Technology and Innovation as motivators of Economic and Social Changes An evaluation of the Indian Model Presented By: Mr. Saurabh Mehta Managing Director, Avani Cimcon Technologies Ltd.
Dec 22, 2015
Technology and Innovation as motivators of
Economic and Social Changes
An evaluation of the Indian Model
Presented By: Mr. Saurabh Mehta
Managing Director, Avani Cimcon Technologies Ltd.
Scenario
India is slowly becoming one big wired village
Society is becoming more aware, more demanding and
making informed decisions.
Technology is moving into every aspect of the social fabric
Business, Governments and people are adapting and
optimizing technology for growth
The Paradox: Big differences and a long way to go but
things are moving in the right direction
There were no models that India could readily borrow, because the economic development in the context of its diversity and democratic set-up is unique.
It had to learn and develop its own model . This meant creating and multidisciplinary collaborations from the conceptual level.
Effective public-private, private-private, public-public collaboration is a major success factor for absorption of technology
Indians are innovative, flexible and adaptable. Given a more or less free environment they have been able to create an platform conducive to growth and prosperity
Historical Perspective
India has strong science and mathematical tradition
Arya Bhata to Information Technology
Traditional and modern education systems encourage
scientific temper
Indian scientists and engineers have been academically very
successful, quantitatively and qualitatively
Average Indian family spends much of its resources on
children’s education
Current Technology and Industry scenario
Maturing IT industry climbing the ladder of new technology
Bio and chemical sectors thriving; medical tourism, KPO
businesses taking off
Outsourcing taking off in all verticals, IT, Telecom,
Automobile, Pharma R&D……
Internationalization of Indian business
Multitude of Govt. departments, institutes, universities
engaged in a mind boggling variety of projects
Science and Technology Policy: Benefits to all
Govt, institutes, Universities
Technologies , products and
servicesBenefits , goods, services, security
Business, craftsmen, NGOs,
other local infrastructure
Common man
Funds, human capital, knowledge
resources
Deals with everything – Policy, Strategy and Implementation
Political Speak
Dr. Abdul Kalam (Past President and an eminent rocket scientist)
“ …In a world where the powers are determined by their share of
knowledge…it is important for India to put her acts together to
become a continuous innovator and creator of S&T products …”
Dr.Manmohan Singh (Prime Minister of India, eminent economist)
“ …science must grapple with key challenges ..increasing population,
greater health risks, degraded natural resources and dwindling
farmlands… we need new science and technology, new paradigms to
address fundamental challenges
Mr.Kapil Sibal Minister for Science and Technology
“ …India is in a position to engage in the global knowledge economy
rather than remaining on the margins “
The Vision and the Dream
India 2006-2010Focus – Growth and build
India 2010-2020Focus – Delivery to all
India 2020-2050Focus - Global leadership
through knowledge revolution
Acquire necessary Science and Technology in most efficient manner.
Indigenous or otherwise.
Make better use of the “leapfrog” technologies.
International quality benchmarks and best practices in local market
Provide qualitative and quantitative advantages to the Technology and
Innovative companies
Provide Tax breaks for R&D expenses.
Introduce technology entrepreneurship at school level
Short and medium term strategiesFocus-dissemination and delivery
Separate R&D, technology and delivery processes
Decentralize Science and Technology infrastructure,
Put industrial R&D, in private hands,
Provide incentives for setting knowledge base institutions for learning.
Make sustainability a mandatory criteria
International agreements for sharing leadership benefits.
Validate every major international agreement for technology implications (e.g. WTO, Kyoto protocol, FTAs)
Long term strategiesFocus-global leadership
Role of Education
Huge pool of literate people, even with 40% literacy India has 400
million people, Bigger then the population of most countries
Just 10% educated workforce would make it 100 million people
available for work.
Every year India adds more then half a million technology
graduates
Largest pool of English speaking educated people, legacy of a
colonial past
Growth of technology has allowed audio video education to
penetrate to rural areas and this is going to incrementally increase
educated manpower.
Telecommunication and Wireless in India
Wireless moving at a blistering pace Cell phones at ~ 250 million
Lowest cell tariff (voice calls) in the world, ~ 2 cents a minute
SMS: Very popular in India –> Used widely for business even more then email
India overtakes U.S to become 2nd Largest Wireless Network in the world
July 2008 has set an all time record with addition of 9.22 million wireless subscribers.
Revolution has left no one untouched, from the farm to the cities
Communications: Digital Media
Wide spread use of technology, unfettered media
Involvement of the common man in issues of interest
Increasing expectations and demands
Bridging the divide in terms of exposure and understanding
Awareness that there is a big different world out there
Allows for more informed decisions
Satellite channels has brought about a complete revolution
Communications: Internet
Extremely cost effective Broadband provided at ~$6 a month in urban areas and cheaper still in rural areas
The number of broadband subscribers in India stands at 8 mn. growth is mainly coming from Wired DSL Broadband
DOT has a target of 20mn+ for 2010
This increase in subscriber numbers will see the momentum spread to other Web / Internet sectors.
Literally every town in India is provided broadband coverage either wired or wireless
Outsourcing
Inflow of monies into the country
Inflow of existing technology
R&D outsourcing brings in knowledge
Outsourcing leads to increase in Salaries of employees
Manpower intensive outsourcing allows for distribution of income
Increases the spending power, adds more jobs, grows other
businesses
Money, international exposure, knowledge, processes, technology
etc.
Gujarat State Wide Area Network (GSWAN)
Establish a reliable horizontal and vertical communication corridor in the state
Enable the state administration and the government to be more productive
Enables electronic record keeping
Allows for electronic transactions
Achieve e-governance commitment
Brings governance closer to the people
Strengthens the disaster management capacity
E-Mitra (Friend), A project by Rajasthan Government
E-Mitra - an integrated e-governance project that aims to
provide all government information and services to rural and
urban masses through e-enabled centers and kiosks
Project being implemented on PPP model
Aims:
Improving service delivery to all stakeholders
Back end Computerization
IT Infrastructure Creation
Human Resource Development
Internet Kiosks
Local Entrepreneur Equipment Computer Printer Battery backup Web-cam Speakers, Microphone Connectivity Antenna assembly
Cost of setting up a village Kiosk - $1,000
A village kiosk consists of:
Services provided
education
Emails
Information
International VOIP calls
Entertainment
Connectivity to the village
Features of the Innovation
Developed by the TecNet group of IIT-Madras
Deployed in rural kiosks in collaboration with ICICI bank
Deposits, withdrawal, and loans Cost: $800/=
Conventional ATM costs $15,000/=
Uses extremely low cost finger print authentication
system ($1/=)
Use of plastic ID cards “smart or otherwise” not viable in
rural areas
The Model in Action
‘e-Choupal’ leverages Information Technology to virtually cluster all the
value chain participants, delivering the same benefits as vertical
integration does in mature agricultural economies like the USA.
‘e-Choupal’ makes use of the physical transmission capabilities of current
intermediaries – aggregation, logistics, counter-party risk and bridge
financing –while disintermediating them from the chain of information flow
and market signals
With a judicious blend of click & mortar capabilities, village internet kiosks
managed by farmers themselves, enable the agricultural community access
ready information in their local language on the weather & market prices
Allows for dissemination of knowledge on scientific farm practices & risk
management, facilitate the sale of farm inputs and sales
Real-time information and customized knowledge enhance the ability of
decision making and their farm output with market demand
Gives farmers access to high quality inputs from established and reputed
manufacturers at fair prices.
As a direct marketing channel, virtually linked to the ‘mandi’ system for
price discovery, ‘e-Choupal’ eliminates wasteful intermediation and
multiple handling. Thereby it significantly reduces transaction costs
‘e-Choupal’ ensures world-class quality in delivering all these goods &
services through several product / service specific partnerships with the
leaders in the respective fields, in addition to ITC’s own expertise
Farmers benefit through enhanced farm productivity and higher farm gate
prices, ITC benefits from the lower net cost of procurement
Technology and Innovation: Examples
Technology of E-ticket enabled Air Deccan to start its services;
Today we have fleet or low cost carriers.
Big impact on the full fare carriers who had to lower their costs
Allowed for E-Ticket reduces the costs and middleman commissions.
Innovation and providing a One Rupee sachet for shampoo
Changed industry way of doing business
Volumes have gone through the roof
Focus was to get to the people who have very little money on hand
Micro Finance which a mix of technology and innovation
Brought about a major revolution in the social fabric
Enabled millions of people to get a loan and start something of their own
Loans for poor starting from USD 100 to start home business like buying
a goat, buy vegetables to sell them etc.
Less than 5% delinquency and always profitable.
More Cases
Technology has enabled online booking of Indian RailwaysThe largest rail network in the worldCarries the maximum passengers in the worldFor most it is the only mode of long distance transportationBooking has moved to the internetFuelled growth of credit cards
Technology has brought IT outsourcing:Led to larger disposable incomesIncreased spending habits Increased movement o money through economyIncreased job opportunitiesInflow of foreign money into the countryPercolation of monies into the economy
Urban/Rural Growth
Growth of Urban centers like Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad
Inflow of residents in all al walks of life not only technology
India a family oriented system, Urban money has started
percolating into rural economy
Growth of secondary cities taking place as first tier cities become
too expensive and crowded
Stated themselves become competitive in attracting business
As technology becomes available in rural areas low tech business
moves rural, ultimately benefits percolate to all
Conclusion
There is a lot happening but there is a lot to be done
India is in the phase of high growth but control mechanisms
are still evolving
Social and Economic benefits are being seen in all strata of
society
We are a very large country and have a very large population
We still have a long way to go for all our people to benefit
We are moving exponentially and there is no turning back