2023 - The Technology Year for India
Asoke K Laha, President & MD, Interra Information Technologies
May I wish you all a happy and prosperous New Year. There are predictions that the coming year will be different from the tumultuous years behind us since 2019. I hope the painful years of Covid-19, which shook the entire world, are finally behind us. Yet, no one can deny that those years gave us a unique experience. As the pandemic snowballed into a major economic crisis, countries have started looking inwards to solve the domestic challenges. More expenditure on health and related avenues made poor countries poorer and rich countries more reclusive. Global trade took a severe beating, so also cross country investments, collaborations, mergers and acquisitions in most of the sectors except, perhaps, technology sector, which registered a marvellous growth mostly on account of the exigencies of the pandemic itself. When physical meetings and cross country travel to implement or execute projects had become near impossible, technology took the role to connect people, effect transactions and a lot more, bringing out tectonic changes not alone in the developed world; but even in the least developed pockets. E-money and e-commerce have become the order of the day across the world. Technology assumed the central stage in every discourse and policy implementation. That heralded a new beginning, a new hope and aspiration to excel in technology.
Every segment of technology is now exhibiting a generational change. It is not alone telephony that these changes are happening, Technology is scripting transformation in health, education, manufacturing, transport, infrastructure and what have you. I have a feeling that the historians would peg Covid-19 pandemic as a new cut off time frame, for a new revolution similar to one that had happened during the stone, bronze and iron ages, that dot the prehistoric period. Technology is the cornerstone for dividing history into various stages.
Everyone knows this present computer age also will merge with the past as we progress and a new set of technologies take wings that can disrupt the accumulated knowledge and pave the way for a new age thinking and evolution of new standards, which can dub the computer age into the lap of history and try to define new set of rules and algorithms.
From the abstract, let me dwell on something that is unfolding under our very eyes. We often hear about Starlink, the technology that is said to revolutionize communication technology. For the uninitiated, let me describe briefly what it is. Elon Musk’s project implemented by his company SpaceX, uses rotating satellites for communications, a sort of revolution and as analysts put it an improvisation over the omnipresent internet. Billed as a satellite internet constellation, which was launched in 2019, the technology provides satellite Internet access coverage to 45 countries. The footprint will be gradually expanded to cover the whole world. The satellites deploy the power-generating solar arrays and use ion engines to climb to an altitude of 335 miles (540 kilometers). The orbit-raising maneuvers can take time between weeks and a few months. The ultra -speed of the internet can make a huge difference in the coverage, particularly creating connectivity with far flung areas and cut off rural segments.
Starlink satellite constellation has distinct advantages, apart from the huge landmass it can cover with connectivity. They include self-Installation, better speed and to a great extent immune to climatic changes. I expect going by the marketing strategy and financial backing the company has, in a few years’ time world over people would refer to Starlink and not the internet, though technically it is a clone of the internet.
Digital transformation is taking place in almost all domains, be it in aerospace, health, manufacturing, education or media and entertainment. Those individuals, businesses or countries, which are increasingly putting to use such technologies for the welfare of mankind are surging ahead. Countries which have put the technology in the backburner are paying great price for that. Let us take a simple example of roads, which I believe, speaks in volume the prosperity of a country and its businesses. In the modern times, internet connectivity is an added facility that everyone looks forward to.
Business and technology are inseparable. Corporations that are investing in automation using artificial intelligence, machine language, utilizing cloud services, data mining etc. have been ticking against companies which refuse to move in the value chain. I have a unique hypothesis in this regard developed based on my experiences. Let me take the Indian scene. Some forty years ago, the Indian corporate landscape was dotted with a number of names, which the present generation would have seldom heard. If you take the first twenty companies based on assets, sales, turnover, investments, employee strength etc , there were a few names which stood out including Modis, Singhania, Khaitan, UB Group, SPIC and the list goes on. Where are those corporations now? Most of them are now either extinct or on the backburner. What had happened to them? A few corporations like Tatas, and a branch of Birla and that is Aditya Birla Group are still in the reckoning. The reason could be their drive to adopt modern business practices and investment in technology. Should we not inquire into what happened to those big names of yester years to find out what went wrong in our corporate sector? Why do the biggies of yester years fade out? What led to a few corporations like Tatas and Aditya Birla could stand the ground while the rest of the corporations are either bitten dust or not in the reckoning? What made relatively new corporations like Ambanis and Adanis surge ahead? Why do the new crops of businesses like Infosys, Wipro etc, which were unknown and unheard three decades ago, register quick growth? Such studies, I am sure, will give insights about our corporate landscape, past and present and tips on how to move ahead.
I still have a feeling that there is still room for overhauling our policy framework to make our corporations more competitive to create a level playing field for them vis a vis their competitors from abroad. In the white goods sector, I do not think there is any Indian company which has substantial exposure and sales compared to corporations like Samsung, LG, etc. It is a fact that many of the Indian companies, which were producing TVs and computers in the country have either become suppliers to the large corporations or wound up their operations. Can we revive some of the companies, which have the fire in their belly to rough up vicissitudes of uncertainties? Empower them to develop the technology by giving them liberal incentives and asking them to show results. Such perquisites should be neutral to sectors and domains. It should not be something that only biggies can avail, but also businesses of all sizes and hues. Should we exclude software development companies from getting such incentives, which the government has consistently overlooked without any justification. Friends, I also will have some advantages if software solution entities are included in the list to be granted incentives. That is a minor issue. What is compelling is the larger issue of India becoming a technology leader.
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