Digital Colonization: It’s All About Market Access India needs a Tech Acquisition Board, and support private initiatives for creation of new technologies. outlookindia.com 2020-12-14T16:27:36+05:30 Also read Why did I coin the term “Digital Colonization” a decade and a half ago? It is because just like colonization is about denying local and global market access to local businesses, Digital Colonization is about denying access to technology market for local businesses. When market access is denied, technology companies, and technologies, wither away. This is similar to the case I had discussed in my previous articles in this column, wherein, in the 17th century, the British parliament put an additional tax on goods being imported into Britain using Indian ships. The technologically superior Indian ships were being preferred by the British shipping lines over the locally built British ships, which was leading to the decimation of the local British shipbuilding industry. This blockage of market access to Indian ships led to the Indian shipbuilding industry vanishing over a period of time, with India losing the shipbuilding technology altogether by the 18th century.