Just as India celebrates the 75th Independence day, it is time to introspect our own approach to professional life and whether we are unconsciously pursuing a path which is negative and self destructive.

Let us remember that our freedom has to be protected by our Constitution. We all consider the Constitution as sacred. But our politicians who are more concerned about their vote banks have successfully corrupted the constitution with “Appeasements” of all kinds and today our Constitution does not support the basic principle of democracy which is “Equality for all”.   Caste and Religion are the basis of all our political decision making and our Constitution supports this discrimination and our Courts uphold the constitution.

Similarly, when it comes to Freedom of Expression and Right to Privacy, our intelligentsia appear to have a misplaced priority that  “Freedom” means license to do what we want. “Duties” appear to have no place in our law and only “Freedom” matters. It appears that “Jungle Raj” is the dispensation that represents “Freedom”.

In pursuing this policy, we are endangering our society’s existence and soon all our concerns for Privacy and Freedom will be drowned in the Jungle Raj. What is happening in Afghanistan is staring at our face. What is currently happening in Afghanistan can happen in India when we schedule our 100th year independence.

People are more worried about “Climate Changes” that can affect us in the next 25 years  than the political changes that may sweep us off our feet and make climate changes irrelevant.

It is necessary for our intelligentsia to foresee the probability of our country being destroyed by not being strong and not supporting the “Right to Security” as the fundamental of the fundamental rights of citizens.

Yesterday, the Mumbai High Court has stayed the operation of part of the Information Technology (Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 indicating that “Ethical Code for Digital Media” is an intrusion on the Freedom of Expression. (Refer report on livelaw). The essence of the judgement is that  Digital Media is a privileged medium and will not be subjected to the same ethical codes that the Print Media and the TV medium is otherwise subjected to.

It is difficult to appreciate that “Voluntary Ethical behavior” could have a “Chilling Effect”. In fact not having a ethical behavior and purveying fake and motivated news has made digital media the most potent weapon of destruction of our society.

The Court failed to visualize the dangers of fake news purveyors presenting themselves as part of the fourth pillar of democracy. The decision is therefore disappointing.

I was also listening to an erudite discussion by some experts recently on the “Necessity” and  “Proportionality” principles in applying surveillance laws. We are all very eager to say that the Privacy law being formulated in the Country is giving too much power to the Government without understanding the need for “Empowerment” in a law and how all international laws of similar nature also have similar empowerment. But we seem to trust the GDPR authorities more than our own authorities and hence we try to reject our laws on the basis of some semantics and argue that “Necessity” and “Proportionality” are not the same.

I fully understand and respect the need for a democratic country to respect freedom of speech and right to privacy to the extent that neither the Government nor the Business should misuse and make the citizen uncomfortable with excessive controls.

However, I am not sure if the experts in a bid to express their commitment to Privacy and Freedom of Expression as democratic right are forgetting that these rights become relevant only if the society is able to survive as a democracy. The world is not as beautiful as we would like it to be. Look at Afghanistan. The tragedy is that all the “Freedom lovers” of India have no view on Taliban and the danger it poses to the world.

We in India are well on our way to inviting destruction of the country. There are dangers of the country being torn to pieces because some of our politicians are power hungry and place their individual corrupt practices well above the national interests.

At this time, “National Security” is a fundamental priority of the country and the Courts and Activists need to take a deep breath and self introspect if their concept of “Chilling Effect” is misplaced.

On this 75th Independence day, we donot know if after another 25 years, India will remain as it remains now unless we take some serious measures to correct the way we think what “Right” and “Freedom” is vs “Unfettered freedom” which is a license for Jungle Raj.

It is therefore essential for us to place our priorities right. We need to declare that “Security of the Nation” should be our priority.

When laws are made, Courts should not focus on  how we defeat the law but try to find out how best the law can be implemented with checks and balances to prevent its misuse.

Rather than staying the operation of the Intermediary guidelines, if the Court had directed the Government to set up appropriate measures to prevent misuse, it would have been more constructive.

But our Courts are not interested in guiding the Government to better governance. They are slaves of their own perception that a non performing Government  is better than a performing Government and the most important duty of the Judiciary is to prevent the Government from functioning on any pretext taking a stand as a “Protector of Constitution”.  It is the same Courts which allowed our Constitution to be amended and bringing in all the “Appeasement Politics” into the Constitution and have to take the responsibility for the present constitution which proliferates inequality and inefficiency.

We can appreciate the Courts if they can come up with positive suggestions on how the law is to be corrected rather than passing judgements striking down actions of the Government. I am aware that this is difficult. They have the power to read down the law and allow that law as drafted may continue with the read down meaning rather than using the sledge hammer and striking down the law or staying a law.

One wiseman said thinking is difficult and we therefore “judge”. This applies aptly to our Judiciary.

On this 75th Independence day, we must decide to change this attitude.

I therefore request all erudite professionals who criticize the Government actions, all journalists who champion the freedom of speech and all Courts who uphold such freedom start thinking,

“If I am the person who is taking the executive decision which I am unhappy with, what would be the alternative solution I would suggest”. 

May be the future of India would be better if all of us develop such a positive thinking, though it is difficult.

Naavi

Between 2003 and 2021, there is a time gap of 18 years. Between the ideation of DVIIS and E Rupee has been such a distance in time. DVIIS was invented and proposed by Naavi and E-Rupee has been introduced by the Modi Government.

In between, DVIIS or Digital Value Imprinted Instrument System was proposed for patent and discussed with many IT companies including Cognizant, TVS Electronics, TCS, Mind Tree, Infosys etc. But none of these IT wizards could understand the utility of this idea called DVIIS. Subsequently, the ITZ card. It was also discussed with a couple of so called “Venture Capitalists” who were supposed to identify innovative projects ahead of times.

It has however taken 18 years for my idea to come into wide use and perhaps the vision of all the wizards in IT was inadequate to spot a project that was that much ahead of time.

I am however happy that Modi’s Government has taken up the idea independently through NPCI and has replaced the “Paper Token” which I had proposed in 2003 to a “Digital Token” which is the order of the day.

This is not to claim any IPR related issue in the Government using the idea, and I am happy that the Government is using it. But I wonder if it takes 18 years for such a simple idea to be understood and absorbed, how long will some of my ideas of the current years take to become a reality. But life must go on. We need to keep ideating and some day it may become useful.

I will take a little time to explain what I proposed as “Digital Value Imprinted System” which was also proposed in operating form for Stock Holding Corporation of India, Bangalore Corporation etc., but was not approved for usage.

DVIIS is a system where a pre-printed paper token would be issued as a scratch card with a hidden serial number. The number would be used to load value in a digital server. The card would be hand delivered to a payee who would download the value of the card. It was meant to be used as a Digital Stamp, alternative to cheques (at that time UPI and other digital payment systems were not in place), bus ticketing, etc. (One sample instance of the digital stamp system is available at https://naavi.org/dviis/Website/index.htm).

I had spent nearly one year with a Cognizant team to develop the idea into a product but the company was happy as a service company and did not want to develop a new product all on its own.

The Arbitration.in was another such idea which was introduced in 2005 and was even taken to the Supreme Court IT committee for introduction of E Courts. But it took the Covid to make the Supreme Court realize the potential of the ODR system and accept it.

But these were footprints in the sands of time that make us realize that one needs to be at the right time at the right place for any work however good it is to be considered a success.

I hope PDPSI and DVSI would not have to go through this 1-18 year gestation for the idea to be realized. Probably the army of FDPPI which was not in existence in 2003-2005 will ensure that PDPSI and DVSI will realize the potential for which they were created.

Naavi

P.S: The name ZEMO I used at that time for Zero Memory card to replace smart cards is now being used by some Game!

Also refer:

Black Money Policy of Narendra Modi.. Here is My Idea

(Continued from previous article)

The world is today speaking of “Data Driven Organizations”. Essentially, this means that “Data Engineering” is used to increase the productivity of companies. There could be several ways  by which “Data” can help a company to earn revenues beyond the simple observation that “Better quality”, “More accurate” and “More innovatively processed” data can improve the productivity.

Recently Zomato made a public issue of shares and raised Rs 9750 crores. The company had accumulated losses of over Rs 4211 crores in the last three years but investors were prepared to buy its shares at a fantastic price of Rs 76 per share and it is now traded in the stock markets at a higher value than at which Vodafone global shares are traded…around Rs 130 over 120.

The magic here is the monetization of the perception that Zomato has data about its customer’s eating habits which when filtered through an efficient data analytics system can enable the company to improve its earnings in the next 10 years and turn it around into a profitable company. For Zomato which is still not able to show a profitable stream the projections that “It has data that can be monetized and share holders can take that future potential for current valuation” may be a highly speculative proposition. But for Vodafone which has a global potential proven for many years, any such thought that its data is valuable and can be monetized better is a certainty.

If Vodafone floats a tender for Big data companies to make proposals on how its data can be monetized, then they will be surprised to know that the data of 27 crore customers and their behavioral pattern can generate very interesting proposals.

Let me make one point clear here… The exploitation of data of its customers by Vodafone will involve “Privacy” issues. But “Consent”, “Pseudonymization” and “Anonymisation” can be the “Trishul” with which Vodafone can prime its data holding for monetization even considering the upcoming Personal Data Protection Act of India.

We may recall that American Airlines, USA valued its frequent flyer customer base (AAdvantage) at around us$ 19.5 to 31.5 billion last year. Similarly the United Airlines also revalued its loyalty program data at about $ 20 billion. Caesar Entertainment cashed its total rewards customer data base for over $ 1 billion during a bankruptcy proceedings.

If these valuations were acceptable to investors then it is possible that post-Zomato success, revaluation of data of Vodafone could raise enough money to not only clear Vodafone’s AGR dues but perhaps its entire debt.

If Vodafone does not know the value of its data and the potential, I urge the Government to  take a pledge of Vodafone customer data for AGR dues and create a SPV to monetize the data value. It may be able to realize much more than the AGR dues.

Will the Telecom Minister consider such a possibility?

Naavi

Vodafone is facing a financial crisis. (Refer article in New Indian Express) A company which has 270 million customers is in financial crisis and is unable to face the loss arising out of the Supreme Court decision which had made it liable for payment of substantial dues to the DOT. Even a 10 year spreading out of the repayment appears to be insufficient for Vodafone to come out of the crisis.

According to  information available, Vodafone woes Rs 58,254 crores to the Government as AGR dues of which it has paid Rs 7854 crores. This is the annual license fees and spectrum usage charges which the company failed to factor in its operations earlier due to a wrong advise it received from its financial and legal professionals.

It is said that Telecom operators interpreted that  they would be charged the license fee on the basis of their core business conducted using the spectrum while DoT held that the definition of AGR included items like dividend, interest, capital gains on account of the profit from the sale of assets and securities and gains from foreign exchange fluctuations.

It is futile now to discuss the legality of the issue since the Supreme Court has settled it in favour of the DOT. The telecom operators together are guilty of not having provided for this possibility while they made merry during all these days under the mistaken interpretation.

However, this is not the time to gloat over who was right and who was wrong. We need to look at ways by which the issue could be resolved because the damage that a failure of a big company like Vodafone could cause to the economy is immense and is avoidable.

The per-capita burden of Vodafone dues of Rs 58000 crores on 27 crore subscribers is about Rs 2000 per customer. Current share price of Vodafone is around 120 per share.

If there is a further issue of shares at around Rs 100 per share, the dues can be met with an issue of 20 shares per customer as “Rights”. (Technically it could be called a Private Placement). This issue of 540 crore new shares would dilute the share holding by 20% but can enable the company to sail over the current difficulty and increase the P/E multiple so that the loss could be adequately compensated.

While the above thought is a traditional thought, there is a more exciting thought based on the new concept of “Value of Data as an Asset” which we shall discuss separately in the following article.

(Continued)

Naavi

In computing the intrinsic value of data as an asset, cost based method is one of the choices that a Data Valuer needs to explore. Current market value if available could be the second option while Net Present Value of future earnings expected from the asset could be a third option.

In Cost based approach, it is necessary to make a distinction on “Cost of Collection of Data” and  “Cost of cleaning up data by removing unwanted collateral data”. After this “Data Preparation”, the data would e ready to be used for some purpose. The asset needs to be valued at this stage by computing the cost upto the preparation of data ready for exploitation.

One example is that a company X has a license from Twitter or Linked in to parse its data and extract useful data. In such cases, the cost of data is easily determined by the license fee paid to Twitter or Linked in. Once the gross data is so gathered, the company may use its own filters to reject some data and retain some. This retained data is the data that is useful as raw material for the company. The cost of filtering may be ascertained by the specific software used for the purpose and the manpower cost assigned to the activity.  Additionally a share of the fixed costs can also be allocated. This total cost would be the cost of data in this context.

Once data is kept in store for further use, some user department may recall the data and create value added products (eg: a saleable report based on the information). This would be cost of production of the given product.

If the raw data is collected from say the website of the company X where a service is offered and customers register for the service using a web form, the cost of collection would be the cost of hosting the web form and a share of the fixed cost attributable to the maintenance of the website.

In a practical situation, companies may not be able to clearly identify the source of data and cost of its acquisition. However, in the days of data protection, it has become necessary for companies to set up an appropriate organizational structure to identify the sources of collection of data and hence it may be possible to attribute direct cost of collection.

However, this exercise of ascertaining the cost of data belongs to the domain of Cost Accounting and it will be necessary for the company to have the Cost Accountant work closely with the technology department and the DPO to arrive at a reliable cost of data.

Naavi

(DVSI stands for Data Valuation Standard of India… Refer www.dvsi.in for more information)

Companies often face the dilemma on payment of ransom when their data is captured and held hostage by a ransomware attacker. The attacker fixes a certain price for the release of the decryption key and often places the data for sale in the dark web. Acer had a demand of $50 million, CNA Financial reportedly paid $40 million and Colonial Pipeline paid $4.4 million. In India itself we had a demand on Cognizant for $ 5 million and different smaller amounts in different companies.

It is clear that in these cases the hackers had a perception of the value of the data they had captured and the companies paid the ransom because they felt that there was an opportunity cost in refusing to pay.  Insurance companies have their own practices on dealing with such instances and some may cover the ransom as part of their policy.

Further, darkweb often quotes a price list for many kinds of data. One such laundry list is here.

When thieves set a value for the data they may target and steal, it is necessary for the organizations which have these assets to also know that they have assets which are vulnerable to be stolen.

Managements often express surprise when a ransom demand is made and wonder “Do we have that kind of data with us”?. The reason is that so far the CFOs and CEOs were never told that Data is an asset though on the balance sheet it does not show up.

Corporate Managements need to ask themselves, if they are not representing the true value of their assets in the financial statements which they certify “This is a fair and true representation of the company’s financial position”.

If the CEO/CFO knows that the company has a Rs 5000 crore of data asset, they would not crib to appoint a DPO or CISO at the kind of remuneration they deserve or to invest in security products or employee training or atleast to harden their operating systems which they keep postponing.

Let’s therefore look to the future with confidence by valuing our data assets and bringing them into our balance sheets. …

Let our shareholders know what we are worth.

Let our competitors know what it would cost to take over our company.

Asatoma sadgamaya…tamasoma Jyotirgamaya…Oh DVSI, Oh DVSI…

(meaning From Ignorance, lead me to truth, from darkness, lead me to light..Oh Data Valuation Standard of India)

Naavi

(With apologies to the Rishis who gave us the Upanishad Vaakya)