About three decades ago, in the idyllic locales of Kerala, I was working in the

traditional fisheries sector. In an attempt to enhance returns for fishermen who

were getting a mere 20% of the market price of fish, we introduced new technology
like fibre-glass crafts and outboard motors and even launched beach level auctions.
However, the greatest challenge which persisted was to open bank accounts for
fishermen in order to streamline payments. In those days, it would take us a
minimum of ten months to chase physical banks and manage to register a single
account holder. Know Your Customer was an alien concept. Cut to 2021, you can walk
into a bank branch and open a bank account in moments with e-KYC and biometrics.
Reducing waiting time from months to minutes, digital transformation has truly
enabled a paradigm shift.
Marking six years of the Digital India initiative, the Prime Minister has aptly
described this to be India�s techade. Technological advancement and rapid
penetration of the internet has integrated over one billion citizens across India
into a common financial, economic and digital ecosystem. With the cheapest data
rates in the world and close to 700 million internet users every 3 seconds a new
Indian user joins the internet. The Union Cabinet has just approved implementation
of Bharat Net through Public Private Partnership in sixteen states with official
fibre connectivity to all inhabited villages. With over a billion plus biometrics,
a billion plus mobiles and almost a billion bank accounts, we have built the
largest identification system in the world mapping the entire population of India.
Till date, 1.29 Billion Aadhar IDs have been generated and 55.97 billion
authentications have been carried out. Bridging the gap between the Government and
citizens has become the bedrock of India�s digitization efforts.
A payment system that connects millions of Indians spanning across the coast of
Gujarat to the farmlands of Uttar Pradesh and the mountains of Sikkim, there is
tremendous opportunity to make UPI a global and scalable architecture for digital
payments. From powering a large corporation to empowering a vegetable seller,
India�s stellar success story in facilitating quick, real time mobile payments has
left the world awestruck. In June 2021, UPI recorded 2.8 billion transactions worth
Rs 5.47 trillion. UPI now has more than double the number of transactions that
American Express does globally. Recently, Google wrote to the US Federal Reserve,
applauding the successful implementation of UPI in India, and recommended the
Federal Reserve System of the USA to draw inspiration from India.
A notable innovation in the Digital India landscape has been the launch of aG2B
(Government To Business) Government e-Marketplace. The GeM portal has successfully
leveraged technology to transform the public procurement landscape. So far, the
portal has crossed the 19.17 lakh seller registration milestone, about 5 times the
number of sellers from last year. Tribal jewellery from Jharkhand, dry-fruits from
Kashmir, dance lessons from Chennai, textiles from Odisha, the intersection of e-
commerce and internet have created a robust ecosystem for Indian products and
businesses to thrive in. The internet has been the greatest enabler for millions of
Indians to scale their passion and produce into businesses and interact with
customers globally. Two key sectors that have received a massive impetus under the
Digital India programme are health and education. These are crucial for improving
the overall quality of lives of Indian citizens and describe a holistic growth
trajectory. In the hinterlands of India, gold coloured beneficiary cards are
considered to be life savers for many, doing away with the various pillars and
posts that one had to run to for equitable access to healthcare. The Pradhan Mantri
Jan Aarogya Yojana (PMJAY) is a unique blend of healthcare and technology and is
the most comprehensive cashless, contactless, paperless and digital health
insurance schemes in the world that covers over 500 million citizens in India,
equivalent to the population of Europe. PMJAY along with the National Digital
Health Mission (NDHM) is massively improving end to end healthcare delivery in
India, inching towards a system that is totally technology-enabled through data-
integration and standardization. An example that truly resounds with this vision
for a connected healthcare system, emerges from an aspirational district in western
Uttar Pradesh. Chitrakoot, in spite of its developmental challenges, has
wonderfully leveraged common service centres, village level entrepreneurs and ASHA
workers to build an effective telemedicine delivery mechanism for all residents of
the district. Under this intervention, patients in remote areas can avail
specialist care without having to travel from their homes to hospitals, saving
considerable time and money.
Digitisation and internet penetration have contributed phenomenally towards
improving learning outcomes for students across India. Primary schools in Nawada, a
remote aspirational district in Bihar are home to SMART classrooms, completely
equipped with digital tools and internet connectivity, bringing knowledge from the
world to Indian villages. The model of SMART classrooms and e-learning has been
rapidly replicated across states, introducing students from rural areas to a whole
new world of learning. During the pandemic, several online learning initiatives
deployed by the government DIKSHA, ePathshala, Swayam played an instrumental role
in ensuring continued education for students in the most remote corners of the
country.
The transformation of India into a digital society and a knowledge economy has
tremendously improved the ease of living for citizens. Universally accessible
digital resources like the India Post which is the largest computerized and
networked postal system in the world, the Ayush Sanjivani application, DigiLocker,
UMANG app, Tele Law for legal advice, the SVANidhi scheme for street vendors and
the launch of 10,000 BPCL CSC points for easy booking of gas cylinders are some of
the tools that are maximising governance and minimising government for Indian
citizens. Another revolutionary product of Digital India is the MyGov platform
which is the world�s largest interactive digital democracy portal promoting
participative governance.
As India moves from being data rich to data intelligent, Machine Learning and AI
will find solutions to a vast number of its challenges water availability, learning
outcomes, health improvement and enhanced agriculture productivity. Going forward,
my belief is that the development of world-class technology products requires
critical inputs from data-hungry young entrepreneurs and an AI-enabling policy
environment. India should nurture an innovative breed of socially conscious and
development oriented product managers, AI scientists, product designers and
software engineers.
Building inclusive technology solutions is about high volumes with the availability
of services at low cost and the convenience of video and voice in vernacular
languages. This requires a full stack design approach keeping in mind the unique
attributes of India�s diversity, with special emphasis on the needs of people
living in remote parts of the country. In order to script an unprecedented success
story of digital transformation, it is imperative to be fully cognisant of the
aspirations and the potential of the population residing in rural and relatively
disconnected parts of India. How we enable and empower the spirit of
entrepreneurship among them so that they leverage technology capabilities and data
to provide solutions for not merely the people of India but the next 5 billion
people of the world who will be moving from poverty to middle class, is going to be
the cornerstone of the next Digital India techade.
About three decades ago, in the idyllic locales of Kerala, I was working in the
traditional fisheries sector. In an attempt to enhance returns for fishermen who
were getting a mere 20% of the market price of fish, we introduced new technology
like fibre-glass crafts and outboard motors and even launched beach level auctions.
However, the greatest challenge which persisted was to open bank accounts for
fishermen in order to streamline payments. In those days, it would take us a
minimum of ten months to chase physical banks and manage to register a single
account holder. Know Your Customer was an alien concept. Cut to 2021, you can walk
into a bank branch and open a bank account in moments with e-KYC and biometrics.
Reducing waiting time from months to minutes, digital transformation has truly
enabled a paradigm shift.
Marking six years of the Digital India initiative, the Prime Minister has aptly
described this to be India�s techade. Technological advancement and rapid
penetration of the internet has integrated over one billion citizens across India
into a common financial, economic and digital ecosystem. With the cheapest data
rates in the world and close to 700 million internet users every 3 seconds a new
Indian user joins the internet. The Union Cabinet has just approved implementation
of Bharat Net through Public Private Partnership in sixteen states with official
fibre connectivity to all inhabited villages. With over a billion plus biometrics,
a billion plus mobiles and almost a billion bank accounts, we have built the
largest identification system in the world mapping the entire population of India.
Till date, 1.29 Billion Aadhar IDs have been generated and 55.97 billion
authentications have been carried out. Bridging the gap between the Government and
citizens has become the bedrock of India�s digitization efforts.
A payment system that connects millions of Indians spanning across the coast of
Gujarat to the farmlands of Uttar Pradesh and the mountains of Sikkim, there is
tremendous opportunity to make UPI a global and scalable architecture for digital
payments. From powering a large corporation to empowering a vegetable seller,
India�s stellar success story in facilitating quick, real time mobile payments has
left the world awestruck. In June 2021, UPI recorded 2.8 billion transactions worth
Rs 5.47 trillion. UPI now has more than double the number of transactions that
American Express does globally. Recently, Google wrote to the US Federal Reserve,
applauding the successful implementation of UPI in India, and recommended the
Federal Reserve System of the USA to draw inspiration from India.
A notable innovation in the Digital India landscape has been the launch of aG2B
(Government To Business) Government e-Marketplace. The GeM portal has successfully
leveraged technology to transform the public procurement landscape. So far, the
portal has crossed the 19.17 lakh seller registration milestone, about 5 times the
number of sellers from last year. Tribal jewellery from Jharkhand, dry-fruits from
Kashmir, dance lessons from Chennai, textiles from Odisha, the intersection of e-
commerce and internet have created a robust ecosystem for Indian products and
businesses to thrive in. The internet has been the greatest enabler for millions of
Indians to scale their passion and produce into businesses and interact with
customers globally. Two key sectors that have received a massive impetus under the
Digital India programme are health and education. These are crucial for improving
the overall quality of lives of Indian citizens and describe a holistic growth
trajectory. In the hinterlands of India, gold coloured beneficiary cards are
considered to be life savers for many, doing away with the various pillars and
posts that one had to run to for equitable access to healthcare. The Pradhan Mantri
Jan Aarogya Yojana (PMJAY) is a unique blend of healthcare and technology and is
the most comprehensive cashless, contactless, paperless and digital health
insurance schemes in the world that covers over 500 million citizens in India,
equivalent to the population of Europe. PMJAY along with the National Digital
Health Mission (NDHM) is massively improving end to end healthcare delivery in
India, inching towards a system that is totally technology-enabled through data-
integration and standardization. An example that truly resounds with this vision
for a connected healthcare system, emerges from an aspirational district in western
Uttar Pradesh. Chitrakoot, in spite of its developmental challenges, has
wonderfully leveraged common service centres, village level entrepreneurs and ASHA
workers to build an effective telemedicine delivery mechanism for all residents of
the district. Under this intervention, patients in remote areas can avail
specialist care without having to travel from their homes to hospitals, saving
considerable time and money.
Digitisation and internet penetration have contributed phenomenally towards
improving learning outcomes for students across India. Primary schools in Nawada, a
remote aspirational district in Bihar are home to SMART classrooms, completely
equipped with digital tools and internet connectivity, bringing knowledge from the
world to Indian villages. The model of SMART classrooms and e-learning has been
rapidly replicated across states, introducing students from rural areas to a whole
new world of learning. During the pandemic, several online learning initiatives
deployed by the government DIKSHA, ePathshala, Swayam played an instrumental role
in ensuring continued education for students in the most remote corners of the
country.
The transformation of India into a digital society and a knowledge economy has
tremendously improved the ease of living for citizens. Universally accessible
digital resources like the India Post which is the largest computerized and
networked postal system in the world, the Ayush Sanjivani application, DigiLocker,
UMANG app, Tele Law for legal advice, the SVANidhi scheme for street vendors and
the launch of 10,000 BPCL CSC points for easy booking of gas cylinders are some of
the tools that are maximising governance and minimising government for Indian
citizens. Another revolutionary product of Digital India is the MyGov platform
which is the world�s largest interactive digital democracy portal promoting
participative governance.
As India moves from being data rich to data intelligent, Machine Learning and AI
will find solutions to a vast number of its challenges water availability, learning
outcomes, health improvement and enhanced agriculture productivity. Going forward,
my belief is that the development of world-class technology products requires
critical inputs from data-hungry young entrepreneurs and an AI-enabling policy
environment. India should nurture an innovative breed of socially conscious and
development oriented product managers, AI scientists, product designers and
software engineers.
Building inclusive technology solutions is about high volumes with the availability
of services at low cost and the convenience of video and voice in vernacular
languages. This requires a full stack design approach keeping in mind the unique
attributes of India�s diversity, with special emphasis on the needs of people
living in remote parts of the country. In order to script an unprecedented success
story of digital transformation, it is imperative to be fully cognisant of the
aspirations and the potential of the population residing in rural and relatively
disconnected parts of India. How we enable and empower the spirit of
entrepreneurship among them so that they leverage technology capabilities and data
to provide solutions for not merely the people of India but the next 5 billion
people of the world who will be moving from poverty to middle class, is going to be
the cornerstone of the next Digital India techade.