Context

• Shri S. Krishnan, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) launched the Internet Governance Internship and Capacity Building Scheme.

About Internet Governance Internship and Capacity Building Scheme

• Launched by: National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI)
• Program: Bi-annual internship
• Two Parallel Tracks: 6 month program and 3 month program.
• Aim: To build awareness and develop expertise in internet governance (IG) among Indian citizens.
• Mentorship: Each intern will be mentored by subject matter experts from international organizations like Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) etc or high ranked retired government officials and faculty advisors from recognized institutions.
• Stipend: Rs. 20,000/- per month

National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI)

• Estb: 19th June 2003
• Not-for- profit (Section 8) company
• Under the aegis of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology
• CEO: Dr. Devesh Tyagi
• Task: To increase internet penetration and adoption in India
• 4 services under NIXI
  • Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) for building Internet Exchange Points
  • IN Registry for building the .in domain digital identity
  • IRINN for IPv4
  • IPv6 addresses adoption

Status of Internet Consumption in India

• Internet in India Report 2024: The internet user base in India is all set to surpass 900 million in 2025.
• 11th edition of Nokia’s Mobile Broadband Index (MBiT): Indian users on average consumed 24.1 gigabytes (GB) of data per capita per month in 2023.
• BharatNet Project: Aimed to connect all Gram Panchayats (GPs) in the country with Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) connectivity, to provide broadband services to the rural households.