“India is well poised to reap the benefits of the digital world,” said Mr Lakshmi Narayanan, Vice-Chairman, Cognizant Technology Solutions. He was delivering the Seventh Foundation Day Lecture on the ‘Digital Way Forward’ at ICFAI University, Hyderabad on January 24. The lecture was organised to commemorate the birth anniversary of the ICFAI Group founder, the late NJ Yasaswy.
Tracing the role of globalisation as a growth driver in the last two decades, Lakshmi Narayanan said the world has witnessed slow growth in the last two to three years. Digital technology is expected to be the next trigger for global growth, he said. He identified defence aviation and space research, renewable energy, healthcare, and information and communication technology as the fastest developing industrial sectors, owing to their sustained investment in research and development.
Biggest disruptors
Identifying technology and its impact, emerging economies, demography and the networked world as the biggest disruptions in the coming years, Lakshmi Narayanan said that India is well placed in all these spheres. Quoting recent research, he said innovation is happening at the convergence of industries and the progress from knowledge to application of technology would further the growth of industry and business.
Speaking about opportunities for India in a digitised world, he felt that India is blessed with initiatives such as Aadhar, the telecom revolution and GST, which would help the country play an important role in the development and application of digital technologies.
Addressing the students, he said startups were the greatest job creators and, in his experience, most college students today preferred to work with a startup rather than with an established organisation in their first job.
Areas of concern
Dr. C Rangarajan, Chancellor, in his address said the Foundation Day lecture is an occasion to recall the contribution made by NJ Yasaswy in establishing excellent institutions of learning. He said the best way to pay tribute to him is by maintaining high quality and standards of education.
Rangarajan said that while Lakshmi Narayanan painted an optimistic picture of the opportunities brought forward by digital technologies, there were areas of concern that we should take note of. While developments in digital technologies opened up challenges as well as new areas for employment, there were also areas where it is leading to a loss of jobs.
Dr J Mahender Reddy, Vice-Chancellor, in his welcome address, recalled the important role of NJ Yasaswy in the establishment and growth of ICFAI institutions.