The journey of digital transformation has been phenomenal in this decade. It has reformed each and every industrial sector and also the daily lifestyle of the modern man. This article aims to have a glimpse at the various domains which are reshaped by the digital revolution in recent years.
In the middle of the decade, in 2014, the movie Chef depicted how an owner of a small food truck became viral in the country due to its digital presence monitored by his young son. In 2006, when we visited Vizag, we went to a travel agency for booking the tickets and hotel. In 2014, we booked the tickets and hotels via makemytrip.com conveniently at much cheaper rates. Why did not we consider going to the travel agency? We are booking the movie tickets via bookmyshow.com in cashless payment structures. Physically booking tickets from movie halls has become an obsolete idea. How are we able to do all these which were just figs of imagination two decades back?
Bookmyshow.com was founded in 2007, and makemytrip.com was founded in 2000. But both of these, along with several other sites gained momentum, not before this closing decade? Paytm was established at the beginning of the decade in 2010, but it gained prominence post demonetization in 2016. The online payment mode became viral only when the situation was ripe. In 2016 demonetization caused the mass to face difficulties with offline cash transactions. From an array of events, we have learnt that to reach the vast and diverse spectrum of the user base, the demand has to be created and the supply will be generated consequently. India is a hotbed of talented and innovative minds, and the nation is progressing fast towards dominating the global market.
According to research by McKinsey in 2019, “India is the second-fastest digital adopter among 17 major digital economies.” Several growth drivers for augmenting the digital transformation are:
- the per capita income and literacy rates of the Indians which have increased at a steady rate in this decade,
- cheaper internet charges,
- the competitive market of smartphones and other gadgets like desktops, laptops, tablets etc,
- the highest ratio of the young population of the nation and
- the convenient accessibility of information outside the geographical boundaries of the nation.
What happened exactly in these 10 years that India is aptly referred to as “Digital India” in the global market? Let us find the answer to this.
Government’s outlook for Digital Transformation
The Indian government has played an integral role in transforming the vision of Digital India into reality. In 2009, the Adhar enrolment became a mandatory affair, and it is the single largest digital ID program in the world. Linking the PAN number (Permanent Account Number) and Adhar number to the bank accounts have helped the growth of other digital services in the nation. In 2014, 56 million people had their accounts linked to the Adhar number. In 2017 the number increased to 399 million and in 2018 it touched 870 million and it is also expected to grow in recent years. Since the inclusion of Goods and Service Tax (GST) in 2017, the businesses can digitize their operations using a single digital platform.
The Government has initiated the zero balance account that is Jan Dhan account where the mass from the rural sector can open accounts and transact with debit cards. The Jan-Dhan Adhar Mobile (JAM) service trinity is fundamental for the financial inclusion in the Digital Transformation. The Modi Government started the campaign of “Make India Digital” in 2015 for improving the interconnectivity and the networking of the nation and the nation’s link to the global scenario. The nation’s inclination towards E-Governance has been prominent since the middle of the decade. The app UMANG (Unified Mobile Application for New-Age Governance) was launched in 2017 to create a single digital platform for availing all the government services.
Like E-commerce and E-banking, the government also came closer to the general mass of the nation. The government launched secured digital payment platform BHIM UPI (Bharat Interface for Money)(Unified Payment Interface) for convenient cashless transactions. Steps are also taken to educate the mass about Digitization. The initiative “Internet Saathi” is taken for enhancing the digital literacy of women. 70% of India’s population is hailing from the rural sector and their main mode of livelihood is by agriculture. Digitization is giving them scope to increase their knowledge, explore various modes of earning and also educate themselves regarding the betterment of crops.
Recently, the nation of Pakistan declared the massive locust infestation as a national emergency and locusts had destroyed acres of crops in a few days. India received the news and the experts were ready to tackle such a problem if they attacked the fields. Few days after the news, the farmers in Punjab located 1 km of locusts swarming in the fields. The officials worked whole night for destroying the locusts, thus saving the crops from getting destroyed. Digitization has enabled the people to remain alert about this incident and the danger can be averted on time. Agriculture is the backbone of Indian economy and it contributes 16% of India’s GDP and 10% of the total export.
India has joined hands with International Crop Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics- United Nations Agency (ICRISAT) for receiving prior weather forecasts, soil conditions etc. The app “Sowing Date” is also developed so that the farmers can know the right sowing date for maximizing yield. The citizens of the nation are empowered due to the drive of Digitization in India. Digital Technologies include Cloud Computing and Mobile Applications, and they act “as catalysts for rapid economic growth and citizen empowerment across the globe. Digital technologies are being increasingly used by us in everyday lives from retail stores to government offices. They help us to connect with each other and also to share information on issues and concerns faced by us. In some cases, they also enable resolution of those issues in near real-time.”
Digital Transformation Impacting Sectors
Each and every sector of India’s industrial landscape is digitized in modern times, giving rise to new age consumers and users. In the year 2016, the ICICI bank received the award of “The Best Use of Technology to Enhance Customer Experience” and “The Best Use of Digital and Channels Technology”. The digital transformation has affected the banking and insurance sector, Fin-tech has penetrated the mass and users need not go to the bank for availing the various ranges of financial services. Likewise, in health-tech, automotive sector, retail, eCommerce, FMCG, logistics digital transformation has penetrated deeply fulfilling the evolving demands of the consumers.
The nanobots and nanotech are used in healthcare for early detection. Artificial Intelligence-driven diagnosis is going on in full swing which is helping the patients as well as the medical practitioners. The digitization is there in the banking and insurance sector, buying and selling cars. By only a smartphone, a person can meet all his requirements, be it paying the monthly bills and ordering daily groceries, or availing the investment options, or launching new products in the market. Digital Marketing has become the new age tool to implement lead generation, lead nurturing and lead conversion. Digital Revolution has come a long way since the invention of the Internet and economic liberalization in the 1990s.
The Information Technology (IT) sector has imbibed the automation, stressing a lot on Data Analytics, Machine Learning and other developed cognitive technologies. Human robots were a part of sci-fi movies until it was changed into a reality in 2016. Sophia, the first human-robot, was launched in the USA in 2016 and she could display 60 various kinds of facial expressions. The Age of AI is paving the way for new-age human empowerment. In 2019 December, YouTube Originals aired the series about the Artificial Intelligence which depicts the unimagined reach of technology. Technologies like BlockChain and Internet of Things (IoT) are used avidly. When a person is booking tickets, it is simple BlockChain technology. Cortana, Google Assistance, Alexa are developed and have become a part of the daily life of modern users.
Affordability and Opportunities for Digital Transformation
In the year 2013-14, the mobile brand Micromax became popular among the masses due to its features and affordable rates. But after a few years, the market of Micromax contracted, giving space to several other newer brands. Nokia merged with Microsoft in 2013, manufacturing newer phones Microsoft Lumia. After that, several brands like Samsung, Motorola, Sony and LG manufactured updated versions of phones with better camera qualities to attract the attention of the masses.
Since 2015-16, Xiaomi is dominating the market as they can suit the needs of the customers, need for better features, and most importantly the affordable rates. Xiaomi is giving multiple options, ranging from Rs 5000 to Rs 20,000 and above. The smart market of the smartphone is highly competitive and the majority of the population are using it for daily chores. At the beginning of the decade, the smartphones were the fashion, but now they have become a necessity. Not only the smartphones but also several gadgets and accessories like mobile chargers, portable chargers, laptops, desktops, tablets, phablets are available on the eCommerce platforms like Amazon and Flipkart.
The online platforms are selling the products at reduced rates, thus contributing to the competitive market. The digitization and technology penetration in the domestic and global economy has given rise to thousands of innovative job opportunities. This decade has witnessed the rise of the Gig economies and they are surviving solely on the digitization. A day without internet will hit hard on the gig platforms, and it will affect the national income as well. The start-ups and gigs are at a centre stage now, harnessing the innovative minds and talents of the vast Gen-Y spectrum. As per the Budget 2020 coined by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the government will extend seed-stage funding to the start-ups. The digitization has enabled the tech-enabled workable resources to join the suitable employment structures, thus reducing the gap of unemployment.
Digitization and automation have penetrated in all the industrial sectors, and they are in constant search of suitable candidates for optimum business growth. The organizations of large, small and medium-size are hiring freelancers and experts for project completion within a scheduled time. This decade has seen the explosion of the freelance ecosystem, thus deviating from the traditional modes of employment to a much more flexible and skill-centred work culture. But Digital Transformation has hit hard the employment structure negatively as well, especially in 2017. Automation is replacing the human intervention with technology and AI-driven tasks, for more efficient and fast output. This has forced several companies like Infosys to initiate a golden handshake with senior officials as they are not updated, and their work is now done by the machines. The automation and digitization have driven the large scale organizations to restructure and reform themselves, thus hiring new age resources and also subsequent layoffs.
Wrap Up
You might be thinking that the post is too long, but trust me; I have not covered even 1% of the total Digital Transformation. Several things cannot be touched due to the limited structure of the blog, but that does not mean you will not be able to get the information that is not here. Google will give you hundreds of pages of search results, but you will get the best answer from the experts who have experience in this sector.
The Digital Transformation is directly impacting India’s economic growth. Do you want to know what else changed in this decade? Talk to our niche skilled experts now to know the diverse competitive market in greater detail! We at Vedak have an exclusive pool of experienced industry professionals and veterans who have in-depth knowledge in Digital Transformation and its effects on the diverse industrial landscape. Contact us to know more.