An impressive show

PM's digital push gets Silicon Valley's nod

It can be argued that the highlight of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the US has not been his presence and participation at the events at the United Nations headquarters in New York but geographically at the opposite end of that country at San Jose on the west coast. There he shared his views with the global information technology leaders heading Google, Apple and Microsoft. What the Indian Prime Minister had to say and what the assembled tech leaders (a significantly large number of them of Indian origin) had to say in return spell out a new vision of the future in which so many hurdles in the way of India's progress can be overcome with the use of the opportunity that the digital era offers. The statements made by Mr Modi on the role of technology were reassuring. Equally reassuring were the announcements made by the technology leaders who endorsed the views of the prime minister and also outlined how they wished to expand their presence in the Indian market.

In outlining the task ahead, Mr Modi said that the digital divide had to be overcome and digital literacy had to be promoted the same way as literacy per se had to be. As the digital divide was closed it would be able to transform governance. Mr Modi said his endeavour was that this breakthrough in governance would make it more transparent, accountable and accessible. Echoing this sentiment, Microsoft chief Satya Nadella saw this as the time to collectively empower people all over the world. Appreciating that the prime minister understood that technology was such a massive enabler of change, Google chief Sundar Pichai noted India's unique advantage in this field, by observing that it was the "start-up" nation of the world.

Using India's digital connection to Silicon Valley to run faster than other countries is the most obvious thing to do and Mr Modi's itinerary and words have sought to utilise that fully. But some of the specifics he mentioned also point to the long road that India has to travel to make good use of the digital opportunity. He has mentioned the national optic fibre network which "will" take broadband to 600,000 villages, but work on this key project has been going on for a long time now. It will be difficult to usher in the digital era without reaching broadband to the poorest, whose village may be the farthest away. Even the mobile phone or smartphone with which a villager can access wireless broadband has to be served by towers, which must have electricity and which service providers have to set up even in rural pockets with low revenue potential. Even more important is another point made by Mr Modi, that India was according the highest importance to data privacy and security. But where is the privacy law promised for so long? The digital opportunity is an enabler and it can be more effective when a lot else that is essentially non-digital is delivered to allow the best use of the digital opportunity.