In the current era, data is akin to oil, the fuel that is driving the world. And nowadays, India is making a revolutionary move by controlling the data pipeline. The Indian government has recently pivoted towards Zoho, a homegrown software giant. This groundbreaking innovation embodies more than a mere preference for local software vendors. It portrays a fundamental shift in the way the world’s most populous country now views digital sovereignty. And not to forget, that its implications extend beyond India’s borders.
Well, for decades, India has relied on American tech giants like Google and Microsoft for their digital infrastructure. Undoubtedly, these companies have enhanced India’s digital position, but they also come with a hidden cost – data navigating across servers in foreign jurisdictions and being subject to international laws like the US Cloud Act that drive access to data stored at any location in the world.
We should also consider the fact that recent data breach scandals and geopolitical tensions have greatly exposed the vulnerability of this infrastructure. Our national security stands at a constant risk with such transfer of critical government and citizen data to foreign-controlled systems. India’s Zoho is a direct solution to this looming issue.
Why Zoho?
Zoho Corporation was founded by Sridhar Vembu in 1996 and since then, the organisation has built over 50 applications serving more than 80 million users globally. In contrast to its Silicon Valley counterparts, Zoho has remained bootstrapped, and profitable along with being debt-free, something which is a rare thing in today’s venture capital driven economy.
The best thing is that Zoho has maintained its position as a leader in maintaining data privacy. With data centers in Indian locations, it has given Indian clients the option to keep their data within national boundaries. No doubt that the brand is designed by keeping data sovereignty in mind.
India pushing Zoho is part of a broader strategy for digital independence. This strategy includes powerful initiatives like the UPI payment systems, India Stack, and Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC). All these programs collectively aim to build a self-dependent digital infrastructure where sensitive data is not vulnerable for compromise in foreign corporations.
This movement is also a threat to the current tech monoculture as now we have homegrown solutions standing tall against dominant platforms that dismiss alternative companies by labeling them as impractical or inferior.
The global effect
If India succeeds with its digital independence initiative with the magnanimous Zoho, then it will inspire other nations across Asia, Africa, and Latin America to tackle their concerns about data sovereignty. Countries that lack the technical capacity of India to cultivate a homegrown solution can import our digital services. This would lead to lesser dependency on world tech giants and enhanced safety of national data.
India cannot ignore the challenges within. The complete transition of government departments from entrenched systems is subject to enormous invisible resistance and retraining of the workforce. Zoho must continue innovating to sync with the integrations and features expected by enterprises.
India accepting Zoho signifies the truth that sovereignty mandates homegrown infrastructure. With the government centralisation of data, controlling it is no less than an integral statecraft.
