Digital engineering taking lead in engineering R&D in India: Report

NASSCOM and Deloitte study calls for improving the ease of doing business and addressing concerns about patents

Digital engineering (DE) in India is displacing the traditional in engineering, research, and development (ER&D), said a report by NASSCOM and Deloitte on Wednesday.

The report, ‘The Future Growth Sectors in Digital Engineering’, said simplifying requirements for foreign companies to set up centres, improving ease of doing business and addressing concerns about patents will help India’s position as a DE offshoring/outsourcing location.

The report said 'DE' builds smart, connected, and intelligent products for customers and embraces the concept of device-as-a-service by using digital technology. Industrial, energy, oil and gas, hardware and electronics, and automotive were once principal sectors in the ER&D. Now, banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), consumer packaged goods (CPG), retail, and health care are growing their share in DE.

A growing talent pool, collaboration, and government support are transforming the country’s digital engineering ecosystem. There is a need to improve India’s data protection infrastructure, said the report.

Collaboration between government, industry, and academia to design upskilling/reskilling programs that focus on the DE application in specific industry domains will help create the right balance between growing technical capabilities and industry-specific and soft skills, the report said.

Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, and Chennai, identified as mature tech hubs, account for over 85 percent of the country’s total digital talent. The digital engineering share in India is likely to grow substantially in the future from the current 28-30 per cent in overall ER&D revenues.

 “India is advancing into the fourth industrial revolution with an optimistic DE revenue amounting to 50-60 percent in overall ER&D revenues in the coming years,” said Debjani Ghosh, president of NASSCOM, which represents the IT and outsourcing industry.

Keerthi Kumar, partner at Deloitte India, said, “DE will play a crucial role in government and industry alike, whether it is for planning or decision making, discovering latest trends or new product creation.”