India : The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released a consultation paper on ‘Research and Development (R&D) Incentives in Telecommunication, Broadcasting and IT (ICT) Sectors’ on 22 September 2023. The objective of issuing this consultation paper is to develop a comprehensive ecosystem for R&D promotion in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector of the country, including government and private collaboration to create a self-reliant India and promote exports in the ICT sector. Establish a systematic process to develop a pool of R&D scientists/engineers for development and innovation of ICT products and services with the support of partners.
R&D is playing an important role in today’s world. The R&D initiatives taken over the years have played an important role in developing and implementing new technologies, reshaping the economic system and improving the lives of people through numerous industrial revolutions. It is accepted all over the world that the R&D ecosystem of any country is behind its economic growth and overall progress. Increasing the availability, accessibility and affordability of products and services in any country has a positive impact on the quality of life of citizens. Along with this, R&D and innovation is also important for the self-reliance and security of any country.
India has made remarkable progress in research, development and innovation and has emerged as the top ranked economy in the “Central and South Asia” region. India ranks 40th in Global Innovation Index 2022. There has been a significant increase in the number of intellectual property rights (IPR) being acquired by the country’s residents. Various initiatives taken by the government such as “National Education Policy 2020”, “National Electronics Policy 2019”, “National Digital Communications Policy 2018”, “Make in India”, “Digital India” ”, ”Startup India”, etc. have played a remarkable role in strengthening the R&D ecosystem in the country. Along with this, the recently launched initiatives like “Atmanirbhar Bharat”, “Telecom Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme”, “Digital Communication Innovation Class” have also been encouraging steps in this direction. .
There are certain areas in India’s existing R&D ecosystem in the Information and Communication Technology sector that require further improvement in R&D promotion, learning from international best practices in R&D and their application in India. needed. There is also a need to identify areas where intervention is required through policies and incentives to improve R&D in the ICT sector so that India can emerge as a global leader in this sector. Keeping this in view and in accordance with the TRAI Act 1997, the Authority has set up, on suo motu basis, measures for the planned development of the ICT industry including indigenously developed products and services, with a view to making recommendations to the Government of India on issues related to this important subject. Decided to take forward the issues of encouraging R&D ecosystem in the ICT sector in the country for discussion with the stakeholders.
In this consultation paper prepared on the basis of extensive online discussions and inputs received from various academicians and industry experts including IIT Madras, IIT Kanpur and IIT Hyderabad etc., TRAI has addressed those important issues under three focus areas: “Education and Training System” ‘, ‘Science system’, and ‘Regulatory framework’, which require intervention in India’s existing R&D ecosystem. The third focus area, “Regulatory Framework”, was divided into two parts, “Policies and Programmes”, and “IPR Framework”. Giving full priority to R&D and innovation will create a favorable environment for new entrepreneurs and innovators in the country. In the consultation paper, TRAI has emphasized the need to create a strong R&D ecosystem and has discussed the potential issues that need to be addressed for this.
Innovative technology use and integration is happening at a rapid pace in the telecommunication, broadcasting and IT sectors. The rapidly emerging new trends in these areas include 5G, 6G, Open-RAN, Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence and ML, Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR) and Metaverse, These include Quantum Computing, Cloud Services, Edge Computing, Network Function Virtualization (NFV), Software Defined Networking (SDN), Over-the-Top (OTT), and Hybrid Set Top Box (STB), etc. The consultation paper discussed issues related to government-industry-academia collaboration, commercial exploitation of discovery-research, promotion of private investment, patent approval cycle, IPR protection and IP-based finance etc. and recommended focusing on these emerging trends and Emphasis has been laid on unlocking the full potential of India’s R&D and innovation efforts.
In this consultation paper, TRAI has also taken information about the R&D ecosystem of countries leading in the field of R&D and innovation. These include Israel, Republic of Korea, United States of America, Sweden, Japan, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Finland etc. Learning from international best practices in R&D can be important in achieving India’s goal of becoming a five trillion dollar economy and strengthening its R&D ecosystem.
To seek the views and suggestions from the stakeholders on the consultation paper, it has been placed on TRAI’s website (www.trai.gov.in). Written comments on consultation issues from stakeholders have been invited by 23 October 2023 and counter-comments have been invited by 6 November 2023.
Comments and Counter Comments may be sent electronically by email to advisorit@trai.gov.in with a copy to ja-cadiv@trai.gov.in. For any clarification/information, Mr. Anand Kumar Singh, Consultant (CA, IT & TD) may be contacted on telephone number 91-11-23210990.
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