Hitesh Shah, Director, Channel Sales, BlackBerry, India

VARINDIA- INDIA'S FRONTLINE IT MAGAZINE

Hitesh Shah, Drector, Channel Sales, BlackBerry, India      Recently government of India announced the ‘Digital India programme.’ The program seeks to end the huge divide between rural and urban India and the digital haves or have-nots. This program is already being touted as the government’s master stroke in creating a 21st century India, with the government gearing up to offer better services, foster innovation, generate more jobs for the citizens of India while leveraging technology as the critical leveler. The government has further embarked on a plan to build 100 smart cities, urban fiber optic-connected digital clusters that will provide next-generation services to its residents, thereby transforming the dreams of a digital India in reality. Mobile phones and technology will play a significant role in driving this digitization process. M2M (Machine 2 Machine) technologies will be vital to realize this vision of digital and smart cities, as well enhancing the delivery of healthcare and education services. For any country to transform into a digital prowess, there are 2 key elements that would need to be taken care of- initiation and execution. Initiation- This stage could involve challenges around lack of awareness around the threats and opportunities of digital transformation. Other challenges are lack of proper financial impetus and slow regulatory reforms. Execution- The lack of a digitally literate population could pose a bottleneck to begin with. At this level, it is necessary to create policies and frameworks that would drive technology-enabled processes and delivery. At the moment, in India, this work is in progress.