It is really gladdening to see how India is advancing when it comes to technology and more so with many Indian-origin technocrats making their mark globally in recent times. 

At a recent event, all.ai 2021, organized by Intel, Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Electronics and Information Technology of India GOI, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, talked about technology’s importance more so AI in the current times.

He shared his thoughts on the importance of technology and how India is very deeply invested in technology in more ways than one. “Our most recent engagement with technology as a country and economy and government started in 2014 when our Prime Minister laid out his vision of embedding technology into our economy in a deeper, more sustainable way and launched Digital India program. His expectations out of this program were markedly different from how India had engaged with technology all the years before 2014.”

He brought people’s attention to how the conversation around technology before 2014 was about IT companies and growing software services capabilities as a nation. However, post-2014 with Digital India, the conversation and focus around technology became about embedding technology in governance with an aim to transform people’s lives, improve governance, improve democracy. The second important part of Digital India mission was to expand the digital economy, create more opportunities for entrepreneurship, startups, and investments, and jobs.

The third focus area was about creating technology capabilities for India as a nation. 

India is a partner of democracies around the world for futuristic technologies and capabilities. It is in this context now India is becoming one of the largest connected nations in the world, one of the largest consumers and producers of data in this brand new data economy that is growing and thriving around the internet, that AI takes centre stage and becomes very important for India.

It is clear that AI has been efficient at harnessing and creating platforms targeted and directed governance, sharper governance, and a much more responsive speedier governance for areas that require quick and speedier responses.

The minister added, “So, AI, in my opinion, is a critical multiplier for India’s digital economy; we see it like that. We are evolving a framework that will allow both the protection of privacy at the consumer and citizen level which is a fundamental right guaranteed by our constitution but at the same time develop a vibrant ecosystem to nurture and develop both governance applications using AI research and AI-led commercial applications for platforms and entrepreneurs and startups.”

“There is a data governance framework that is being considered and there is a data protection bill that is being considered by parliament in coming months but we believe very clearly that AI for social good has a deep relevance and role in the way technology is being used by the people of India and governments of India in improving lives of the Indian citizens, transforming their lives for better, improving our democracy, and improving the efficiency and efficacy of governance.”

It will also improve the efficacy of public investments and public money in one basket and increase or expand our digital economy and create more opportunities for entrepreneurs and startups in the other bucket. At the same time, create critical capabilities in partnership with other democracies and open societies for the deployment of AI for social good. This applies to all the countries of the world where democracies and open societies seek accountable technologies that work for social good and improve the lives of the country’s citizens. 

The Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Electronics and Information Technology of India GOI, on the closing note, said, “I am extremely happy to be a part of this conversation, I think conversations like this are extremely important for understanding how AI will evolve, what rules, standards and regulations evolve around AI. As we all know that cyberspace is essentially borderless and consists of multiple jurisdictions and the way to move in the future is for nations and societies to work together and evolve a common operating procedure and system for the use of these technologies which otherwise have disruptive and bad elements to it.”