The National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru is hosting the 6th India Public Policy Network Conference (IPPN) from June 1 to 4, 2026. The theme for this edition is ‘Public Policy Praxis in Global South: Building Coherence and Capacity for Future Challenges.’
Call For Panels
We invite researchers, faculty and policy practitioners to this conference to highlight potential opportunities and challenges that are relevant to India. We invite contributions that could include working papers, monographs, case studies, demonstrable interventions and other forms of substantive reflective contributions that can help us collectively understand Public Policy Praxis in India. Know more.
Public Policy Praxis in Global South
Concept Note
Praxis is the pragmatic knowledge acquired through practice and reflection, to find a solution or draw a conclusion. Public Policy Praxis is revolutionising the landscape of governance in India. We need to build coherence around the Praxis in India to build our capacity to meet the challenges of the future.
The teaching, research and practice of Public Policy in India has undergone dramatic growth and rapid transformation that will affect how we govern for the future. First, public policy practice includes organisations at various stages of a policy cycle, that provide formulate, design, implement, evaluate and assess the impact of policies of and for governments. This practice industry involving government advisory verticals, private consulting organisations, think tanks, chambers of commerce and other non- government and private policy actors was worth at least $64.8 billion, growing annually at around 11 % almost a decade ago (Sajjanhar 2024), and has perhaps grown exponentially more since. Catching up to this policy market size, is the growth and diversity of Public Policy education academic programs. At last count, there were around 60 Masters in Public Policy Education programs (Phadnis, 2024). These programs cater to all constituencies willing to acquire the necessary credentials in the field, ranging from a six-hour certificate course for two thousand rupees to almost 14 lakhs rupees for a two-year Masters program. Not far behind, are the research organisations – India has possibly the third highest number of policy research organisations (with varying capacity) in the world, behind just the United States and China (The Print July 8, 2022).
Concurrent to this internal growth is the vast technological, administrative, political and ecological changes to our global order. Developing economies are undergoing governance transformations shaped by technological disruptions. Artificial intelligence, digital payments, blockchain applications, and algorithmic governance are being rapidly introduced across health, welfare distribution, education, and urban management sectors. While these innovations promise efficiency and inclusion, they also expose vulnerabilities in the administration and governance within the developing world. Many governments face resource constraints, limited institutional capacity, and uneven digital literacy among their populations. To fulfil their potential, there is a need to address basic infrastructure needs, enhance revenue generation, establish clear regulatory frameworks to mitigate technological risks, invest in human capital development, ensure digital inclusivity, and promote environmental sustainability (Tan & Taeihagh, 2020). At the same time, local governance institutions in rural areas, though empowered with ICT tools, remain hampered by infrastructure gaps, bureaucratic inertia, and low citizen trust (Sindakis & Showkat, 2024). We can see similar praxis dimensions where promising institutional potential is embedded amidst challenges associated with climate change, social exclusion, democratic legitimacy and modernisation more broadly.
The governance challenge in developing economies to address the above changes lies not just in devising sound regulations, but also in capacity and equity. The legal systems of developing economies are particularly challenged by technological change. Legal frameworks and regulations may exist on paper, but enforcement, trust, and equitable coverage are often lagging behind. Courts face backlogs and limited resources, while AI-based tools for case management, legal research, and dispute resolution are introduced without sufficient frameworks for accountability. Intellectual property law in these contexts must balance global enforcement pressures with domestic innovation needs, especially as AI-generated content, digital piracy, and cybersquatting expand. Moreover, constitutional protections—privacy, equality, freedom of expression—are increasingly tested in digital spaces where surveillance, data collection, and algorithmic profiling occur with minimal oversight. Administrative frameworks are also challenged. Apart from issues related to state capacity, public policy practitioners are faced with implementation challenges associated with policy design, fidelity to process, adaption to social norms, competing institutional and agency priorities and also just the sheer scale and scope of the challenges in India.
It is important to build coherence, both internally and of the world around us, to build our capacity to meet the challenges of the future. These challenges underscore the need for law and policy frameworks tailored to the realities of developing economies. They highlight the importance of building capacity, strengthening institutions, and ensuring participatory governance. By focusing on the developing countries, the conference will reposition them as not merely recipients of imported governance models, but as laboratories of innovation and resilience. The law–policy interface in these contexts provides crucial insights into how equity and accountability can be achieved despite resource constraints.
Conference Tracks
The conference will be structured around three central tracks designed to connect academic scholarship, pedagogy, and applied governance:
1. Teaching Track
Panels within this track will examine how law and public policy are taught in developing economies, with a focus on curriculum design, pedagogy, and the integration of emerging issues such as technology, sustainability, and inequality. Discussions will include the challenges of interdisciplinary teaching, the use of case-based and experiential learning, and how to prepare students for careers at the intersection of law, governance, and policy. The teaching track will also explore how new technologies—AI, online learning, and digital classrooms—are reshaping the delivery of legal and policy education.
Some possible teaching related questions can include the following:
- What are the kinds of learning outcomes expected beyond disciplinary foundations?
- How have experiential learning components been designed that are not necessarily focussed on empirical reporting and for academic research?
- How do programmes balance generalist teaching and sectoral depth?
- What are the pedagogical approaches being used to incorporate heterodox approaches that can overcome disciplinary boundaries?
- What kinds of innovations have been tried in assessment, concept building, application ability to meet learning requirements?
- How is public policy praxis in India being taught that makes it distinct from standard western approaches to teaching Public Policy?
2. Research Track
This track will focus on academic scholarship addressing the governance challenges of developing economies. Papers and panels will explore methodological innovations in studying law–policy intersections, comparative governance in the Global South, and the role of interdisciplinary frameworks. Key themes include technological governance, digital inequality, climate change, urban transformation, and human rights in digital spaces. The research track will highlight how developing economies are not only case studies but also producers of theoretical insights that can shape global debates.
Some illustrative questions could include the following:
- What are the challenges to policymaking for sustainability in India and how can they be addressed?
- How do law and policy interact in the face of uncertainty?
- What are the emerging policy issues within sectors that require further research? What lessons can be drawn from comparative studies of governance in the Global South?
- What has been the impact of networks and actors on governance?
- How can developing economies balance innovation and regulation in policymaking?
- What are some new concepts and methodologies that are relevant to public policy research in India?
3. Practice Track
This track will bring together policymakers, practitioners, lawyers, and civil society actors to discuss how law and policy reforms are implemented in practice. It will highlight real-world innovations such as e-governance platforms, fintech regulation, community-driven governance, smart city initiatives, and dispute resolution mechanisms. Panels will emphasize lessons learned from the field, including both successes and failures, and explore how legal frameworks can be made more adaptive, participatory, and responsive to local contexts.
- What interventions have worked and what have not and why?
- How do legal practitioners address public policy challenges?
- How do policy practitioners understand and address the legal dimensions of policy?
- What areas of research do practitioners expect from the academic community?
- How can we explore and consolidate collaborative practices between academia, law, and the policy community?
In addition to the afore-mentioned issues, we invite panels that cover but are not limited to, the themes listed. We invite scholars from diverse disciplines and practitioners to present their work or curate panels on various sectoral and thematic issues with implications for policy and law.
Important Dates
- November 2025 | Initiation of Call for Panels and Call for Papers
- January 2026 | Panels will be Finalised
- January-end 2026 | Registrations to begin
Contact Us
For any enquires, reach out to us at .
References
- Sindakis, S., & Showkat, G. (2024). The digital revolution in India: bridging the gap in rural technology adoption. Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 13(1), 29.
- Tan, S. Y., & Taeihagh, A. (2020). Smart city governance in developing countries: A systematic literature review. sustainability, 12(3), 899.
- Nguyen, C. P., Schinckus, C., & Su, T. D. (2022). Asymmetric effects of global uncertainty: the socioeconomic and environmental vulnerability of developing countries. Fulbright Review of Economics and Policy, 2(1), 92-116.
- Sajjanhar A. The New Experts: Populist Elites and Technocratic Promises in Modi’s India. Cambridge University Press; 2024.
- Phadnis, A., Aggarwal, S., & Naveen, K. (2024). Evolution of public policy education in the global South: The case of India. Journal of Public Affairs Education, 31(1), 18–40. https://doi.org/10.1080/15236803.2024.2398360
Related Links
Call for Panels | 6th India Public Policy Network Conference | IPPN – NLSIU 2026 | June 1-4, 2026