​Event- ATLAS- CPPR South Asia Public Policy Challenge Winners Declared

KOCHI:
CPPR has announced the results of the ATLAS-CPPR South Asia Public Policy Challenge. The first prize was secured by Bhishm Khanna for his policy brief on ‘Predictive Justice: Using AI for Justice’.

n the policy brief the author has proposed the use of Artificial Intelligence(AI) for standardising application of legal rules and allowing stakeholders to take informed decisions before proceeding with court cases. Predictive justice refers to using analysis of large amount of data by the means of AI-enabled technologies for predicting outcomes of legal disputes.

The field of predictive justice provides a number of benefits for the efficient working of the justice administration including speedy disposal of cases, sentencing reference, out-of court settlement and prioritising cases where violation seems likely. Compared to traditional tools used by lawyers and judges for prediction such as professional experience, empirical information etc. predictive analytics uses AI tools such as Natural Language Processing (NLP) and machine learning.

Predictive analytics in judicial systems has been gaining popularity in the last two decades in the context of policing and public administration in countries like the USA and UK. The author notes that “the confluence of data science and law can offer immense benefits to the legal field and predictive justice is the right step in that direction.”

Bhishm Khanna’s Policy Brief
The second prize is awarded to Ananya Pal for her policy brief on ‘Blockchain Database: Resolving Farmers’ Issue in the Disruptive Era’. In the policy brief the author has proposed the use of blockchain technology to resolve farmers’ issues that have come forth with the passing of the three farm laws in 2020. Blockchain technology can specifically address the issue of contract farming which necessitates an underlying trust amongst the stakeholders to maintain the integrity of a contract.

Blockchain technology tackles this need for mutual trust amongst the parties and automates contract implementation rendering transparency and efficiency to the process. To bring about these institutional reforms the author suggests using blockchain systems, a mobile application and smart contracts to successfully execute transactions between farmers and private parties. To introduce these ambitious reforms in the agriculture sector, the Centre of Excellence on Blockchain Technology established by National Informatics Centre can lead the development of blockchain systems in collaboration with the growing Indian Blockchain startups, under the control of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

The author recommends making encrypted digital signatures legal under the Information Technology Act, 2000 which declares self-generated digital signatures as uncertified, making smart contracts invalid. Blockchain technology in agriculture can effectively eliminate politicisation, enhance corporate governance, ensure automatic resolution of disputes and provide faster public service delivery while making contract farming accessible and flawless.

Ananya Pal’s Policy Brief
The theme of the policy challenge was “Navigating Policy Reforms for Minimum Government, Maximum Governance in the Disruptive Era.” The competition incorporated the possibility of disruptive innovations, improving standards of public service delivery and maximising governance with minimal state involvement in the National or regional context. The aim of the project is to evolve public policy solutions for sectors including but not limited to health, education, livelihood, trade and commerce, cities & infrastructure, disaster resilience.

An intensive 4-day public policy workshop was organised for the 10 shortlisted candidates as part of the competition. During the Atlas-CPPR Public Policy Workshop, the candidates were trained by seasoned public policy experts to further refine their policy briefs.