[Answered] The rapid scale and pace of development of technology have radically and disruptively transformed our societies and daily lives. Discuss the challenges that technology poses to the traditional notion of a nation-state.

Ever since the rapid expansion of the internet and its use in the finance sector, there have been instances of rapid and disruptive technologies transforming our society and daily lives. The rise of such technology has posed complex challenges to the polity and governance which has affected the idea of the nation-state. A nation-state is a sovereign state in which government has control over a defined territory and population which shares language, culture, and history.

What are the challenges to the nation-state?

• Cyber attacks: the expansion of the internet in various fields has increased the possibility of terror attacks. The concept of Web3 which is a combination of blockchain, token-based currency, and decentralized internet has led to both actors and non-state actors influencing various dimensions of human life like trade, commerce, health, and education
• Conventional geography boundaries: The virtual world of the internet is not confined to the boundaries of nation-states. The era of high technology has made enforcement of rules difficult when data and information spread at a very fast rate.
• Effect on institutions: Since it is difficult to frame country-specific legislation due to the universal nature of technology state institutions like legislature, judiciary, and executive have been unable to curb the adverse effects of this technological boom.
• New Technologies: The emergence of new technologies has led multinational corporations, non-governmental organizations, and supranational organizations, both legitimate and illegitimate, state and non-state actors to execute their work. They do not have to depend on traditional bureaucratic structures to share data and statistics. For eg, Topographical maps, or Weather related data which used to be produced by public and military institutions, are now available entirely by private non-state actors, such as Apple or Google Maps.
• Big 5: The immense power of the five largest American tech companies Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, and Microsoft is reflected in their extensive use of data and its storage.

Way forward:

• Rules-based global order: There has to be agreement on a principle-based global order for technology to deal with its adoption and enforceability challenges.
• Data privacy law: India urgently needs its data privacy law and data transfer law to regulate the free flow of data and create data sharing ecosystem based on principles of privacy and transparency.

Conclusion:

India as acting chair of G20 this year can guide the nations towards a framing global architecture to regulate deep web, crypto given the risks they pose to the financial ecosystem of the world.