India can become world’s digital talent hub: Debjani Ghosh 

In an evolving technology ecosystem, India has a huge opportunity to become the digital talent hub of the world.
NASSCOM president Debjani Ghosh (Photo | Twitter/ debjani_ghosh)
NASSCOM president Debjani Ghosh (Photo | Twitter/ debjani_ghosh)

In an evolving technology ecosystem, India has a huge opportunity to become the digital talent hub of the world. And the demand for talent in advanced technology like AI, robotics, and data science  will be 20 times greater than the supply by 2025, Debjani Ghosh, president, Nasscom noted. She was speaking with author and senior journalist Kaveree Bamzai and Daniel Thimmaya, Chief Reporter, EDEX at a session of TNIE’s Express Expressions, a series of live webcasts with people who matter. Excerpts: 

What have we learnt from the pandemic, especially with regards to virtual learning considering the digital divide in the country? 

The next normal is still far. For now, we live in a hyper-digital, contactless world, which  is going to remain for some time. And technology has been a savior, especially for education. Technology is just a tool-a lot depends on how we use it. The pandemic has taught us that the world will be a mix of   human and technology, (each) with  its role to play.  The challenge lies in trying to understand the role of humans, which will involve a significant change in skills, mindset, attitudes...   We will have to adapt to this world.  

You’ve also talked about technology  creating job displacement rather than creation. In that sense, isn’t technology instilling some fears in the minds of people?

Job displacements have happened from the  first industrial revolution,  when steam engines were created. This isn’t a new thing. Whenever there is a new invention which has a huge impact on our lives, it changes how we work. It also creates opportunities. Every time a new pervasive technology comes, it creates jobs as well as displacements. Technology is helping business transform, understand the challenges, and figure out how you can create solutions. It is creating new jobs, displacing old jobs, and how it is done... which requires re-skilling. In India, (for) skills like AI, data science,  robotics, new age tech-demand is eight times the supply. By 2025, it is going to be more than 20 times. So, jobs are going to be there, but people will be unemployed if they cannot bother to upskill. 

There is a lot of  discontent about job losses, entrenchments? What is your advice to people going through this?

It is going to be a hyper-digital, contactless, volatile world. While traditional, physical businesses like retail, manufacturing, and hospitality have seen losses of around 20-40 per cent of revenue, SMEs who have been able to pivot and move to more virtual business like e-health, edtech, e-games have actually ended the year with 10-20 per cent growth. So, the world is changing. What we did in the past will not be relevant anymore.

What are the opportunities in the global market  for a more digital India? 

India’s biggest opportunity is developing digital talent for the future world. We are going to be the talent leaders of the world. Talent will be the biggest competitive advantage for India. Business will go where the talent is  and they will base their investment decisions based on that.

Talent is going to be in huge demand. The second opportunity is in identifying problems that aren’t solved yet. India can change the rules of the game by applying people-led innovation. If we can start looking at innovation as not another tech tool, but realise how big a problem solver it will be and  apply it like that, we can solve the many crises. One field  that is going to dominate the tech landscape is artificial intelligence. India can take the lead in thinking on how to build and use technology in a  responsible way.

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