Today, India is undoubtedly among the Top 3 digital powers in the world in terms of the percentage of digitally involved citizens among the population and the total quantum of businesses and start-ups with a robust digital presence. India has become a densely networked country with 1.2 billion mobile connections and 850 million internet connections, with among the cheapest data costs in the world. Nearly 150,000 gram panchayats have been connected with optic fibre to benefit rural citizens.
India also has the unique distinction of having built population-scale digital public goods (DPGs)—a set of networked, interoperable, multiplatform public utilities like Aadhaar, UPI, e-KYC, Account Aggregator (AA), Open Credit Enablement Network (OCEN), Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) and more—upon which innovators can build world-class apps and platforms using open APIs. This unique public-private partnership model has removed the threat of digital monopolies developing in critical socio-economic areas and led to a flowering of innovation in the country. Human capital is abundantly available, and the DPG platforms are a unique Indian innovation based on a millennia-old cultural ethos of creating knowledge systems for public welfare in the public domain.
As India looks ahead at the next 25 years in the run-up to the 100 years of Indian independence, it is safe to say the country will be at the forefront of the world’s digitalisation and technology democratisation movement. The nation will also ensure that digitalisation continues to underpin India’s socio-economic accomplishments. At a time when a significant amount of capital is entering the technology ecosystem globally, Indian human capital will be the bedrock on which the economy will grow, and India will remain a global leader. By 2025, India will have the most significant number of people working in technology. Population projections indicate this will continue till 2050 as the working-age population in India increases while the rest of the world ages, barring Africa.
As India develops further in the digital world, the nation must invest in future-forward technologies like quantum computing, artificial intelligence, machine learning, 3D printing, genomics, IoT and others where innovation happens in big bursts and which have the capability to improve human productivity and quality of life.
The government must set up policies and direct investment towards the onward movement of India’s digital revolution. The approach must foster innovation, R&D in futuristic technology areas, create a large cohort of Master’s and PhD scholars, and continue developing the DPG networks that are essential for India to grow rapidly and sustainably. When India hits the 100-year mark, there will possibly be three large powers—the US and Europe, India and emerging market partners, and China.
To consolidate and maintain India’s technological leadership globally, there is a need to invest in higher education—to increase access, equity, and affordability and improve the quality of India’s institutions. The nation must focus on producing specialists by expanding the pipeline of PhD and Master’s scholars in science and technology. Premium quality research is also essential to maintaining an innovation pipeline. India lags behind other economies in research and innovation spending and must deploy timely resources to remedy this. Technology will accelerate every socio-economic growth engine, and India cannot afford to fall behind in developing these platforms.
The National Education Policy 2020 provides a future-oriented framework for R&D, including the oft-mentioned National Research Foundation (NRF) with an initial outlay of `50,000 crore over five years. When instituted, the NRF will fund academic research to create the pipeline towards product-isation and deployment of world-class technology, similar to how the US and, more recently, China have maintained their tech leadership.
As a leading power in the digital world, the focus must also include digitally disseminating all government services to all citizens. Citizens must be empowered through devices and data plans to access those services, and critical services like education and health services must be available to anyone seeking them. Overall, the cost of empowering oneself through government services will reduce via technology platforms, reducing the wastage accompanying physical transactions.
India’s technological achievements—particularly in the digital realm—form a formidable base for its trajectory over the next 25 years and beyond. While we can be optimistic about India’s technological prowess and capacity for innovation, we must keep in mind that innovation cycles are reducing drastically. Significant discoveries could crop out of nowhere and make current protocols and frameworks redundant. There is a need to stay vigilant and abreast of the latest findings and invest sufficiently in R&D so that India can remain at the forefront of these advancements.
The writer is Chairman of Aarin Capital Partners. With inputs from Nisha Holla, Technology Fellow at C-CAMP
