India’s 79th Independence Day underscored that freedom today means technological sovereignty. Rising dependence on foreign digital systems creates strategic vulnerabilities, making self-reliance in software, hardware, and digital infrastructure vital for national security and resilience.

The Nature of Modern Warfare and Infrastructure

• Modern Warfare: Modern wars are fought in cyberspace with drones, AI, and software rather than bullets and bombs. 
  • Critical infrastructure such as banks, railways, and power grids depend on technology controlled by a few foreign companies.
• Vulnerability of Dependence: If these companies, under national diktat or malice, withdraw services like cloud or AI, India’s economy and security could suffer serious harm, as seen in recent service disruptions.

Key Actions for Software Sovereignty

• Develop an Indigenous Operating System (OS): India should create its own OS, using existing open-source options like Linux as a base, similar to what China has done. This would reduce reliance on Microsoft Windows.
• Develop an Indigenous Android system: India needs its own Android-based mobile OS and an associated app store, to reduce dependence on Google
• Long-term Support and Maintenance: Creating software is one thing, but sustaining it is another. It requires a large user community, continuous development, and maintenance to fix bugs and evolve. IIT professionals are identified as key to this mission.
• Promoting Open-Source Software: Open-source software means its “source code” (the recipe for making the software) is publicly available, allowing anyone to inspect, modify, and build upon it, ensuring transparency and no hidden backdoors.

Hardware Sovereignty – A Bigger Challenge

• Complexity: Achieving hardware sovereignty is harder than software due to the huge costs and complexity of semiconductor fabrication.
  • Semiconductor chips are the “heart” of every electronic device (phones, cars, missiles) and are considered the “new oil” of the world.
  • Over 60% of global semiconductor chips are produced by Taiwan, and India’s production is almost negligible, making it heavily import-dependent and strategically vulnerable.
• Challenges of Fab Manufacturing: Building a semiconductor fabrication unit (fab) is extremely costly (billions of dollars), time-consuming (5-7 years), and requires high expertise
• Incremental Approach: India should first build expertise in chip design, assembly, and partnerships, even if fabrication is outsourced.
• National Patience and Investment: Achieving this goal requires sustained investment and long-term planning at the national level.

India’s Approach

• India should adopt a step-by-step approach:
  • Focus on Chip Design: Master the design aspect first.
  • Focus on Assembly: Start by importing chips and assembling them within India.
  • Build Partnerships: Collaborate with global companies to gain technology and expertise, similar to ISRO’s approach in space

Way Forward

• National Tech Mission: Establish a dedicated “National Tech Mission” focused on implementation, not just R&D. This mission should have a “crack team” of engineers and project managers to rapidly develop indigenous OS and Android systems.
• Sustainable Business Model: Software developed should not be entirely free; a small fee should be charged to ensure continuous funding for engineers, maintenance, security, and support.
• Government as Enabler and Customer: The government should act as an enabler, providing initial funding and policy support. 
  • The government must become the biggest customer of these indigenous software and operating systems, making their use compulsory in government departments to drive adoption in the private sector

Conclusion

India must pursue technological independence proactively, not reactively. Attaining software and hardware sovereignty is crucial for security and resilience. With state support, IT professionals, industry, and academia must collaborate to secure digital autonomy.

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