Views of Ravi Shankar Prasad
India’s digital story is finding resonance globally. Through programmes such as Digital India, Make in India, Skill India and Startup India, the government is seeking to empower ordinary Indians with the power of technology, which is both affordable as well as inclusive.
Looking at India’s digital profile, we have a population of more than 1.3 billion and over 1.21 billion mobile phones and 400 million smartphones. Approximately 1.2 billion Indians have a unique verifiable digital identity now in the form of Aadhaar. In addition, India has an internet penetration of 500 million. It is home to the third largest startup movement in the world. We are creating a massive digital infrastructure by linking 250,000 clusters of villages by optical fibre connectivity. We have unleashed a big connectivity movement through common service centre digital kiosks where 1 million young adults are involved in providing digital delivery of services across the country. We have set up business process outsourcing hubs in far-flung areas of the country to bring about digital inclusion. Above all, we have a target of making 60 million Indians digitally literate over the next three years. Of these, 10 million have already been made digitally literate.
All these programmes and initiatives have been basically designed to propel digital inclusion in the country. Digital empowerment can only be achieved through digital inclusion. We are also giving a significant push to encourage the adoption of e-hospitals, e-scholarships, digital platforms for farmers to sell their products and a whole range of other people-friendly digital services to empower ordinary citizens.
India is today being acknowledged in the world as a potential digital market and we aim to push its digital economy to $1 trillion over the next five to seven years. The country definitely has the potential to achieve this feat. India is a rising digital market and has one of the biggest footprints of Google, Facebook, Twitter and a whole range of other global technology platforms. Four years ago, the country had only two mobile phone manufacturing factories. Now we have 118 such facilities and are manufacturing mobiles in large numbers. “Make in India” is also meant to encourage exports to neighbouring countries.
The most important piece of digital inclusion is upholding citizens’ right of access to digital services. We have taken a clear and categorical position that the right of access is non-negotiable.
With India’s emerging digital profile, new technologies such as AI, blockchain and IoT are making their way into several industries. This creates several opportunities, but also raises a few concerns.
Opportunities and challenges
India’s digital story is one of a significant and successful engagement between the government and the people. By giving them a digital platform, we have not only empowered them but have also given them confidence and assurance. AI must work in a manner that this engagement continues to grow stronger. It must create ecosystems where issues like security, healthcare and digital delivery of services have a new meaning.
The second area pertains to re-skilling. There is a fear that new technologies will replace people, impacting their jobs. When computers were introduced in the country, there was a lot of apprehension that they would take away jobs from people. However, computers became the biggest enablers of jobs in the country. Any technology that displaces 10 jobs surely creates 100 more jobs. That is what technology is all about and we have to ensure that re-skilling is done in a meaningful manner. The new and emerging technologies that we see today can play a crucial role in areas such as healthcare, cybersecurity, food security, education and weather management that are crucial for a country like India. The adoption of these new technologies will take time as people and industry adjust to them. This adjustment would entail a significant transition. In such a scenario, the government, the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), the private sector, academia and the industry will have to play a crucial role in ensuring a smooth transition for stakeholders. That is an extra mile that we need to walk to ensure that the power of the new technologies is fully recognised and utilised.
While new technologies are creating new opportunities, they will also bring in a new set of challenges. For instance, if there is a driver-less or a self-driving car powered by a new technology and it fails to save a person who hurriedly and carelessly crossed the road, will this be called an accident and who will be responsible for it? What should be the nature of this responsibility? Robotics is a powerful technology, but ultimately someone would have to guide the use of these technologies. This is an area where ethical and regulatory measures are required to be worked out in a meaningful manner.
If we are able to create a big, effective and substantial initiative for re-skilling, many of the challenges faced in the adoption of new technologies can be successfully addressed. Indians are open to adopting new technologies, and the Indian story is known all over the world. To give an example, digital is playing a big role in ensuring good governance. Under its digital initiatives, the government opened up 300 million bank accounts for the poor who had no access to banking services earlier. We linked those with Aadhar under safe and secure conditions. These people can now track their bank accounts even on their low-cost mobile phones, and we saved close to $9 billion that used to be pocketed by middlemen earlier. Digital governance is surely good governance. It is very heartening to see the way the WhatsApp movement is gaining traction in the country. People from rural areas who have migrated to cities and towns in search of jobs are increasingly becoming tech-savvy even though they have a limited educational background. They are connecting with their families back in villages through Facebook and WhatsApp.
This is the power of technology and it is quite inspiring to see how ordinary Indians are coming up with various use cases around technologies. I am sure that these new technologies are going to further empower ordinary people. I also believe that the Indian story will be replicated in different parts of the world in one form or the other. My compliments to NASSCOM for coming up with a new skill centre, where the government will partner with the industry in a meaningful manner to re-skill millions of young Indians with new technologies, equipping them with the latest technological know-how. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has already had several discussions with various stakeholders on the subject of AI, its potential in the country and the development of an appropriate technology ecosystem. The IT ministry has also set up four groups to deliberate on various aspects of AI. A committee has been formed to identify data platforms for AI, a second one to focus on leveraging AI, a third committee on mapping technological capabilities and the key policies required in all sectors and a fourth committee on cybersecurity and the legal and ethical issues involved in AI. Cyber platforms must be secure and we have a collective responsibility to ensure that cybersecurity remains the centrepiece of all technology initiatives that the country undertakes. As the prime minister said, the cyber war is a bloodless war. I am, therefore, here to ensure that our cyber walls are safe and secure.