Centre for Internet and Society

The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) is a non-profit organisation that undertakes interdisciplinary research on internet and digital technologies from policy and academic perspectives. The areas of focus include digital accessibility for persons with disabilities, access to knowledge, intellectual property rights, openness (including open data, free and open source software, open standards, open access, open educational resources, and open video), internet governance, telecommunication reform, digital privacy, and cyber-security. The research at CIS seeks to understand the reconfiguration of social processes and structures through the internet and digital media technologies, and vice versa.

Hosted at CIS, the research project Platforms, Power, and Politics: Perspectives from Domestic and Care Work in India was led by Ambika Tandon and Aayush Rathi, with Sumandro Chattapadhyay providing planning, editorial, and project management support. Aayush is a lawyer by training, and has been studying the intersections of labour, gender and technology for the past few years. Ambika is trained in media studies, and has been leading the development of feminist research at CIS since 2018. Sumandro, as a Director at CIS, contributes to academic and public policy research on access to knowledge, data governance, and digital economy.

The Domestic Workers’ Rights Union was a partner in the implementation of the project, as co-researchers. Geeta Menon, head of DWRU, has three decades of feminist organising with informal sector workers in Karnataka. The research team consisted of Parijatha G.P., Radha Keerthana, Zeenathunnisa, and Sumathi, who are/were office holders in the union, where they are/were responsible for organising workers and addressing their concerns.