Ved Mani Tiwari, CEO, NSDC emphasizes India’s potential to contribute every fourth worker to the global workforce by 2047, positioning the nation as a powerhouse in cybersecurity and digital services.
At the 19th Annual Information Security Summit 2024, organized by Nasscom-DSCI, Ved Mani Tiwari, CEO of the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), presented a bold vision for India’s future in cybersecurity. He highlighted the country’s potential to lead the global digital economy.
“By 2047, every fourth worker in the global workforce will be an Indian,” Tiwari stated. He emphasizes India’s growing role in shaping the global economy.
Discussing India’s demographic advantage, he said, “Our aim is not on the GDP of India; our aim is global GDP. Every fourth dollar of value created anywhere in the world will be through an Indian hand.”
The boost needed for growing workforce
The Indian government has made significant investments to prepare the country’s workforce for the future. “The Government of India has launched skilling programs amounting to 2.5 lakh crore rupees,” Tiwari said.
He referenced a World Economic Forum report, stating that 50% of workers need to be re-skilled or up-skilled in a post-COVID world. This shows the urgent need for workforce transformation.
Tiwari also outlined India’s ambitious economic vision. “If we grow at 7% per year, we will become a 35 trillion dollar economy by 2047,” he said.
This growth would raise the per capita GDP to 25,000 dollars. However, he acknowledged the challenge ahead. “It took us 75 years to grow from 250 to 2,500 dollars. Now, we must grow from 2,500 to 25,000 dollars in the next 25 years.”
A significant enabler of this growth is the National Education Policy 2020. “India’s National Education Policy has created an infrastructure of reskilling and upskilling which no country has done before,” Tiwari stated.
He elaborated on the shift to a credit-based education system, allowing individuals to accrue credits through formal education, skill-based training, or workplace experience via recognition of prior learning.
“We have opened a framework where you can claim credits by experience that you acquire at the workplace,” he added.
How to get more skilled cyber professionals
He also emphasized that as businesses become increasingly digital, the understanding of the basic tenets of cybersecurity should become an integral part of everyone’s lives.
Highlighting the inclusive growth of India’s talent pool, he noted, “Almost 50% of our students in STEM are women, and that’s a force we should be very proud of.”
This demographic, he suggested, uniquely positions India to supply skilled cybersecurity professionals to meet global demand.
Concluding his address, Tiwari encouraged collaboration to harness these opportunities. “Great organizations convert distress into an opportunity,” he said, urging industry leaders and professionals to leverage India’s robust education and skill development architecture.
“We can truly create a workforce of cyber experts who can provide cybersecurity and information security to the entire world,” he affirmed.
The summit brought together industry experts and policymakers to discuss the future of information security, emphasizing the need for a skilled workforce to safeguard the rapidly evolving digital landscape.
