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The IT industry has played a significant role in
enhancing the Indian economy, besides putting India on the global map.
Looking back, the Government of India (GoI) has
launched several policies for the development of science and technology. The
beginning was made with the 1958 scientific policy resolution; later the 1983
technology policy statement; followed by the 2003 science and technology
policy, and eventually the 2013 science, technology and innovation policy. GoI
from time to time has introduced various policies and measures to encourage the
growth of the IT industry. Being government initiatives, many of these measures
have been scalable for mass reach.
The IT industry began to open up post 1990s. Over
time, the industry has contributed significantly to the country’s gross
domestic product (GDP). As per NASSCOM’s 2020 Report titled Strategic Review —
‘Techade: The New Decade,’ the IT-BPM industry generates $191bn in terms of
revenue and is hiring 205,000 new employees in FY 2020. As part of the report,
NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Services Companies) has announced
that the IT services sector has garnered the highest revenue of $97bn, with a
growth of 6.7 per cent, followed by e-commerce which stood at $54bn. The sector
generated exports of over $147bn in terms of revenue in FY2020, growing at
8.1 per cent from the previous year.
A noticeable trend that happened last year was the
continued focus on digital revenues, which grew by over 23 per cent.
Again, it is a testimony to the prominence digital technologies and systems
that are gaining across portfolios. Investing in digital skills continues to rise
as an imperative for the industry. Organisations will build their capabilities
and align business models to digital practices as up to 28 per
cent of organisational revenues was recorded for digital segment. Indian
enterprises spent over $2bn domestically to accelerate digital transformation.
The IT industry has evolved from an outsourcing
segment to a digitally enabled transformative sector. From mere programming,
the software professionals have scaled up to customise top-class software
development services for global clients. The thrust is on improving business
performance, increasing productivity and enhancing customer experience.
Seen realistically, a confluence of factors have
made the IT industry what it is today. Just as the IT industry has contributed towards
the GDP, GoI on its part has set up IT clusters and generated jobs through
e-governance. Another differentiator is the time gap between India and US. The
12-hour gap makes it ideal for outsourcing work.
The fact that India is home to a large English-speaking
talent pool is reason enough for global IT companies to strengthen their India
relations. They’ve gone beyond outsourcing by establishing development centres
(DCs) and R&D units in India. The focus is on verticals like
software/internet, telecom, semiconductor and automotive. Along with IT firms,
tech startups too have contributed to the growth of the industry as they have
fine-tuned their offerings to meet the demands of global clients.
Every sector has integrated technology and this
includes manufacturing, finance, banking, marketing, entertainment and
education, among other applications. As against this background, it’s no
surprise that the number of engineering colleges has increased and has spread
to tier-city locations as well.
Indian born telecom engineer-inventor-entrepreneur
Sam Pitroda is credited for laying the foundation of the country’s telecom
industry. Pitroda began by working closely with the then Prime Minister Rajiv
Gandhi to establish the Center for the Development of Telematics (C-DOT).
Subsequently several measures were implemented to make telephone lines
available for rural and urban Indians.
From landline phones, GoI set out on an ambitious
task of providing broadband connectivity to the gram panchayats (these are
local self-government institution at the village level, whose head is the focal
point of contact between government officers and the village community).
BharatNet, GoI’s flagship project will link each of
the 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats through optical fibre network in a phased manner.
This is the largest rural connectivity project of its kind in the world and is
the first pillar of Digital India Programme. It will facilitate the delivery of
various e-services and applications including e-health, eeducation, e-governance
and e-commerce in the future.
GoI’s 2018 National Digital Communications Policy
has set certain goals to be achieved by 2022. The intent is to provide
broadband for all. Also on the agenda is to create four million additional jobs
in the digital communications sector. It is hoped to enhance the contribution
of the digital communications sector to 8 per cent of India’s GDP from
6 per cent in 2017.
As indicated in the Department of Telecommunication
(DoT) website, India is currently the world’s second-largest telecommunications
market with a subscriber base of 1,189.28 million (of which mobile telephone
connections are 1,168.32 million and landline telephone connections are 20.96
million). The number of Internet subscribers (both broadband and narrowband put
together) now stands at 665.31 million as of June 2019.
With 4G networks, data consumption is expected to
increase drastically as consumers download content and enhance the e-commerce
segment with online purchase.
The fifth generation of mobile network communication
technology or 5G holds the promise of applications with high social and
economic value, leading to a ‘hyper-connected society’ in which technology will
play an even more important role in people’s lives. The network data speed and
downloads will be exponentially high. 5G will also add a new dimension to the
missions like Digital India and Smart Cities. Many mobile companies are
preparing to launch 5G phones in the country.
GoI envisages positioning India as a globally
synchronized participant in the design, development and manufacturing of 5G
based technologies, products and applications. A multi-disciplinary high-level
forum has been constituted to suggest vision, mission and goals for 5G India
2020 along with action plan and roadmap.
In Sum
We are certain that this shall indeed take place! So, we would ask
everyone to note it too. Students would benefit by learning all the skills and
companies would benefit by having a digital roadmap of their own.
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