlight the strategic value of open technologies to businesses and policymakers. The inaugural Open Source Awards will celebrate the contributions of developers, projects and innovative business models.</p>.<p class="bodytext">While open tech is a broad term encapsulating the freedom to access, modify, use and distribute data, hardware, software and science, there is an urgent need to develop mutually compatible technical standards that would facilitate the deployment of critical technologies. </p>.<p class="bodytext">Technical standards are specifications about how products must be built so they may interconnect for a broader range of commercial applications. Open underlying standards promote interoperability and efficiency between products, competitiveness <br />and choice in the market, as well as a level playing field for all stakeholders. </p>.<p class="bodytext">India would benefit from an open standards collaboration in the India-EU TTC. For one, The US-EU TTC already has a working group specifically dedicated to information sharing, joint initiatives and active collaboration in setting technical standards. The group has effectively advanced international standards for heavy-duty vehicle charging systems, plastics recycling and additive manufacturing. India must ensure that its interests are not left behind.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Secondly, international standard development organisations (SDOs), where most standards governing much of the internet and other critical technologies are developed, tend to have an undue influence of large private tech companies and government agencies, with little participation from non-western nations. </p>.<p class="bodytext">Thirdly, standards are becoming increasingly weaponised by Chinese participants at the SDOs. In 2021, China issued a national plan for technical standards emphasising their role in “building a modern socialist country” and detailing the need for “active participation in international standardisation activities”, with an entire section focused on critical emerging technologies. While it is still unclear how successful Chinese representatives at the SDOs are in skewing the decision-making to their advantage, distrust is increasingly taking hold.</p>.<p class="bodytext">India must seek to balance Chinese influence at the SDOs in partnership with like-minded partners and push for competent, cost-effective and reliable open standards. Early-stage critical tech research should not be bound by standards that are set top-down and at the mercy of geopolitical pressures without the full understanding and knowledge of the base technology itself. </p>.<p class="bodytext">Finally, interoperability between India’s and the EU’s digital public infrastructures is another area where open standards, along with knowledge transfer, if not technology transfer, from India to the EU, could mutually benefit the partnership while establishing India’s soft power. </p>.<p class="bodytext">The India-EU relationship has much room for economic and strategic growth. While the EU is India’s largest trading partner, accounting for €124 billion worth of trade in goods in 2023, India is only the EU’s 9th largest partner. The Roadmap to 2025 launched in 2020 at the India-EU Summit has largely been underwhelming. More robust engagements between the partners are needed to enhance the relationship. The India-EU TTC must be expanded in scope and ambition to deepen the India-EU partnership. On the technological front, collaboration in developing open standards that will benefit both partners and the global community is an urgent need. The TTC must go beyond government participation and engage with the private sector to open up funding, expertise and projects in this regard. </p>.<p class="bodytext">(The writer is a research analyst with the High-Tech Geopolitics Programme at the Takshashila Institution, Bengaluru)</p>
