Google, Microsoft, Cisco, Qualcomm and Adobe executives express desire to deepen their participation in the Digital India initiative
PM Narendra Modi claps (2nd from right) with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella (centre), Cisco executive chairman John T. Chambers (2nd from left), Qualcomm executive chairman Paul E. Jacobs (right) as Google CEO Sundar Pichai (left) walks to his seat after his speech in San Jose on Saturday. Photo: PTI
Top executives of global information technology giants Google Inc., Microsoft Corp., Qualcomm Inc., Adobe Systems Inc. and Cisco Systems Inc. on Saturday said they are keen to join hands with India and deepen their participation in the Digital India initiative that aims to ensure that government services are available to citizens over the Internet.
The chief executives of the top technology firms were speaking at a Digital India forum in San Jose, California during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US.
“India has more than 300 million Internet users and smartphone users. People are educating themselves and their loved ones how to use technology,” said Sundar Pichai, chief executive, Google. “India is coming online at an unprecedented pace.”
“I can feel the change in the air,” he said. “I am excited about technology, and India will play a big part in its future.”
He also said India has become the fastest growing start-up nation.
Paul Jacobs, executive chairman of Qualcomm, told the forum that his semiconductor company is keen to promote the Digital India vision. “To promote ICT (information communication technology) in India, we will be setting up a $150 million fund to fuel innovation and foster promising Indian start-ups who are contributing to the mobile and ‘Internet of Everything’ ecosystem.”
“In line with the Make in India initiative,” he added, “the company will set up design centres in India to design products from India for the world.”
Microsoft chief executive officer Satya Nadella said the company is looking to bring low-cost Internet in India. “We want to help people make things and make things happen. It is time to collectively combine efforts to empower the people,” he said.
The company worked with researchers to bring low-cost Internet infrastructure to rural Andhra Pradesh using television’s white spaces, he said. “We are now looking to replicate the same pilot project in Varanasi.”
“We are in talks with state governments to expand it in 5,000 villages,” he added.
Modi, in his address, thanked the companies for their initiatives.
“We will see the perfect picture of US-India partnership emerge in the digital economy,” he said adding it is a new era of empowerment where global firms are creating infrastructure and services to support the government with the Digital India initiative.
“Technology is empowering people,” Modi said. “We are attacking poverty with network and smartphones.”
“In the digital age, we have the opportunity to transform the lives of people. About 170 e-governance applications are there to make government services available in better and faster way,” he added.
Stressing on the role of social media in empowering citizens, Modi said, “Facebook, Twitter, Instagram have become the new neighbourhoods. Social media has turned everybody into a reporter.”
Briefing reporters later, foreign ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup said Modi had invited Apple to set up a manufacturing base in India.
The Prime Minister (in his meeting with Cook) said he would like Apple to start manufacturing in India. He mentioned the huge opportunities India offered,” Swarup told reporters. Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology Group, which is the largest manufacturer of Apple products, has already decided to set up a manufacturing base in India, Swarup said. “Cook responded positively. I think India does fits into his long term plans. He particularly was interested in the whole app development economy, which he said could be a very, very important factor for entrepreneurship where individual app developers can just become part of the app universe,” Swarup said.
There was also some discussion on how Apple Pay could be a part of India’s financial inclusion Jan Dhan Yojana and other such initiatives, he added.
Indian ambassador to the US, Arun Singh, told reporters that during the Modi-Cook meeting “there was a sense that a lot of design innovation is happening in India.”
“As Apple expands its presence in India, including a manufacturing presence there could be enhanced opportunity for app development related to the apple platforms,” he said.
During the meeting, Cook is said to have recalled how Apple co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs came to India as a young man seeking inspiration.
Source…. Moulishree Srivastava &Elizabeth Roche ….www.livemint.com
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