Technology companies and experts hailed the government's focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digitisation. They said it will go a long way in boosting advanced innovation, and pave the way for increased digitisation across the country. The initiative to ensure one lakh digital villages will translate into more digital transactions; that, in turn, will help popularise digital payments among the rural people. According to industry insiders, the national AI scheme announced by the government is very encouraging for technology players.
“The initiative to build one lakh digital villages will mean more digital transactions. Additionally, the finance minister has said that we [India] have possibly the lowest mobile and data tariffs in the world,” said Rohit Garg, co-founder and CEO of SmartCoin, a Bengaluru-based fin-tech startup. “For a fin-tech company in direct lending space, like ours, this is a huge push to achieve our vision—bringing the masses under a formal credit system. Harnessing the power of AI, as other global super powers have been doing for years now, India will be able to build data lakes to identify problem areas. This is also a step towards becoming a data-first nation, in line with the govt’s 2030 mission of becoming a $15 trillion economy. AI and the use of data can take us there, with a large population covered under formal financial credit access system.”
Similarly, Rajnish Kumar, CTO and co-founder of the travel tech platform Ixigo feels that the initiatives announced by the government, around AI, will promote the use of digitisation and technology. “The government’s efforts in providing the necessary AI support, required by startups, further emphasises the role that new technologies will play in the development of the economy. Efforts to establish one lakh digital villages is also a positive step towards strengthening digital penetration in rural India and will significantly increase the adoption of digital platforms across the masses,” said Kumar.
On the other hand, Pankit Desai, the co-founder and CEO of Sequretek, a Mumbai-based cyber security startup is of the opinion that, though the government's move to set up a national centre for AI is a welcome move, proper execution is key. “The success of this highly futuristic mission rests on three pillars—talent, money and use cases [times when the solution is actually used]. We wish for more clarifications from the government. Will this portal build a talent pool? Where will the funding for this programme come? We also need to see how many success stories ultimately spring out from this initiative. We need more clarity on how this program will be funded. For such a large initiative to work, the entire ecosystem has to be evangelised. The government, private companies and new age startups who are already working in the field will not only benefit from it, but will play a key role in developing this programme,” explained Desai.
Many also feel that the budget's proposals around AI, one lakh digital villages, and the thrust on RFID usage, will not only fuel entrepreneurship, but also unleash enormous job opportunities. The Internet and Mobile Association of India [IAMAI] has welcomed the announcements around AI made in the interim budget, and states that the budget acknowledges how the innovation is taking place in the country. “The announcement of the national AI portal is expected to propel India on the path of leveraging advanced and disruptive technologies for growth and economic prosperity and growth. Additionally, the government’s vision to convert one lakh villages into digital villages over the next five years, with the help of Common Service Centres (CSCs), is ambitious and will usher in the much-needed digital revolution under the Digital India initiative. This will also bridge the rural-urban digital divide, and will open avenues to jobs and employment creation,” said Subho Ray, president of IAMAI.
