India a hub of digital innovation: Modi

HYDERABAD: Describing India as the hot-spot of digital innovation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it was the best place to leverage the power of technology and leapfrog into the future.

Modi was speaking after inaugurating the World Conference on Information Technology (WCIT-2018) in Hyderabad through video-conferencing from Delhi. The event is being held for the first time in India in partnerSHIPWITHNASSCOM,WITSAAND the government of Telangana.

Modi said India had made a great leap forward in digital technology, with one lakh villages connected through optical fibre network, more than 100 crore people using mobile phones, 121

crore people with Aadhaar connections and 50 crore internet users.

“We not only possess a growing number of innovative entrepreneurs, but also a growing market for tech innovation. We were and we remain one of the most tech-friendly nations in the

world. Digital India is a journey bringing about digital inclusion for digital empowerment aided by digital infrastructure for digital delivery of services,” he said.

He added the Digital India programme has not remained a government initiative but has become a way of life. “It is helping in inclusive growth of the nation. While most government initiatives depended on a government push, Digital India is succeeding because of the people’s pull,” he said. Union minister for IT and communications Ravi Shankar Prasad was also at the event.

NASSCOM LAUNCHES NEW PLATFORM

At the event, the PM also launched the Futureskills platform by Nasscom, to upskill two million IT employees and skill two million youngsters in eight technologies.

Nasscom also signed an MOU with the ministry of electronics and information technology to collaborate in fostering, cultivating and strengthening reskilling initiatives.