A digital world is rising! Not only our phones are going smart our homes, cities and even businesses are going smart. It is a momentous time for India to catapult itself in the digital world. At the same time the world is also deglobalizing to protect itself from future COVID-like pandemics. Not-so-coincidentally, a smart world is a deglobalized world. This has created an incredible opportunity for India to become the digital hub driving this mega transformation. As Albert Einstein once said, In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity . For India opportunities are everywhere. Smart homes and smart cities are opening a plethora of career and start up opportunities. Smart global businesses are opening the flood gate of IT opportunities. India simply cannot afford to miss them. With more than 400 million youths below the age of 15, India is truly a sleeping giant. India has more than five million trained IT workers, a generation of more than 400 million youths to fill future IT positions, and an education hub with more than 1,200 engineering colleges. For India to become the world’s leading IT giant, there is a need for strategic approach designed to fill the global IT skillset demand. India is also poised to take an entrepreneurial leap to become self-reliant. But many age-old companies in India are nowhere near digitization. Moreover, many of those companies are resolutely reluctant to change as they have already invested heavily in their existing old technologies. Decommissioning that old clutter and revamping it with the latest technologies is prohibitively expensive. That’s where innovative tech start-ups could give them a run for their money-the Indian innovative tech start-ups are notoriously disruptive. While India is attempting Atmanirbhar Bharat or self-reliant India, and reeling through its own stiff digital battle, the world is counting on India to offer its IT services to help them become self-reliant as well. India indeed has a dual role. For India this is an opportunity, a responsibility, a technological challenge, and an ethical obligation all bundled together. This is a rare moment for India to be vested in education. A rare moment indeed. Rise of the Digital World takes you through an exhilarating journey into the fascinating world of cutting-edge technologies and the opportunities-the smart punch nimble enough to wake up the giant.
