Digital Bharat is here!
Digital Transformation of Non- Metro India
I am mentally still in Ladakh and I recall the seismic changes that I experienced when I revisited the region after 5 years. In 2017, I could not connect with anybody at home and was mostly dependent on occasional/intermittent landline communication. The population was tourist friendly but still not totally connected to the outside world.
In 2022, the extent of transformation fuelled by technology is extraordinary and the integration of Ladakh’s socio-economic systems is complete. Enhanced telecom and road network has fostered a new entrepreneurial zeal and opportunities have propped up everywhere.
AND If you were forwarded this weekly dose of Running Platform Marketing Life by a friend, please do not forget to subscribe ASAP to get it in your own inbox every week to enjoy your Sunday Long Read.
DTW
During the Week, there was a lot of Twitter chatter about how the Digital Public Infrastructure like UPI is helping Indians leapfrog into the digital future. For example, UPI handled a record six billion-plus transactions totaling Rs 10.62 lakh crore in July 2022 alone, the most since its launch in 2016. According to the infographic, Visa and Mastercard may be still the leading digital payment players but in India, the new age payment mechanism has taken over.
Corresponding to this are two recent megatrends in India - one is the deepening of the digital economy and the second is the transition to an increasingly green economy. So, while the government may claim increasing formalization of the Indian economy but the inclusion of the informal workforce in the overall development narrative is far from complete.. Platforms have transformed the world of work including the workers in the informal sector. I have written about Blue Collar Worker, Creative Class, Career choices, and Work-Life Balance in previous editions. Do check them out.
Many platforms plan to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to track the financial behavior of users and then help other brands to offer products and services based on financial history and spending patterns. Both Amazon and Flipkart have added PaymentTech platforms AmazonPay and PhonePe respectively and Paytm has just acquired an insurance company. In short, all your financial needs would be served by the platforms and lead to complete bypassing of traditional banking channels.
As more Indians start exploring the financial markets, platforms like Zerodha are making it accessible to younger tech-savvy investors. With its discount brokerage model backed by technology, this decade-old FinTech Unicorn has been able to achieve a unique distinction of being profitable. They have a special feature called Nudges which warns investors when they are placing orders on risky stocks mostly illiquid penny stocks.
Platforms have served as formalization and transformation agents for millions of workers in the informal sector. Platforms like Betterplace have created solutions for corporates to manage blue-collar workers right across hiring, managing, and engaging them. They have also designed collaboration with the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) titled ASEEM (Aatamanirbhar Skilled Employee Employer Mapping ) which aims to map the supply of skilled workforce with the market demand, thereby facilitating better livelihood opportunities. Platforms like Betterplace have created solutions for corporates to manage blue-collar workers right across hiring, managing, and engaging them. Platforms like MyRojgaar, Majdoor, etc have helped internal migrants in India find employment opportunities even during pandemic times.
During our fieldwork for Digital Street, we observed the unique ways (read Jugaad) in which the informal sector workers were using traditional formal financial services. Most of the informal sector workers including street vendors are unbanked or underbanked in India. The latter has no or very basic access to essential financial services including credit, insurance, or even remittances.
As part of the Centre of Excellence for Digital Transformation knowledge-sharing initiative, we hosted Jasminder Singh Gulati (Jaz) for the first Digital Transformation Colloquium on 16th September 2022.
Jaz is a serial entrepreneur and thought leader in the digital transformation space and an avid Researcher on Bharat x Digital Behaviors via Digital Desh. Digital Desh is a Research Platform by NowFloats aimed at deeply understanding the inside of the internet of India: Discover its changing behavior patterns around digital technology and tell the stories that truly represent the spirit of the digital revolution currently driving India. Since its inception in 2015, they have undertaken 8 drives covering 11 states publishing 7 reports.
Jaz spoke about the possibilities and challenges of Digital Bharat. In his own “direct” style, he asked students to be curious and risk takers. The potential of lifting a billion people out of low-level productivity and turning them into digital economy participants is immense. The real Bharat is still looking for integration into the digital world economy while simultaneously rooting for traditions and rituals.
The students are excited about the possibilities of India Stack and looking forward to working for enterprises that are at the forefront of deploying these to create inclusive development.
OTW
Over the Weekend, PBEL Malayalees Welfare Association organized the Annual Onam celebrations complete with Vadam Vali and sumptuous Onam Sadhya. It was good to revel in the festivities after a covid19-induced hiatus of two years when even Mahabali could not even visit his beloved people!
Vadam Vali or Tug of War was a fun event spread over two weekends and all of us were hoarse afterward cheering for our teams. The post-match celebrations were wild. I am sure the PBEL Malayalees Association would make it grander next year by introducing the Legendary Boat Race in Peerancheruvu Lake.
Onam symbolises the onset of the harvest season and is thus replete with food, food, and more food. The traditional Onam Sadhya is a feast for the hungry soul and body and we did full justice to it.
BTW, if you are in Hyderabad and looking for a fulfilled evening along with contributing to a social cause, then simply head to Dandiya Mahotsav on 1st October 2022 organised under the Street Cause initiative of St Francis College for Women.
Scan the QR code and join the fun.
Stay safe and have a productive week ahead.
I Love You
Shailendra
OTM
Opportunities through MountainSpeak are available through the Digital Street Project.
Our National Consultation is on 11th November 2022 at Icfai Business School, Hyderabad. Do let me know if you would like to contribute to the discussion or share this with somebody who could help us in framing better questions. It would be great to catch up in person or even online.
The Centre of Excellence for Digital Transformation (CEDT) at IFHE, Hyderabad is working on a project titled “Digital Street” in collaboration with Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES). This action research project focusing on the digital transformation of street vendors in the tourism industry is proposed to be conducted between May 1, 2022, and November 30, 2022.
The likely participants may have experience in digital transformation, the informal sector, travel technologies, Tourism, and street vendor issues amongst others. They may come from government, academics, consulting, corporate, policy-making, start-ups, non-profit, and advocacy groups. I would also request you to also recommend experts and stakeholders for the project.
Please reply to this email with a copy to your recommended guests OR alternatively, fill in the Google Form to help us to contact them directly.