New Delhi : Speaking on the occasion of Digital India Summit, Union Minister for Law & Justice and Electronics & Information Technology, Ravi Shankar Prasad stated, “Digital India which is a flagship initiative the government is designed to empower and to help the poor and the underprivileged. We are focusing on providing the affordable and inclusive digital media to the masses. Today we have well over 1 billion mobile phones in the country with 350 million being smartphones which defines the digital identity of the nation. Low cost technology for inclusive growth is crucial.” The Minister also touched upon the benefits of digital India in the wake of enrolling Aadhaar. He added “With enrolment of 1.18 billion Aadhaar cards, we were able to save 49,000 crore of the exchequer which was previously looted by the middlemen in the public distribution system.” Further talking about the inclusion of the digital resources, he highlighted that India has digital aspiration, appetite and customer. We are heading towards a revolution of digital media in this country.”

Mr. MK Anand, MD & CEO, Times Network said, “Over the last 3 years, Digital India Summit & Awards, has enjoyed tremendous response from both delegates and participants alike. With unwavering focus on building a digitally empowered India, the 4th edition of Digital India Summit is another step towards bridging the ‘digital divide’ and finding solutions and opportunities to create a robust security architecture.”

Rajkiran Rai, MD and CEO, Union Bank of India said, ÂDigital India is one of the biggest government programs in the world to bring about sustainable and inclusive societal transformation using digital technologies. The process of making India into a trillion-dollar digital economy has begun and Digital India is making this dream a reality. We at Union Bank are committed to help India achieve its digital vision.Â

In the intriguing session on ÂDigital India- Where Do Things Stand? A Real Time AssessmentÂ, Aruna Sundararajan, Secretary, DoT, said, “Digital India is an aspiration. We are focused to enable digital opportunities to reach to the masses and leverage themÂ. She additionally highlighted the issue of data protection in the discussion as she stated, “We are planning a robust data protection framework to empower the digital mandate. Data protection is beyond Aadhaar; issue of privacy is a global threat.” 

Stating the issue of data protection in the digital domain, Debjani Ghosh, President Designate, Nasscom said, “Critical end to end data policy is a must. The emerging technology needs solid building blocks of data privacy which will enhance the dependency on the digital media. Digital solutions can enhance the employment in the rural areas if we cater it to the most underprivileged parts of India.”

Dr. TP Krishnan, Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship addressed a panel discussion on the theme of ‘Developing A Digital Workforce- The Ground Realities’. He said “Skills acquisition needs to be more aspirational. Our jobs are not aspirational. Soft skill developments programs including life skills and ITI which are the game changers under the Skill India campaign of the government can play pivotal role in shaping the skill development sector in this country.”