No one has seen tomorrow. That doesn’t stop analysts and media from forecasting the future occasionally because they give something to work towards.
When it’s near-term predictions, usually, practitioners have a better tap because no one knows better than them what they are up to. Yes, in the short term, they influence the future the most.
Various factors influence technology adoption. Some supply-side forces include technology development, the number of technology companies backing a particular technology, their market prowess, etc. The demand side forces have a competitive nature of a business segment, level, nature of regulation, technology maturity in a particular organization, and skill availability.
Of late, environmental factors have become important influencers of technology adoption by businesses. Most prominent among these is the growing consumerization of technology.
I would like to point out one such rising factor in India: the aggressive digitization of governance and citizen service infrastructure. While that itself is a catalyst of growing consumer digitization and is well-acknowledged, it can drive economic growth for the country and make businesses and the government more efficient by avoiding duplication in technology investment and even making them more effective by dramatically increasing reach. Call it Public Private Partnership (PPP) 2.0. It is something that will happen anyway. The idea is to accelerate it by becoming proactive.
Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), which India has taken a lead in, can revolutionize its reach. The government has taken several initiatives in health, primary education, higher education, and civil supplies. Private companies can leverage them. The government will benefit from revenue and expertise. Businesses will gain in terms of reach and efficiency.
This is the last editorial by the Late Shyamanuja Das.
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