Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State in the Ministry of Electronics & IT, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, virtually attended the inaugural session of the International Conference and Exhibition on Digital technologies - “Future Tech 2021” organized by the CII. The event is scheduled from 19 – 27 October 2021. The event will revolve on 5 theme pillars: Strategy, Growth, Resilience, Inclusiveness, Trust with a focused theme “ Driving technologies for building the future, we all can trust”. The International conference would comprise of interaction amongst entrepreneurs, industry leaders and Government officials and shall provide platform for discussion on application of digital technologies.

ShriRajeev Chandrasekhar, while giving the inaugural address, spoke about the impact of the COVID pandemic on digital economy. He stated that “In the last 6 years we have made tremendous strides in digitizing our economy and public services within the economy.  It has helped India prove to be resilient during the COVID Pandemic. We have created Unicorns at the rate of 2 - a month, attracted 65 billion dollar investment in the tech space and grown the overall ambition during this period”

Speaking on the road map ahead, ShriRajeev Chandrasekharaffirmed that“The Post COVID era offers new set of opportunities. There has never been a more exciting time for those in technology than today. This is the time to reset our ambitions and re-imagine the future in very different ways from the pre-COVID era. The post COVID era provides very different opportunity framework that is at play today for companies in India “. 

ShriRajeevChandrasekhar also added that India looks forward to seize this opportunity by fostering a close partnership between the Government & the Private sector - “At MeitY we have very clear objectives, we expect to be partners with the Private Sector in areas not just limited to soliciting business for you - business development or advocacy but even in areas of future technology development whether it is quantum computing or strategic areas where we want India to create competencies like artificial intelligence, cyber security, semi conductors etc “ he added.

ShriRajeev Chandrasekhar also spoke about the vision of Prime Minister with the industry representatives, stating that “Hon’ble PM has set some very serious ambitions and wants India to be a significant player in the Tech Space. Soon we are going to roll out a 5 year strategic perspective plan, detailing the competency and capabilities that needs to be developed for realizing these ambitions. “

He further quoted from  Prime Minister’s Independence day speech delivered from the precincts of Red Fort this year– “ YahiSamay Hai : This is the time “ to highlight the opportunities that the technology sector offers to Indian companies, start-ups and entrepreneurs.”

On India being compared with its competitors in the technology sector, ShriRajeev Chandrasekhar remarked that ” I don’t think that the velocity of the train we are trying to compete with should bother us. We are in a position to leapfrog and move at a rate much faster than any other country”.  This, he attributedto factors like - the rapid digitalization of the world, the shift in the semi conductor space from hardware driven performance towards design in innovation for the next generation of computing & communication performance and India’s deep technology competency both in public and private sector. 

Concluding his address at the event, ShriRajeevChandrasekhar re-affirmed the Government’s stand, which he informed was willing to walk the extra mile and is open to all sorts of consultations to prepare a roadmap for India to emerge as a significant player in the technology space.

RKJ/M