Delhi : Technological innovation drives economic progress leading to new sources of employment and economic growth, by creation of new businesses and employment categories. Harnessing this potential depends on an enabling environment for their production, diffusion, and use.
To boost tech innovation ecosystems, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the seventh webinar in the series of post-budget webinars to consult and encourage stakeholders to fully implement the themes of the budget in a time bound manner.
The Prime Minister emphasized that for the government, science and technology is not an isolated sector. The vision is linked to sectors such as digital economy and fintech in the economic field. Similarly, advanced technology plays a significant role in infrastructure and public service delivery. “Technology for us is a medium to empower the people of the country. For us, technology is the mainstay of making the country self-reliant. The same vision is reflected in this year’s budget as well”, said the Prime Minister. He mentioned US President Joe Biden’s recent speech in which he emphasized the importance of Aatmnirbharta, noting that industrialized countries such as the United States are also discussing it. “Given the emergence of new global systems, it’s important that we keep moving forward,” he added.
Budget’s emphasis on sunrise sectors:
PM Modi highlighted the Budget’s focus on sunrise sectors includes- Artificial Intelligence, geospatial systems, drones, semi-conductors, space technology, genomics, pharmaceuticals, and clean technologies, as well as 5G. The Budget lays out a clear roadmap for the 5G spectrum auction, and PLI schemes for design-led manufacturing linked to a strong 5G eco-system. Referring to the dictum ‘Science is Universal and Technology is Local’, the Prime Minister said, “We are familiar with the principles of science, but we have to emphasize on how to make maximum use of technology for the Ease of Living.” He mentioned investment in house constructions, railway, airways, waterways and optical fibres. He called for ideas of using technologies in these important areas.
Budget focuses on Animation Visual Effects Gaming Comic:
The Prime Minister noted that the budget has focused on Animation Visual Effects Gaming Comics, (AVGC) citing the growing worldwide market for gaming. The Prime Minister emphasised the importance of communication centres and fintech, and asked for indigenous ecosystem with reduced reliance on foreign sources for both. PM Modi also urged the commercial sector to make the most of the new laws for geospatial data use and the limitless potential that have arisen as a result of the reform. “The world has seen our reliability from our self-sustainability to vaccine production at the time of Covid. We have to emulate this accomplishment in every industry,” said PM Modi.
Robust data security framework:
The Prime Minister also emphasized the importance of a robust data security framework for the country and asked the gathering for a roadmap for setting standards and norms for that.Referring to the third largest startup ecosystem, i.e. Indian startup ecosystem, the Prime Minister assured the sector of full support from the government. “A portal has also been proposed for skilling, re-skilling and up-skilling of youth in the budget. With this, youth will get the right jobs and opportunities through API based trusted skill credentials, payment and discovery layers,” the Prime Minister informed.
