Research project: Lived digital experiences of a Himalayan community

I am Smriti Parsheera, a lawyer and public policy researcher from India. Starting this month, I have embarked on an exciting new journey as an Interledger Research Ambassador. My project, tentatively titled ‘Pinging Paradise’, will study the lived digital experiences of people living in my native region of Lahaul-Spiti in the state of Himachal Pradesh in northern India.

I will be studying the interactions between the region’s remote location in the Himalayas and the state of its physical and digital infrastructure. Relying on a series of in-depth interviews, I hope to cast the spotlight on how those living far away from the everyday digital buzz of big cities perceive and interact with digital and financial services.

This project forms a part of my broader research interest in studying the interaction between digital technologies and society, across areas like digital inclusion, privacy, data governance, and digital public infrastructure. Until last year, I was a Research Fellow with the CyberBRICS Project at FGV Law School in Rio de Janeiro where I worked alongside researchers from other BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries to study the digital transformation strategies in these countries. Before that, I led the technology policy vertical at New Delhi’s National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, where I worked closely with several government agencies and committees on Indian tech policy issues. I have also held research positions with India’s competition regulatory authority and the United Nations Development Programme. For anyone who may be interested, this page contains links to my published research.

I have already met some of the amazing people from this community during the Costa Rica summit and through the ambassadors network. Look forward to getting to know many more of you in the coming months. I will keep the community posted on the developments with my project and would welcome your feedback and suggestions along the way. Please do get in touch if you want to exchange notes about this project or tech policy developments more generally.