November 13, 2024 | Nidhi Bhasin
In 2023, India’s G20 presidency showcased economic strength, contributing 16% to global growth with a 7.2% growth rate. The tech sector’s unwavering advancements, particularly in rural India, where over 425 million have internet access, illustrate improved livelihood opportunities. Landmark initiatives like Digital India and Aadhaar have empowered millions, positioning India as a key player in the digital economy’s future.
To be aligned with this vision, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of 2030 agenda should also be kept in mind that also reflects much of India’s development agenda. However, in an era where technology is rapidly transforming every aspect of our lives, it’s crucial to recognize that a significant portion of the country’s population still remains untouched by these advancements. The SDGs call for worldwide efforts to end poverty, eliminate all forms of inequality, halt climate change and environmental damage, and guarantee peace, justice and prosperity for everyone. Following the SDGs and other global plans not only gives us a clear path for making social changes, but also helps us keep track of how far we have come. In this landscape, social innovators, the private sector and the government emerge as pivotal players. They have the potential to act as equalizers, bridging the gap between high-tech solutions and the underserved rural communities. By taking tech innovations to the ‘last mile’, they help ensure that even the most remote areas benefit from the digital revolution.
Unfortunately, achieving the SDGs poses challenges for India, with a key issue being the insufficient equity funding for impactful social innovations. To address this, we need more investment opportunities and collaborative networks in social innovation. The private sector’s support in capital, technology, mentorship, incubation, and partnerships is crucial for creating scalable solutions for mainstream funding. Additionally, the absence of a supportive ecosystem for social innovators is a significant obstacle, hindering growth and sustainability. This challenge requires concerted efforts to establish a nurturing environment with essential support and resources. The absence of robust networks and collaboration among various stakeholders poses a significant obstacle to achieving the goals. Collaborative efforts, driven by a shared goal of leveraging technology for positive change, are vital for SDG achievement. Bringing together expertise from various sectors enables comprehensive problem-solving, with a collective focus on digital innovation, data-driven solutions, and connectivity tools to amplify efforts.
These challenges can be tackled through the intersectionality of technology that makes it a force multiplier and holds promise for progress. In India, digitalization has sparked a revolutionary transformation to empower individuals, enhance data accessibility, and promote inclusivity. And as the next 6 years become crucial for India to become the world’s third largest economy by 2030, leveraging technology also simultaneously presents an opportunity to fulfil the government’s vision of Viksit Bharat by 2047.
Aligned with this vision, nasscom foundation has been working towards taking digital literacy into rural areas as we understand that to create impact on scale, we need to reach the last mile for inclusive growth. Through the core philosophy of TechForGood, nasscom foundation is driven by the vision of realizing the Government of India’s “Digital India”. To create access to technology at the grassroots level, we launched our Aspirational Districts Programme dedicated to empower marginalised communities in the aspirational districts of India by promoting digital literacy and enhanced access to government schemes. We have already established digital resource centres in 45 districts across 20 states to promote digital literacy.
The other key aspect important for nation’s economic growth is skilling. Equipping the youth with appropriate technical skills is of utmost importance, and yet there exists a significant gap in skilling. To bridge this gap, our Skilling and Employability Program focuses on upskilling the youth from tier 2 and 3 cities on advanced tech skills including Data Science, Cyber Security, IoT, Data Analytics, Python, Java Full Stack, alongside soft skills to make them future-ready and also help them with employment opportunities in tech-based organizations. The initiative has impacted more than 6.4 lakh lives in FY 2022-23.
Beyond skilling, we also believe the importance of including marginalized groups to become a part of the digital economy such as the rural women entrepreneurs. Nasscom Foundation’s Women Entrepreneurship Programme has helped over 1,00,000 women to leverage online platforms such as YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, WhatsApp Business to help them promoting their products and accessing relevant government schemes, and reaching out to a wider audience to enhance businesses.
Nasscom Foundation’s efforts also extend to collaborating with corporates to implement programs aimed at instilling the spirit of social entrepreneurship among young minds at the college level. An exemplary initiative in this regard is our Thingqbator and TechForChange programs. These are platforms that fosters innovation and introduces an entrepreneurial mindset among students. Both initiatives are in collaboration with Cisco and Cienna respectively that involve building collaboration with stakeholders to establish a robust ecosystem. Furthermore, our engagement extends to working with early-stage startups and government bodies, such as the BIRAC to deploy healthcare innovations that can work in low resource settings especially in rural areas.
Anticipating the future, we foresee technology playing an instrumental role in propelling the achievement of SDGs by 2030. We believe that continued technological advancements will significantly contribute to reach the last mile thereby, breaking the digital divide. Looking ahead, nasscom foundation is committed to taking proactive steps in line with these predictions. We are embarking on an extensive expansion of our social innovation endeavors with the launch of two new projects with a focus on AI and sustainability. Following the insightful discussions at our recent TechForGood India Conclave 2024 conducted at New Delhi, we are actively disseminating key action points to diverse stakeholders, including both industry leaders and government entities. This collaborative approach seeks to foster joint initiatives that harness the power of technology to address pressing social challenges.
By integrating technology interventions, we aim to, positively impacting 10 million lives by 2026 emphasizing the transformative potential of technology in social development. Furthermore, we are also exploring partnerships with the government, to scale our Aspirational Districts Programme, emphasizing gender equity. Simultaneously, we also plan to extending the reach of AI to the last mile, aiming to bridge existing gaps and reduce disparities in technology access and utilization.
The last word remains that the integration of technology for reaching out effectively to marginalised populations, along with concerted collaborative efforts from the government, industry and NGO ecosystem, have the potential to expedite progress, thus, paving the way for the realization of Viksit Bharat by 2047.