<\/a>Partha Iyengar, Vice President and Head of Research – India, Gartner<\/strong><\/p>\nThe biggest expectations for the IT industry will be to put teeth behind the two slogans of \u2018Digital India\u2019 and \u2018Make in India\u2019. A manufacturing revival in an IT savvy India would be a tremendous multiplier for the Indian IT industry, unlike in China, where manufacturing took off without too much IT support, and China is only now (last 2-3 years) starting to focus on IT as a white-collar productivity effort. This can be a game changer for India in the inevitable India vs China comparisons and a huge boost for Indian competitiveness on the global landscape.<\/p>\n
Similarly, the \u2018Digital India\u2019 initiative has huge ramifications for the Indian IT industry and Indian industry overall as well. It will (hopefully) been better access to the vast areas of untapped rural India, which can drive unprecedented economic growth across industry, by allowing companies across all industries to tap the elusive \u2018bottom of the pyramid\u2019 economic opportunity. Country level infrastructure improvements needed to drive \u2018Digital India\u2019 will also help spur industries embrace of the digital business paradigm, which will increasingly be a competitive imperative in the coming decade, as digital business hastens the demise of \u2018geographical reach\u2019 as a competitive barrier.<\/p>\n
In order to achieve the above, the government needs to focus on the following, in order of priority:<\/p>\n
– Time bound execution of all initiatives<\/strong><\/em> – This has been the governments Achilles heel forever! Even when the funds are available, the inability to get anything done in a reasonable time-frame has been the biggest barrier faced by Indian industry.<\/p>\n– Improving the FDI climate<\/strong><\/em> – To truly achieve the promise of these two initiatives (and assuming point #1 above is addressed), massive FDI will be required to support the infrastructure revamp. This will involve streamlining policies, accelerating reforms including (especially) tax reform amongst others.<\/p>\n– Education system & Human Capital<\/strong><\/em> – The Indian education system and the resultant workforce has moved from being an asset in the early days of the \u2018offshoring\u2019 IT wave to being a liability today. We produce armies of \u2018doers\u2019 when the need of the hour is to create larger numbers of \u2018thinkers\u2019 and \u2018creative talent\u2019. The education system needs a major revamp to move the next generation of students away from the \u2018do as you are told\u2019 mindset to one in which they are encouraged to \u2018think for themselves\u2019. We have hidden for too long behind the fig leaf of Indian culture and the \u2018respect for authority\u2019 which drives the \u2018do as you are told\u2019 mindset. It is time \u2013 indeed it is CRITICAL \u2013 that we move on from that outdated thinking and teach our students to challenge what they don\u2019t understand or agree with. Given that this is a long-term initiative, in the short term the government, working with industry and academia will have to drive some short to medium term programs to create the required human capital, through training initiatives, encouraging (and maybe even promoting\/requiring) internships through one\u2019s academic career etc. Secondly, focusing on improving the legions of academic institutes that continue to churn out un-employable graduates needs to be addressed on a war footing. Gartner\u2019s conservative estimate is that only 20-25% of India\u2019s graduate pool is readily employable. This HAS to change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Partha Iyengar, Vice President and Head of Research – India, Gartner The biggest expectations for the IT industry will be to put teeth behind the two slogans of \u2018Digital India\u2019 and \u2018Make in India\u2019. A manufacturing revival in an IT savvy India would be a tremendous multiplier for the Indian IT industry, unlike in China, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2198,110],"tags":[142,121],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Gartner's Pre- Budget Expectation - Digital Creed<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n