Interplay of technology

PREETI SINHA

Senior President & Global Convenor

YES Institute, YES BANK Ltd

The world is today closely connected through faster than ever communication channels and means of travel. The interplay of advanced communication technology, energy systems and automation is driving change in all spheres. Much of this change has been catalysed by the digital revolution which is now penetrating to the masses with the potential to impact the lives of millions at the bottom of the pyramid. Let’s revisit some data points to understand the digital development merics.

The penetration of mobile phones has reached to a level where nearly One billion people in the country have access to mobile phones. Internet penetration is at a more sedate 20 per cent but is growing at an exponential rate. In economic terms, the age of Digital Revolution has ushered a new breath of growth across the world; the World Bank predicts that a 1.38 per cent increase in GDP for every 10 per cent increase in broadband penetration.

Connectivity is increasing becoming ubiquitous even in rural geographies of the country where people are harnessing the power of communication to connect with the world. However, the rural-urban digital divide still exists. Though the country has made considerable progress towards the path of ubiquitous broadband service, 80 per cent of the country is oblivious to the advantages of being connected. It is imperative that a country’s digital infrastructure is in sync with the best in the world to prepare it for the coming opportunities and challenges. This is especially true of countries like India, which are at a relatively lower level of economic and human development and are aspiring to move higher on the development ladder. The National Optic Fiber Network (NOFN) envisages to extend connectivity to all 250,000 Gram Panchayats in the country; however the real challenge lies in the last mile connectivity and increased broadband adoption rate. Multiple models for last mile connectivity, such as satellite, drones, balloons, to spread Internet access need to be pursued, piloted and implemented to reach the last man standing.

Digitisation provides a strong tool to enable smart governance and streamlined provision of social services with integration of citizen participation and feedback. The use of the ubiquitous mobile as banking medium has acted as a universal architecture for open access to banking transactions and has powered the JAM Trinity (Jan Dhan- Aadhaar-Mobile) to cover 310 million direct beneficiaries in a very short timeframe. Mobile telephony has also added wings to the Jan Dhan accounts which have become the base for creation of a social security net for the population through insurance and pension schemes like the PM Suraksha Bima Yojana, PM Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, Atal Pension Yojana and the proposed universal health insurance scheme. In banking parlance, for instance, a growth of 5 per cent in cashless transactions has the potential to save more than Rs. 500 crore annually; financial institutions therefore have the opportunity to spearhead the Digital India Plan to seize new opportunities of socially responsible yet sustainable business growth.

Direct benefit transfer is not the only socio-economic gains enabled by digital transformation through the mobile. Let’s see some key areas where digital transformation enabled through mobile technology can create immense positive externalities.

First, digital empowerment through mobile can be a game changer in increasing farmer incomes and community outreach. A good example for community outreach through mobile connectivity would be the recent launch of the ambitious IT-enabled advisory service ‘m-Kisan’ by the Union ministry of agriculture. The portal offers region-specific and crop-specific information to farmers on their mobile phones, even if they don’t have Internet facility on their handsets or can’t afford to buy high-end smartphones at the nominal charge of Rs 6 a month. The programme strengthens farmer-extension-expert-linkages in India. Access to information about input dealers, farm machinery, pricing from APMCs/Mandi’s, fertilizer and other dealers at a click on your mobile enables the farmer to make informed decisions, thus maximising their profits and cutting down losses on account of bottlenecks in the supply chain. The government is also looking at providing livestock information to non-farming livelihoods, including small scale dairy, poultry and goat farming. If implemented well, this alone has the potential to bring large scale ICT impact on Indian farm sector.

Secondly, digital healthcare solutions enabled through mobile technology can play a critical role in improving access and quality of healthcare provision. Digital interventions through mobile devices are already making the ANM (Auxiliary Nurse Midwife) a pillar of primary healthcare provision by raising the productivity and efficiency of the manpower and enabling development of a national health profile. The tele-health developments are going to be a boon for a country like India where rural healthcare delivery is a huge challenge. The gap on account of lack of infrastructure and shortage of qualified medical practitioners in rural/remote areas can be addressed partly through mobile technology interventions.

Third, policy interventions are required to harness the potential of our educated rural human capital. Some of the enablers in this regard could be extension of digital access through open source software, facilitation of BPOs at village level and e-development fund to promote creation of intellectual property. The much awaited launch of the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) through the ‘Swayam’ portal could also provide a big fillip to device agnostic online learning and increase the level of educational attainment significantly.

Finally, governance itself can be vastly improvised through the application of digitisation via mobile phone platforms. Both access and quality of governance can be improved by use of digital medium. The government of India launched National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) to make all government services available to its citizens via electronic media. Some of the other noticeable aspects of governance measures include government portals like MyGov.in, national scholarship portal (vidyalakshmi.in), value added financial services like digital locker and digital signatures.

The flow of information, money, employment and connectivity via mobile networks is going to surprise us with its unlimited boundaries in years to come. e-commerce, e-governance and e-communication powered through mobiles would increase exponentially, driving efficiencies, convenience and transparency. The only gap to plug remains the reliability of mobile networks for making efficient use of services on a timely basis. There are already serious innovations on the anvil harnessing the power of digitisation in every sphere of commercial life, and social development is the final frontier ripe for transformation. YES Institute strongly believes that sustained communication and dissemination of digital services and their benefits are quintessential for unifying them as a way of life of an average citizen and fully capture the multiple benefits. India’s emergence as a mass knowledge economy can be catalysed by the digitisation drive undertaken by the government along with all stakeholders.