 |
Hemendu Sinha, B2B Business Head, LG India
LG is already doing a lot when it comes to digitization of India, and we are sure, in future too we will be contributing our bit to this. If you look at LG’s product portfolio, across divisions, you can see that we try and incorporate smart, interactive and intuitive features in all our products. The idea is to keep things easy for the consumer. In addition, we consider the feedback from consumer as our top priority. We first understand the consumer requirement, and then try and incorporate the solution according to the needs from our products. We have products for all sections of the society that caters to all our audiences, be it youth or a working professional. Further, LG invests a lot on seamless development of state-of-the-art user-friendly devices for first time users so that users are comfortable using a LG product anytime, anywhere.
As you know, India is a land of varied demographics and hence there is a need for us to take everyone together on the path of digitization. The biggest problem is the low bandwidth and poor last mile connectivity infrastructure that we have in our country. Only a little above 19% of the Indian population have an access to the internet today, hence we have a long way to go when it comes to making India 100% digitized. Another challenge is that most of the content available online is in English and hence it does not cater to our non-English speaking population, which is a very large number. The next thing is that most Indians aren’t too comfortable with internet, even today. For example, not all of us prefer shopping online as it lacks touch and feel, and hence we have this mental barrier. For this, spreading awareness is extremely important. These are some of the challenges, but we are very sure that we will be able to overcome them. If we require a heterogeneous environment, it is possible only if we have a uniform, robust and futuristic government policy. In addition, a lot of time is wasted in numerous processes we have in policy-making. Not just the formation of policies is important, but also is the fast implementation of them is highly critical. If all these factors are taken care of, we surely will take the first step towards being fully digitalized.
Sanjay Rohatgi, President - Sales, India, Symantec
'Digital India' is an aspirational project envisioned by our Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi wherein technology will reside at the core of India’s transformation. We are particularly thrilled with the Government’s all-encompassing initiative which clearly enunciates a clear action plan for last mile internet connectivity, better access to services, as well as IT skills development of local talent. Creating a “Digital India” would require a collaborative effort drawing on the experiences, ideas and skill, as well as global innovation and expertise. From an infrastructure standpoint, smart cities will require smart grids, energy efficiency, intelligent transportation, connected healthcare, public safety and security along with wireless communications and hotspots. As a result, this process would entail unprecedented volume of data travelling through the infrastructure, which therefore indicates the need for more connected and advanced security systems to make this idea a successful implementation. Symantec is well-positioned as a leader in information protection and management space to counter the challenge of keeping India secure and to safeguard Government’s vision of ‘Digital India’.
Over the last 20 years that Symantec has been in India, we have been committed to India with our vast R&D presence. In India, Symantec also has key security intelligence installations like Security Response Center and Security Operations Center that are the key components of Symantec’s Global Intelligence Network and help customers both globally and locally. Symantec serves as the information protection authority that provides the confidence to do anything in the digital world. Our
brand promise is “Go ahead. You’ve got Symantec.”
As per Symantec’s Internet Security Threat Report 2014, 69% of targeted attacks in India were on large enterprises. The vision of ‘Digital India’ is not just ambitious but also challenging to execute as its success and execution is governed by varied factors. In a country as vast as India there are several challenges one could encounter in process of enabling the country with state-of-the-art technologies.
Infrastructure
By ‘Digital India’ one could easily imagine intertwined networks, devices and systems, which also indicates the volume of data that would be generated, shared and stored across the country. The country needs robust infrastructure to manage the anticipated data deluge. Investment in infrastructure in-form of datacentre, power and back-up tools are essential to set a firm base.
Security
Security is an integral part of the Digital India concept rather than an afterthought. Securing data at all time is going to be the real challenge that the government has to address before embarking on this ambitious project. Besides protection of citizen’s information at large, security of critical infrastructure need to be ensured through strict compliance with the security policy and using modern techniques, tools and processes. Increasing dependency on the Internet, mobile and social network means that our personal and sensitive information resides in some computer or network and travels across the world in a flash. Hence, we need to protect such information and also beware of the tricks and traps laid out by the criminals.
Skillset and Training
Success of “Digital India” would depend on the collaborative effort drawing on the experiences, ideas and the right skill sets, also taking into account global innovation and expertise. Given the scale of the project, there is a growing need for skilled pool of resources to manage the project and enable citizens to make the most of it. Symantec is aligned with the national agenda of the Government of India and will try to support in every possible manner.
 |
Rajiv Bhalla, Director Sales, Intel South-Asia
Information technology has been one of the key driving forces in fuelling India’s growth; it has transformed India’s image on the global platform. To ensure that there is increased technology consumption across the country – in urban and rural areas alike, the government of India is focusing on using technology to fuel the growth in India.
Intel has been working with various government agencies for the past decade to drive the need for technology across verticals starting with education, which is a stepping stone to a digitally empowered person. In 2012, Intel along with The National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) had launched the National Digital Literacy Mission (NDLM) in bringing together several players from the ecosystem on the same platform to work towards a common goal of accelerating digital literacy in India in order to help realize the government’s vision of having at least 1 e-literate person in every household by the year 2020. NDLM is also seen as an effort to complement the objectives of the National Optic Fibre Network (NOFN) to delivering high speed broadband to villages of India, to enable a digitally rich ecosystem.
One of the key challenges that remains to this day is the lack of basic infrastructure in the smaller towns and cities. There is a huge gap that divides the rural-urban infrastructure, starting with roads to power to telecommunications. While the smartphone has been able to penetrate deep into the country, the availability of standard mobile internet is still a problem. With the government planning to e-most facilities, at least some form of engagement/ avail can be accessed through the smartphone, and without access to regular mobile internet, this could be seen as a bottleneck.
The route to digitization is to educate the user on the how technology can be customized to fulfil their education, personal, and professional needs.
