One of the dividends of India’s young demographic is that a large number of Indians are quick adopters of new technologies. The country is supposed to have 62 internet connections per 100 people, though there is a sharp divide in the levels of access between urban and rural areas, and between men and women. The Modi government has launched Digital India, a campaign to improve the country’s digital infrastructure and offer more government services online.
This breakneck growth has come at a cost. Indian citizens are increasingly concerned about data privacy and censorship, and perhaps with good reason given the intention to link Aadhaar ID biometric details to transactions, such as opening bank accounts, obtaining a new phone and filing tax returns. The Supreme Court’s decision to affirm the inalienable right to privacy – or the right to be left alone – in September 2017 does not sit easily with the government’s digital mission, but the agenda is here to stay and many Indian companies are leveraging artificial intelligence, data analytics and machine learning to disrupt their markets and deliver competitive edge.
The next leg of digital progression in countries like India will be driven by frugal innovation, open source software, local language computing, and scalable enterprise solutions for “smart” cities or villages. These are areas in which India has great potential and needs to strengthen infrastructure and train resources.
Automation, big data, IoT and artificial intelligence enabled by the application of digital technologies could transform the Indian economy and improve productivity. The biggest challenge faced by digital evolution in India is the slow/delayed infrastructure development. Spectrum availability in Indian metros is about a tenth of the same in cities in developed countries. This might be prove to be a major roadblock in providing high speed data services. This digital divide also needs to be addressed to improve reach in rural areas. PPP models should be explored to enable sustainable development of digital infrastructure. Also government should incentivize startups for providing last mile connectivity.
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