Want to Join India’s Growth Story for 2047? Invest in Tech-Innovation!

What do entrepreneurs Bill Drayton, Rachel Brathen, Shiza Shahid, and Blake Mycoskie have in common? They are pioneers in social innovation and are harnessing the power of entrepreneurship to make a difference to people’s lives globally. These tech-forward innovators are driving growth across multiple sectors in the world. 

Two major developments in the past one month, one recent and the other not-so-recent, have redirected the spotlight on India’s tryst with tech-innovation in an unprecedented manner. The recent one is the emphatic statement by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates while addressing students at the IIT, Delhi. Highlighting the significance of leveraging technology for the social good, Gates said, “I am looking at India in a far broader way. I am lucky enough, through the work of the foundation, to look at innovators who can help with all kinds of problems – starting with health, but also agriculture, gender, and climate. We need fantastic Indian innovation.” Gates was delivering the keynote address on “Innovation for Public Good.”

Along with giving a shoutout to India’s might in this field, one of the leading global voices on tech and innovation also reminisced, “If I was a student today, the mysteries of AI would draw me in. It is kind of weird that even the systems that are working so well, we don’t really understand them. I would definitely be drawn to that.”

The second major development is the Schwab Foundation Social Innovation Awards announcement that two Indians were also part of the list of recipients of this year’s awards. They are Ajaita Shah of Frontier Markets and Shuchin Bajaj of Ujala Cygnus Hospitals. Shah, who is the Founder-CEO of Frontier Markets (India). While Shah’s Frontier Markets aims to serve 100 million rural households by 2030 through its extensive network build with the help of microfinance, rural distribution, marketing, and gender-inclusive business models. Bajaj’s Hospital chain operates 20 hospitals across Delhi, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana. The hospital chain provides emergency healthcare in those parts oft the country, which are usually alien to proper healthcare.

In India, things are taking a similar turn, with tech-innovators being looked upon as the next-big-thing in the economic growth. With Prime Minister Narendra Modi driving home the importance of economic prosperity vis-à-vis social equity, the overall human development is dependent upon these innovators and there is no doubt about it.

Business and Management Consulting firm Primus Partners’ study “India’s Turn to Lead by 2047” speaks of how technology will play a huge role in India turning a new leaf as a developed nation by 2047. The study, which talked to 33 experts as well as common voices across 25 states, concluded that 85% of respondents believed that India was well placed to achieve its target as defined in the government’s vision of 2047.

The driving forces behind India’s exemplary growth as a digital economy are the ‘Digital India’ and ‘Aadhaar’ campaigns, especially in the rural districts. This has shown that social innovation is not far from the technological advances that we are making as a nation. 

(The writer is a Mortgage Specialist and Zonal Manager with Andromeda, India’s largest loan distributor and occasional political commentator.)