From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network

Bengaluru, Nov 19: Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed happiness at the reality of Digital India becoming a way of life, especially the poor, marginalised and those in Government and not merely a regular Government initiative that was launched five years back.

Addressing the prestigious 23rd edition of the Bengaluru Tech Summit 2020 (BTS 2020) held in Bengaluru on Thursday through video conferencing, he said due to Digital India, our nation has witnessed a more human centric approach to development.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year's BTS programme is streamed online and touted to be Asia's biggest virtual event. BTS theme is 'Now is Next' and the summit will feature Multi-track Conference, International Exhibition, Global Innovation Alliance, STPI-IT Export Awards, Smart Bio Awards and Bengaluru Impact Awards. The other popular programmes among students namely Rural IT Quiz, Biotech Quiz and Biotech Posters will also be held virtually.

“Using technology on such a large scale has brought about several changes for the citizens and the benefits are clearly visible,’’ the Prime Minister said.

Modi said the Government has not only created a market for digital and tech solutions but also made it a key part of all schemes.

The governance model under the NDA rule ``is technology first’’ and through technology human dignity has been enhanced for crores of farmers receiving monetary support in one click and successfully operating the world's largest healthcare scheme, Ayushman Bharat.

“Technology has ensured India’s poor received proper and quick assistance even at the peak of the lockdown,’’ he said pointing out that the scale of this relief has few parallels.

Technology has changed people’s lives

The Prime Minister said the Government has used the power of data analytics to ensure better service delivery and efficiency.

“Technology is the prime reason our schemes have transcended files and changed the lives of the people at such a speed and scale,’’ he said.

Due to technology, Modi said the Government is able to provide electricity to all, cross toll booths faster, gives us confidence to vaccinate a large population in a short period of time.

The Prime Minister praised the tech sector for showing its resilience during this pandemic. He highlighted that the amount of tech adoption that would not have happened in a decade, happened in just a few months.

“Work from anywhere has become the norm and is going to stay,’’ he said and asserted that a high amount of tech adoption will be seen in the fields of education, health, shopping etc.

The Prime Minister said achievements of the industrial era are past, and now we are in the middle of the information era. In the industrial era, change was linear but in the information era, change is disruptive.

He stressed that unlike the industrial era, first-mover does not matter, the best-mover does matter in the information era.

“Anyone can build a product any time that disrupts all existing equations of the market,’’ the Prime Minister said claiming that India is uniquely positioned to leap ahead in the information era.

India has best minds, biggest market

Modi said, "India has the best minds as well as the biggest market. Our local tech solutions have the potential to go global. It is time for tech-solutions that are designed in India to be deployed for the world.’’

He said the policy decisions of the Government are always aimed at liberalising the tech and innovations industry like the easing of compliance burden on the IT industry done recently.

The Government always tries to engage with stakeholders in the tech industry and chart out future-proof policy frameworks for India.

The Prime Minister stressed that a framework-level mindset has the potential to build an eco-system of multiple successful products.

Listing out the initiatives with a framework-level mindset like UPI, National Digital Health Mission, Swamitva Scheme etc., he said technology is setting the pace for the defence sector to evolve. He stressed on the need of data protection as well as cyber security with the rapid increase of tech use.

He proposed the youth can play a big role in devising robust cyber security solutions which can effectively vaccinate digital products against cyber-attacks and viruses.

“The scope and need for innovation is relevant in the fields of science like bio-sciences, engineering, etc. Innovation is the key to progress and India has a clear advantage when it comes to innovation because of the talent of our youth and their zeal to innovate,’’ he said.

He said the potential of our youth and possibilities of technology are endless. It is time, we give our best and leverage them. He expressed confidence that our IT sector will keep making us proud.

“India has clear advantage when it comes to Innovation. Because of the talent and zeal of the Indian youth to innovate. The potential of our youth is endless. I am confident our IT sector will keep making us proud, PM Modi concludes his speech,’’ he said.

Switzerland, Australian PMs

“India and Switzerland are uniquely positioned to find solutions and together turn challenges into opportunities,’’ said Guy Parmelin, Vice President of Swiss Confederation.

“Despite being a small country, Switzerland is one of the biggest innovation hubs in the world. The city of Bengaluru is now one of the major tech hotspots and we recognise its potential and have set up our regional embassy here. We like to collaborate in the fields of education, agriculture, research and innovation. This year the Bengaluru Tech Summit, our Swiss team will set up a new panel with a focus on food and nutrition,’’ he said.

India and Switzerland are uniquely positioned to find solutions and together turn challenges into opportunities, he added.

Scott Morrison, Prime Minister of Australia, said ``countries like Australia and India with common roots with respect to democracy and vision for technology will help people lead better lives. We have unlimited possibilities for innovation. In partnership with India, Australia will work on cyber-enabled technologies.’’

Apple shifted more than 11 units to India

Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister for Law and Justice, Electronics and Information Technology and Communications, said COVID-19 brought in a lot of challenges, but digital technology helped overcome the difficulties. We have brought in policy for Work From Home, so the employees have flexible working conditions.

The Indian government is happy to inform that major companies have pledged11 lakh crore investment in the next five years in the country, Prasad said adding that Apple has shifted more than 11 units to India to manufacture phones and accessories. In particular, Karnataka has attracted the Cupertino-based company to not just quality iPhones for India, but also to export to other countries.

Prasad congratulated Yediyurappa for the State’s achievements and said Karnataka will play a huge role in making India a global production and knowledge hub of the world. The Indian government is committed to connecting every village and town across the country with optic fiber for internet connectivity in the next 1000 days, he added.

Karnataka’s role in $ 5 trillion economy goal

Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said the government of Karnataka will sincerely work towards making India a $ 5 trillion economy by 2025.

The Chief Minister said with the new IT Policy 2020-25, Karnataka plans to expand tech ecosystem beyond Bengaluru and make Karnataka most favourite destination for Foreign Direct Investment and also make sure the state become major Data hub.

Deputy Chief Minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan thanked the dignitaries attending the BTS 2020 and said Bengaluru and tier-II cities will help Karnataka reach a $1trillion economy and enable India to reach the $ 5 trillion economy milestone envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

As part of the new Information Technology (IT) policy 2020–25 the government has chosen five upcoming cities-- Mysuru, Mangaluru, Hubballi - Dharwad and Shivamogga--to expand the technology innovation ecosystem beyond Bengaluru.

With this, he said the government foresees greater growth of exports from the Karnataka state in primary sectors such as IT /ITeS, Business Processing Outsourcing (BPO), Electronic System Design Manufacturing (ESDM), and Telecom sector industries, Dr Ashwath Narayan added.