First Ever Internet of Things Policy Document Released By Indian Govt; Aims for $15B Market In 6 Yrs #IoT

In a move which showcases the seriousness of the ‘Digital India’ vision shared by the Modi government, Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DEITY) has just released nation’s first Internet of Things (IoT) policy document. This draft will act as a framework for the Government to fully implement and execute policies and campaigns pertaining to Internet of Things in India.

This policy document related with IoT framework is part of the broader ‘Digital India’ vision shared by the Modi government immediately after it came to power. A budget of Rs 1 lakh crore has already sanctioned to implement all the future plans under this vision.

As per this policy document, the government envisions to create a market worth $15 billion (Rs 90,000 crore) by 2020.

Some of the highlights of this unique, one of its kind policy document are:

• The number of internet-connected devices in India will increase from 200 million currently to 2.7 billion by 2020.
• Globally, the number of devices which are connected with Internet surpassed the global population in 2011, when 12.5 web connected devices existed, compared with 7 billion people. It is estimated that by 2020, there would 26 billion to 50 billion Internet connected devices. According to an EMC report, Data Universe will expand to 44 Trillion GigaBytes by 2020!
• Some of the proposed plans include development of tools to monitor quality of water flowing in taps and levels in reservoirs; monitor the quality of air present in cities and rural areas; tools to access biological changes in human beings, and then sending health alerts and news to their assigned physicians.
• Proposal to establish ‘International IoT Research Collaboration scheme’ (IIRC); which will collaborate with foreign IoT providers, and develop joint ventures for Indian cities.
• IIRC will allocate 50% of the budget for such futuristic projects, and work on bidding system with tenders being invited from all over the world.
• Setting up of incubation centres titled — National Centre of Excellence in association with Nasscom and other associations. A budget of Rs 100 crore has been benchmarked for these centres, wherein latest gadgets and instruments would be provided for researchers to come up with ideas pertaining to IOT implementation.
• Besides development of smart cities, for which a budget of Rs 7500 crore has already been granted, IoT infrastructure development will also target human resource development for the campaign. The policy has suggested introduction of IoT based curriculum in B.Tech and M.Tech courses, along with introduction of research programs in this field.
• Short terms courses will also be launched by the government to teach and train more people about concepts and ideas of IoT.

You can access this policy document for Internet of Things right here.

Do you believe that with the introduction of an official framework regarding Internet of Things, the Government of India has demonstrated it’s seriousness in implementing their Digital India vision? Or it is just another policy which is all set to get buried in bureaucratic maze, with no accountability for it’s implementation?

Do share your views by commenting right here!