Digital Technology

Digital technology is not new to India. Indians taught the world how to use the technology but we were skeptical and did not fully implement it. Remember the first email was given by none other than Sameer Bhatia with the id of hotmail.com. Indians and specially Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal realized the potential of digital technology during their last campaigns in their respective elections. Finally, now realizing the power of digital technology Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced from the ramparts of Red Fort on Independence Day the Digital India initiative.

It was said that one way to root out corruption from our system is to implement the use of plastic money and it will also check, to a great extent, the counterfeit money. But India being a rural based country having around 2/3 of the total population engaged in agriculture, they have limited access to banking facilities and even education.

Drenched in poverty they do not have sufficient fund in reserve to operate plastic money. Rather it is a situation of hand to mouth survival only with cash transaction.

However, Govt. is focusing on Digital areas in an attempt towards gradual upliftment in the standard of living & quality of life of the population. Recent Govt. drive encouraging people to open bank accounts is not likely to achieve overnight a cashless economy. The people especially in rural areas are habituated to cash transactions & it will take years to change their mind set.

As such, cashless transactions cannot be achieved in short span & will take time. Even in US 65% of the payments are still in cash as per western union President & CEO Hixmet Ersek.

Communication is the backbone of any activity. It is amazing to know how the Information Communication Technology (ICT) has revolutionized the business world beyond recognition. It has affected every aspect of human life in the positive sense. It has changed the pace and face of business.

It is a very vast subject and there are thousands of areas where ICT can be used. It is not possible in this blog to talk about all the areas. But a look at some of the areas will prove how the changes have touched human lives. The effective communication due to the advent of information technology, the agricultural industry has benefitted. The quality of agricultural research, training, education and extension has improved due to the advent of ICT. The farmers have received much needed timely help in crop production technology, inputs, seed technology, processing, agro finance, market support and agri-business. The productivity of major crops has improved to the extent that India is not only self-sufficient in feeding 125 million mouths but also exporting food grains to many countries. The digital India initiative will ensure that the small and marginal farmers also reap the benefits of communication technology.

Digital technology has revolutionized the education sector. The class room teachings have paved the way to virtual class rooms. The virtual class rooms have state of the art infrastructure. This has resulted in students studying in one country, attending virtual classes held in another part of the world. The students therefore, can get degrees from the top universities of world by studying in virtual class rooms.

It has given altogether a new meaning to teaching and learning technology. Through MOOCS initiative, education is imparted, in almost all the subjects, to students and teachers without much cost. These students are also awarded certificates of completion of the course from top universities of the world.

The health and social care sector has also benefited tremendously from the digital technology but it has lagged behind other industries in using technology. There are many opportunities as well as barriers in using the technology in health and social care sector. One of the inhibiting factors is the exorbitant cost involved the wellness sector.

Simple to use, low cost health apps are available on smart phones through which one can monitor one’s health parameters and take timely action. Efforts are being made to make it cost effective.

Digital India initiative, no doubt, can fulfill the ambitions and aspirations of Indians.

Dr. Avtar Singh Sethi

Professor and Head

Dept. of Management Studies