India won't monetise non-personal data on AIKosha platform

The Indian government will not sell non-personal data on its new platform, AIKosha. Jitin Prasada, the Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, shared this information in response to a question in the Rajya Sabha. He stated that the platform does not allow purchases or subscriptions for data. AIKosha has over 300 datasets from more than 10 sources. Users can download these datasets after signing up for DigiLocker or registering with Aadhaar for organizations. This process is designed to enhance security and ensure proper use of the data. The platform was launched on March 6 as part of India's AI Mission. It aims to support the development of artificial intelligence applications. Prasada also noted that contributors can set access controls for the datasets they provide. In terms of data protection, Prasada emphasized that AIKosha follows the Information Technology Act and the upcoming Data Protection Bill. The Draft Personal Data Protection Act, notified in August 2023, is still awaiting implementation. The Ministry is currently reviewing feedback on related rules. Datasets available on AIKosha include language data for automatic speech recognition. Various companies, like Sarvam AI and Ola Krutrim, have also contributed models to the platform.