Why digital transformation in India is an OPPORTUNITY, not a threat?
In India, the Covid-19-induced lockdown has hastened digital transformation while maintaining business continuity. India is presently the world's second-fastest-digitizing economy and is becoming a worldwide force. The country has emerged as a future leader in digital solutions, thanks to enormous investment in new technologies and a large internet market driven by 560 million connected customers. "India is leapfrogging into the Fourth Industrial Revolution," according to Harvard University academics.
In India, the corporate automation and digital transformation market is booming, with both domestic and foreign companies expanding their digital services while cultivating indigenous talent and solutions. Hitachi Vantara has been developing locally in order to deliver solutions to the worldwide market in data storage, analytics, IoT, and consultancy, as well as to capture a significant portion of the Indian market, which it considers to be very differentiated and vast.
Digital Transformation has unlocked a world of opportunities.
Digital is not a new concept in India, and the country was among the first to adopt it, with penetration beginning in 2003. However, things have taken off in the post-2013 period, with data usage increasing dramatically since then. India has one of the world's largest mobile phone user bases and the cheapest data costs for customers, with data costs falling by more than 80% since 2013.
Banking and finance, e-commerce, food tech, platforms for hospitality and mobility, retail, and marriage matchmaking are just a few of the sectors that have seized the lead in the subcontinent. Online education, and to a lesser extent, agriculture. It's not just business and the big sectors that have used digital technology. We can today see it on every street and in every home, with ordinary people adopting digital technology and incorporating them into their daily lives, whether it's financial transactions, grocery shopping, learning online, looking for suitable marriage partners, entertainment & news, or conversing, the internet has made everything easier.
In today's fast-paced world, there is little doubt that digital transformation is a critical component of the poverty-fighting platform. Digital transformation must be coordinated with a number of other aspects, including education, female empowerment, skill development, financial inclusion, and positive effect policies for the impoverished. The bottom line is that when it comes to implementation, Digital Transformation is a significant facilitator for many of these policies.
Throughout the pandemic, India's technology industry demonstrated remarkable resilience, making exemplary progress toward recovery. Our early investments in world-class infrastructure, strong industry collaboration, and our people's resilience and innovation have kept us on a solid footing with clients. The pandemic has accelerated digital adoption across industries, and we see a growing appetite for digital transformation services, an increased focus on automation, and AI industrialization driving growth.
Digitalization for some is about Indian tech start-ups like Zomato, Ola, and Urban Company that are redefining how we consume goods and services; for others, it's about the legendary tech services companies like TCS, Infosys, and the like that have built India's mammoth $200 billion tech sector; for many, it's about the power of social media and how it's giving every Indian a voice; and for others, it's about the increasing ease of use as more services, including government facilities, go online—UPI payments, Direct Benefit Transfers through Aadhaar, CoWin for vaccination, etc.
India's 20-plus public digital platforms have successfully scaled across multiple citizen services while also contributing to the development of a thriving tech start up ecosystem that makes good use of this digital infrastructure. The rise of public digital platforms also represents a fruitful collaboration between the government and Indian industry in addressing critical socio-economic challenges.
According to a BCG report, open digital ecosystems today have the potential to unlock $700 billion in opportunities for India by 2030. The environmental, societal, and governance (ECG) impact across sectors such as healthcare, talent, urban governance, agriculture, law and justice, education, and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) can generate new value in excess of $500 billion and save the country more than $200 billion.
From allowing farmers to sell their products through e-commerce platforms to facilitating education and healthcare in our country's most remote areas, digitalization provides enormous transformative opportunities for India. The upcoming National Digital Health Mission: Universal Health Initiative, for example, has the potential to transform the country's healthcare services.
The country must capitalise on its digital advantage and shift toward a more data-driven governance structure. This is rapidly changing, with India's technology industry pivoting to become the world's digital solutions partner. Digital India, in my opinion, is the triage of digital tech solutions, digital talent, and large-scale digital platforms.
The prevailing challenge:
With an increased adoption of digital activities and digitised platforms, consumers have adapted to cashless digital payments when conducting business transactions. The proliferation of data, combined with the increased use of smart phones and technologies for transactions, has increased the opportunities for hackers to commit cyber fraud.
The main reason for this surge in cyber-attacks could be a significant increase in online activity as a result of the lockdown imposed to combat the Covid-19 pandemic situation. A lack of awareness about the importance of adequate cybersecurity was also a factor.
Conclusion
We all should adopt the mission to spread awareness about cybercrime and building its relevant capacity, as large segments of the population are still unaware of how to combat cybercrime. We must expand outreach programmes for our citizens, millennials, and professionals. To generate awareness on cybercrime and appropriate remedies, awareness creation should begin at the school level and involve intermediaries such as telecom and internet service providers. A much more proactive initiative, including collaboration with stakeholders across the ecosystem, will make India much more capable and prepared for cyber threats, with security becoming a core component and channel of a business plan rather than a reminiscence.
Nonetheless, the Digital India brand remains compelling, as it is linked to the aspirations of hundreds of millions of young Indians, as well as the technologists and entrepreneurs who truly believe in the transformative power of digitalisation.
The country's USD 200 billion digital economy is also an important part of its global outreach, as are the various permutations and combinations of new regional and international partnerships in which it is now involved. As India attempts to recover from a deadly pandemic, its digital growth story, with all of its ups and downs, will remain an important part of its role on the global stage.
In India, the corporate automation and digital transformation market is booming, with both domestic and foreign companies expanding their digital services while cultivating indigenous talent and solutions. Hitachi Vantara has been developing locally in order to deliver solutions to the worldwide market in data storage, analytics, IoT, and consultancy, as well as to capture a significant portion of the Indian market, which it considers to be very differentiated and vast.
Digital Transformation has unlocked a world of opportunities.
Digital is not a new concept in India, and the country was among the first to adopt it, with penetration beginning in 2003. However, things have taken off in the post-2013 period, with data usage increasing dramatically since then. India has one of the world's largest mobile phone user bases and the cheapest data costs for customers, with data costs falling by more than 80% since 2013.
Banking and finance, e-commerce, food tech, platforms for hospitality and mobility, retail, and marriage matchmaking are just a few of the sectors that have seized the lead in the subcontinent. Online education, and to a lesser extent, agriculture. It's not just business and the big sectors that have used digital technology. We can today see it on every street and in every home, with ordinary people adopting digital technology and incorporating them into their daily lives, whether it's financial transactions, grocery shopping, learning online, looking for suitable marriage partners, entertainment & news, or conversing, the internet has made everything easier.
In today's fast-paced world, there is little doubt that digital transformation is a critical component of the poverty-fighting platform. Digital transformation must be coordinated with a number of other aspects, including education, female empowerment, skill development, financial inclusion, and positive effect policies for the impoverished. The bottom line is that when it comes to implementation, Digital Transformation is a significant facilitator for many of these policies.
Throughout the pandemic, India's technology industry demonstrated remarkable resilience, making exemplary progress toward recovery. Our early investments in world-class infrastructure, strong industry collaboration, and our people's resilience and innovation have kept us on a solid footing with clients. The pandemic has accelerated digital adoption across industries, and we see a growing appetite for digital transformation services, an increased focus on automation, and AI industrialization driving growth.
Digitalization for some is about Indian tech start-ups like Zomato, Ola, and Urban Company that are redefining how we consume goods and services; for others, it's about the legendary tech services companies like TCS, Infosys, and the like that have built India's mammoth $200 billion tech sector; for many, it's about the power of social media and how it's giving every Indian a voice; and for others, it's about the increasing ease of use as more services, including government facilities, go online—UPI payments, Direct Benefit Transfers through Aadhaar, CoWin for vaccination, etc.
India's 20-plus public digital platforms have successfully scaled across multiple citizen services while also contributing to the development of a thriving tech start up ecosystem that makes good use of this digital infrastructure. The rise of public digital platforms also represents a fruitful collaboration between the government and Indian industry in addressing critical socio-economic challenges.
According to a BCG report, open digital ecosystems today have the potential to unlock $700 billion in opportunities for India by 2030. The environmental, societal, and governance (ECG) impact across sectors such as healthcare, talent, urban governance, agriculture, law and justice, education, and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) can generate new value in excess of $500 billion and save the country more than $200 billion.
From allowing farmers to sell their products through e-commerce platforms to facilitating education and healthcare in our country's most remote areas, digitalization provides enormous transformative opportunities for India. The upcoming National Digital Health Mission: Universal Health Initiative, for example, has the potential to transform the country's healthcare services.
The country must capitalise on its digital advantage and shift toward a more data-driven governance structure. This is rapidly changing, with India's technology industry pivoting to become the world's digital solutions partner. Digital India, in my opinion, is the triage of digital tech solutions, digital talent, and large-scale digital platforms.
The prevailing challenge:
With an increased adoption of digital activities and digitised platforms, consumers have adapted to cashless digital payments when conducting business transactions. The proliferation of data, combined with the increased use of smart phones and technologies for transactions, has increased the opportunities for hackers to commit cyber fraud.
The main reason for this surge in cyber-attacks could be a significant increase in online activity as a result of the lockdown imposed to combat the Covid-19 pandemic situation. A lack of awareness about the importance of adequate cybersecurity was also a factor.
Conclusion
We all should adopt the mission to spread awareness about cybercrime and building its relevant capacity, as large segments of the population are still unaware of how to combat cybercrime. We must expand outreach programmes for our citizens, millennials, and professionals. To generate awareness on cybercrime and appropriate remedies, awareness creation should begin at the school level and involve intermediaries such as telecom and internet service providers. A much more proactive initiative, including collaboration with stakeholders across the ecosystem, will make India much more capable and prepared for cyber threats, with security becoming a core component and channel of a business plan rather than a reminiscence.
Nonetheless, the Digital India brand remains compelling, as it is linked to the aspirations of hundreds of millions of young Indians, as well as the technologists and entrepreneurs who truly believe in the transformative power of digitalisation.
The country's USD 200 billion digital economy is also an important part of its global outreach, as are the various permutations and combinations of new regional and international partnerships in which it is now involved. As India attempts to recover from a deadly pandemic, its digital growth story, with all of its ups and downs, will remain an important part of its role on the global stage.
