With a digital population of more than 600 million, India is ranked the world’s second-largest online market. Much of this digital transformation and adoption in the country has taken place in the past five years, spurred by the Government of India’s Digital India initiative – its flagship programme to transform the country into a digitally empowered society.
Initiatives under the government’s Digital India programme have helped accelerate technology innovations in various industries and empowered Indians in both rural and urban regions in areas such as administration, education, industrial development, governance, societal development, and business, among others. In many ways, the government’s push for a Digital India has helped many across the country to cope in the current COVID-19-induced crisis, where social distancing, digital payments, work from home, smartphone usage, and contactless interactions have become the norm. In addition, amidst this pandemic, India has seen an acceleration in digital adoption, building on the foundations laid down by the government’s Digital India drive. So today, as we operate in a period of heightened uncertainty owing to the coronavirus pandemic, one thing is certain: the need for digital empowerment and tech-based innovations to tide us through this crisis. And so on July 1st, 2020 – to commemorate five years since the launch of the Digital India initiative –Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister for Communications, Electronics and Information Technology and Law and Justice, Government of India, will be LIVE in conversation with India’s tech entrepreneurs in a virtual event hosted by YourStory Founder and CEO Shradha Sharma.
