If you are in Hyderabad over the third weekend in December 2021, you may want to participate in the 10th Edition of Airtel Hyderabad Marathon on 19th December 2021. You could run any distance from 10K or Half Marathon and if you have trained well, perhaps a Full Marathon.
Registrations for the various categories (depending on eligibility) are currently open at https://www.airtelhyderabadmarathon.com/register/. Hope to see you soon.
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DTW
During the Week, Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla while virtually addressing the annual general meeting of the Kolkata-based Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) spoke about Indian economy’s rapid transition from informal to formal owing to rollout of GST , Jan Than Yojana and instant electronic authentication by Aadhaar.
Mr Birla also identified two recent mega trends in India - one is the deepening of the digital economy and second is the transition to an increasingly green economy. So, while government may claim increasing formalisation of Indian economy but inclusion of 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 choicesand Work Life Balance in previous editions. Do check them out.
According to an extensive report by German Office for International Cooperation In Vocational Education and Training, there seems to be race between skills and technology. There is a growing demand for digital transformation of the informal economy to ensure social justice and equitable economic growth otherwise we may end up loosing the digital dividend.We could see this through a three dimensional framework- Displacement of traditional informal work owing to digital and other technologies ; Automation leading to more informality; and Technology induced relocation of formal work.
Digital transformation of agriculture and allied sectors would see a rise in the formal work and displacement of informal workers out of agriculture. This may result in polarisation as those who are better qualified may benefit from digitalisation and others may be left behind.
Automation may bring about loss of jobs in the formal sector as the companies start start paying more attention to the non-routine jobs. This has a gender gap in impact as a higher percentage of such routine formal sector jobs are held by women and they could become worse off because of growing automation.
Digital transformation can also lead to relocation of work across geography thus causing shrinkage or expansion of informal sector in different geographies. This might lead to better working conditions for new workers and may improve overall productivity.
OTW
Over the Weekend, newly established Centre of Excellence for Digital Transformation organised an One Day Symposium jointly with Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, India Office at the IFHE Campus, Hyderabad, India.
Mr. Jayesh Ranjan, IAS, Principal Secretary to Govt. of Telangana, I&C Dept, & ITE&C Dept. in his keynote address discussed the importance of the informal sector and the role of educationists, technology experts and the policy makers in supporting the informal sector of the economy. In this context he identified four megatrends that can be looked at in order to have a broader perspective on holistic growth and development.
These mega trends include
1) Pace and all-encompassing nature of digital transformation that has left no country, no industry sector and no socio-economic group untouched
2). The contradiction of increasing digital divide in the light of phenomenal technology driven growth that the world has seen and celebrated
3) Transformation in the nature of employment/jobs that call for more emphasis on practical skills than degrees
4). The advantage of demographic dividend coupled with the challenge of its optimum and productive utilization.
Prof. J Mahender Reddy, the Vice-Chancellor of IFHE in his welcome address highlighted the importance of informal sector for the developing economies like India.Dr. Reddy provided an overview of the symposium and suggested that the symposium should conclude by suggesting a roadmap for the future that should be adhered to and monitored by the partners, CeDT, IFHE and FES, India.
Ulrich Storck, Country Director, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, New Delhi, discussed the work done by FES and its partners in the informal sector, particularly their project “Economy of tomorrow”.He concluded by highlighting the need to identify various stakeholders in the agenda, the need for these stakeholders including educationists, technology players and policy makers to come together to identify the challenges and solutions in the transformation of the informal sector.
There were three panels in the symposium dedicated to education, technology and ecosystem that discussed and debated the needs of the informal sector and the role Edutech can play in addressing the concerns and contribute to the growth.
The first panel discussion focused on EdTech for Informal sector from education perspective including content, certification, skill assessment, trainers etc.
The second panel discussion focused on EdTech for Informal sector from technology perspective including match making algorithm, data, hardware, payment, content delivery, affordability, accessibility etc.
The third panel discussion focused on EdTech for Informal sector from enabling ecosystem perspective including entrepreneurs, investors, regulators, recruiters, educational institutions, users etc.
The symposium concluded with closing remarks by Prof. A V Vedpuriswar, Senior Advisor, ICFAI Group and Ms. Mandvi Kulshreshtha, Program Adviser, FES India.
It was a wonderful opportunity to catch up with colleagues and old friends working in the sector and discuss way forward. Do let me know if you would like to involve in the next steps of the symposium focussing on the digital transformation of street vendors’ ecosystem.
Stay Safe.
I Love You
Shailendra
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