Can technology help India rise from a regional power to a superpower?
While the world looks at countries like the United States as a global power and strives to become more and more “Americanized” in ways we can’t contemplate, there are countries that look forward to rising from the status of “regional power” to “global power”. However, in a world that looks to be driven by technology, it is hard to neglect its role in driving up economies. As India stands to be the fifth largest economy in the world in terms of Gross Domestic product (GDP), it is widely asserted by Economists that the key driver of economic growth is technology. Recently, as per a report by Goldman Sachs, India stands to become the second-largest economy in the world by 2075, surpassing the U.S., Japan, and Germany.
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There is an intense “tech cold war” between the U.S. and China, but here the narrative is not just driven by China; India has its fair share of roles to play. Previously deemed a regional power of South Asia, India is catching up on the tag of global power. It has a strong foundation to be termed a technological power in the coming years. Both the private and public sectors have utilised technology to uplift India’s economy. With the intense focus on China and the U.S., it is important for the latter to focus on its relationship with India. The same was iterated through the recent visit by our prime Minister to the U.S.
U.S. vs. China
This tech war surrounds concerns about how China’s recent technical achievements would affect liberal ideals and good governance around the world, as well as the United States’ overall economic competitiveness and national security, due to the scope and speed of China’s technological advancements. As the Chinese technology market progressively separates from that of the United States and the wider West, there has been increased worry about the fragmentation of the global technology sector, particularly the establishment of diverging standards and norms.
While the U.S. is concerned with China, one cannot turn a blind eye to India. Our nation has leveraged and harnessed technology to fight one of the biggest issues facing the country, which is poverty. If we observe the data from 2012, the country has one of the highest numbers of people living in poverty (about 270 million). Amidst all the hustle and bustle of schemes, there are two things that have helped the people of our nation, looking at the fact that a major proportion of our population is involved in agriculture.
Technology fights poverty
Back in the day, we were deemed an agrarian society until the Nehru-Mahalanobis model tried to shift us to a society driven by capital-intensive heavy industries or the economic liberation that sought to step up our services’ sector. Meanwhile, the agricultural sector did not see growth; rather, it stagnated and declined.
So, resolving the issue of poverty required that one pay careful attention to our agricultural sector while developing ways to uplift lives. While there may be more ways in which our nation tried to improve the situation, the following two played a crucial role.
One is Nano Ganesh. It is regarded as an effective technique for eradicating poverty in India. This is a mobile-based remote control that works with mobile signal connectivity on both ends to operate water pumps from a cell phone. The software serves as a handy interface between the low-voltage GSM modules and the high-voltage starters, enabling farmers to check the amount of power available and turn on and off the water pumps. The water level in the storage tank can also be checked by farmers. With the help of this app, farmers can avoid making the tiresome journey to far-off water pump locations and waiting on-site till irrigation is complete.
Another one is India’s national identity card initiative, which was started in 2009. It is another successful step in the country’s effort to eradicate poverty through technology. Each of the nation’s citizens stands to receive an identity card as part of the programme’s objective. Each person’s fingerprint and iris are linked by a 12-digit number found on the card. The card works towards enhancing India’s basic health and education systems. The card might be used to monitor both the teachers’ and students’ presence in rural schools as well as the doctors’ presence in rural health clinics. Additionally, it stands to act as the cornerstone for creating a comprehensive health information system.
On the downside, India lags far behind in terms of Internet adoption; in 2009, only 5% of Indians used the Internet. This is similar to bank access. Low-income Indians required an affordable method of Internet connectivity if the Aadhaar and UPI programmes were to be used to their full potential. Jio, a division of Reliance Industries, recognised the growing returns to scale in the technology sector and aspired to enter this unexplored market.
The development of a comprehensive 4G infrastructure across India cost Jio $33 billion over a number of years. Jio then took advantage of the enormous scale of the Indian market and the low marginal costs of data to provide the cheapest mobile Internet in the whole globe. Jio has gained over 425 million subscribers since its 2016 launch. This has helped India, which today has over 550 million Internet users, dramatically boost its overall Internet usage.
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While all of this seemed to be insignificant if we compared it to what holds for the international stage. However, each technological development within the nation is pumping India to reach the status of a superpower. India has the capability to surpass any other nation when it comes to the labour or service sectors.
India and the U.S.
Well, with the growing assertiveness of China under Xi Jinping on the global stage, it is driving the U.S. and India closer. While one wants to maintain its dominance, the other wants to catch up to that level. Though India’s close ties with Russia in the face of Ukraine have brought it quite the criticism along with a troublesome take on minorities and the media, the U.S. is refraining from criticising as it continues to stay in a concerned state because of China.
Recently, when PM Modi visited the U.S., the two countries agreed on expanding cooperation on weaponry, supercomputing, semiconductors, and other high-tech fields. The U.S. seeks to strengthen its presence in Asia by incorporating close ties with India in order to offset China’s cutting-edge technology.
When you look inside the nation, all of these discussions seem to have no results when people are still living on the streets and children continue to be out of school. However, when you look at things carefully, you will understand that things did not look the same 10 years ago.
Impact of Technology within India
When we take a look at the condition of our health and education sectors, things have changed for the better, and it is one of the most evident proofs of technological advancement.
Inadequate access, limited insurance penetration, and a rising load of chronic diseases are just a few of the problems facing India’s health care system. With the exception of a few major providers, traditional business models have struggled to demonstrate appealing returns on investment. According to experts who discussed new developments in the healthcare sector at the 2020 Wharton India Economic Forum, the introduction of technology, along with expanded infrastructure and efficiency gains from process improvements, could help improve health care accessibility and affordability.
India’s health care industry has a lot going for it on many fronts, despite its flaws. A government-led initiative to encourage healthcare providers to use electronic medical records is paving the way for artificial intelligence (AI) to mine patient data for information that will help doctors treat patients more effectively. Telemedicine and tele-consulting programmes supplied over mobile phones are allowing medical expertise to reach underserved rural areas. This is made possible by the availability of telecom bandwidth.
When it comes to education, the government’s expenditure on education has increased. The amount of money the government spends overall on education demonstrates how important education is to the government’s agenda. The overall government investment in education increased from 7.92 to 15.7 between 1952 and 2014. Further, our literacy rate currently stands at 77.70% as per NSO’s data. This rate was 61.01% in 2001.
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If we look at the ground reality, the government schools have improved in terms of infrastructure, and the incorporation of technologies in terms of distant learning programmes through television and radio has made it possible to raise this percentage. Back in 2004, to further improve the educational sector, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched the EDUSAT satellite to facilitate the distance learning programme in efforts to make education available in the remotest parts of the country.
A recent report by Slack on how AI-powered tools are improving the productivity of Indian desk employees shows that India is leading in terms of AI adoption. India is on its way to fulfilling its dream of becoming a superpower. At the heart of the improvements that are witnessed within the country in addition to its recent foreign dialogues, technology plays a crucial role, and the nation hopes to build upon it to achieve its dreams.
https://www.financialexpress.com/life/technology-the-superpower-tech-can-u-s-and-india-fight-off-china-to-achieve-their-dreams-3197104/
