The National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), the apex body representing the domestic IT-ITeS sector, will soon announce the creation of a self-regulatory organisation (SRO) to deal with issues such as data security, data piracy and intellectual property protection. In fact, a head has already been identified for the organisation.

The initiative comes in the wake of allegations in the US and the UK that the country's call centre workers have stolen and sold data processed by local outsourcing/BPO firms.

"Global customers should find it easier to outsource activities if they have the assurance that India is a safe country. And this is the primary objective of this organisation," Nasscom Chairman Ramalinga Raju told Business Standard.

The SRO is believed to have been built by identifying the loopholes in the country's laws and then attempting to amend them, in a bid to bring them on par with global standards (such as US and EU laws).

The SRO's objective is to raise the bar in data security and data privacy by including the best practices currently stipulated by certifications such as ISO17799 for information security by the International Organisation for Standardisation in Geneva, as well as data privacy and data protection laws worldwide.

As the set-up will regulate the IT-BPO sector, it will also tackle tricky issues such as misuse of social-networking sites like Orkut? "It's premature to comment on this," said Raju. However, he added that while the main focus was data security, it "will not be limited to that alone".

It is a catalyst, rather than an enforcement body, but is expected to put enough pressure on the industry to conform to the laws binding it. It has been conceived "in the spirit with which the IT industry works". "Over 95 per cent of the opportunity is global.

Therefore, we should be seen as the most reliable and secure country to establish relationships with," the chairman said.