Back to the Digital basics

I know its been ages since I posted. Can't even get away by apologizing now. I would, however, try my best to be regular in the midst of all the usual, mundane happenings which take away all my time. Now, back to our focus, on our friend...technology. Oh yes, I still believe technology is our friend!! 

A lot has changed in our surroundings since my last post. A General Election in our country, which was no less than a world cup of cricket or football, whichever sport you like. A new government, installed at the center, which shows a great resolve in using technology in all areas for the benefit of the country. What was most interesting to see was the increasing use of technology in the elections. Whether it was the way they were covered by the media or it was the way political parties, especially the winners, used technology to spread their wings.

With our new prime minister, who was batting for his current position during the elections used some sort of 3D holographic technology for addressing remote political sessions for the BJP workers. There were Social Media cells for all the National parties who were fighting the elections on social media. Data analytics was back again in compiling or analysing the results of the opinion or exit polls. Election analysis has been around for ages but calling it Data Analytics now feels good.

So, the elections were won and the elections were lost. The new government has been very optimistic about technology. This goes on to show their focus on everything online and a central government promoted Digital India program. What is it that we stand to gain from this? Good question...Aha..I'm sure it is.

The national digital program, for starters, aims to tackle the issue of access to the digital bandwagon. So, there is a plan to connect villages with national fibre optic backbone. Skeptics have their views about why wait for the fibre to reach them when you can get them connected by satellite connectivity now. There may be a point there but I do believe in the long term, a VSAT connection cannot replace a physical line access. Going back to the question, if villages are connected, a lot of governance can be enabled. This backbone can give a platform for a whole new world of information based services, to be used by a very large population of the country (read prospective customers). 

These services can range from best practices sharing platforms for farmers to online marketplace enabling a farmer to sell his/her product and buy seeds, manure or advice just like we buy our t-shirts online after comparing options that are available. This platform can also be a hunting ground for our entrepreneurs to look for ideas which work towards reducing, or better still, removing the digital divide. And, needless to say, while they are at it, they can make some {read as much as possible} money and aid the economy's growth.

While I do understand these are just ideas and need a lot of work before implementation. But then, it all starts from an idea. Isn't it?  This leaves us a very good topic for you guys n gals to come back on this blog with your feedback and suggestions. Please do drop in a word or two about the government's ambitious plan, how do.you think it can be improved. What additional avenues can it provide to various segments of our society. From a farmer to a cold storage guy, from a transportation company to a distributor of fertilizer. From a cloth weaver to a online fashion store company. And of course, many more. We will continue to talk more about the Digital India program in the coming weeks/months.

I'll sign off for now with these thoughts and will surely wait for your comments. In the meanwhile, remember that Technology is our friend!!

Cheers

N E O