New Delhi: Digital India Conclave 2015 was organised today at The Lalit, New Delhi in the presence of eminent industry captains. Taking forward Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s initiative to transform India into a digitally enabled society, the Digital India Conclave 2015 focused on the role of innovation in delivering inclusive growth and creation of a knowledge economy. Event was Presented by India Inc. in association with Avian Media, Cisco, BDO pand Mckinsey India.
Delivering the Conclave’s keynote address, Amitabh Kant, Secretary, DIPP said, “For India to move up the knowledge economy value chain, it is imperative that our innovators not just Make In India but also Design and Create in India. Only then we will have the disruptive innovation that can drive the kind of economic growth India needs to support the government’s aim of improving lives for all our fellow citizens”.
In his welcome address, Manoj Ladwa, CEO, India Inc. said “Innovation is imperative if India wants to continue to grow its GDP by 9-10 per cent each annum and improve the quality of life for its citizens. Examples such as China and South Korea demonstrate how innovation can help countries leapfrog to a non-linear growth model that not only delivers economic growth but also improves a nation’s standing on human development indices,” He further added “It is against the backdrop of developing local solutions from a global perspective that India Inc. is hosting its second annual Digital India Conclave.”
“Innovation will be the key factor for the success of the Digital India programme. The need of the hour is innovative products and services to enhance e-governance and the delivery of digital services” said Nitin Mantri, CEO, Avian Media.
India Inc. launched its Digital India programme with the inaugural Conclave in New Delhi in December 2014 that was aimed at drawing up a clear digital roadmap. Since then the Conclave has been taken to Washington DC and Brussels to bring in international perspectives on how India can collaborate with global partners to achieve its goals of creating opportunities and better quality of life for all citizens especially those marginalised and in remote corners of the country.
This year’s Digital India Conclave builds on India Inc.’s very successful Digital India Programme and the great strides India has made on developing an effective indigenous start-up ecosystem in the past year. As the Conclave’s Chief Guest the Hon. Minister for IT & Communications, Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “The Narendra Modi government has tackled a lack of coherent policy framework on developing an enabling environment to support innovation head-on and the results are already visible.”
“With 380 disclosed deals with a combined value of $3.5 billion, the first half of 2015 has had more deals than in 2014. In the first quarter of this year, Indian start-ups raised $1.7 billion, which was 300 per cent more than the $450 million raised in the Q1 of 2014,” the Minister added. “I am looking forward to the conclave making recommendations on how best we can harness the innovative power of India’s tech talent to not only deliver profits but also inclusive development.”
Globally acclaimed young Indian entrepreneur Sachin Dev Duggal and Web Summit Founder & CEO Paddy Cosgrove alongside other well regarded personalities such as Noshin Kaka, MD, Mckinsey India, R. Chandrasekhar IAS (retd), President of NASSCOM, among others were present to share their insights at this prestigious event which brought together senior stakeholders from the government, the corporate world, the start-up ecosystem and the financial sector.
