Wishing you a happy Navratri and greetings for the festival season. May Goddess Durga fulfill all your wishes and grant you and your loved one health, happiness, and prosperity. Also Happy Gandhi Jayanti. It is also a time for us to remind ourselves of our responsibility to the underprivileged.
Gandhi’s Talisman
"I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man [woman] whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him [her]. Will he [she] gain anything by it? Will it restore him [her] to control over his [her] own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj [freedom] for the hungry and spiritually starving millions?
Then you will find your doubts and your self melt away."Source: Mahatma Gandhi - The Last Phase, Vol. II (1958), p.65
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See you soon in Dehradun on 15 October 2022 for the Digital Street Regional Consultation.
More info at the end.
DTW
During the Week, the ONDC beta was launched in Bengaluru where consumers can place their orders in two domains - groceries and restaurants through buyer apps participating on the ONDC network. The trial phase is now available in multiple ZIP Codes.
Another important event was the launch of 5G services in multiple cities with plans to launch it across the country by the end of 2024. Put together, these two events would start an important era of digitalization of Indian commerce especially micro, small, and medium industries.
I have written about open platforms in earlier issues of the newsletter. We have seen the success of open platforms in identity, financial inclusion, healthcare, and now most likely in commerce. The idea of platforms to create an economic model of utilizing under-utilized assets is useful and certainly pertinent for a developing economy like India. We have already demonstrated our digital and political economy expertise in developing and implementing three initiatives in biometrics-based identification (AADHAAR), financial services (Unified Payment Interface), and health care (COWIN/ ABHA).
While Identity, Financial Inclusion, and Health are truly public goods still the most ambitious and transformative public digital technology platform could be Open Network for Digital Commerce.
According to a press release, Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is an initiative aiming at promoting open networks for all aspects of the exchange of goods and services over digital or electronic networks. ONDC is to be based on open-sourced methodology, using open specifications and open network protocols independent of any specific platform.
The government of India hopes that ONDC, an open technology, based on an open protocol will enable local and small businesses across segments, such as mobility, grocery, food order, and delivery, hotel booking, and travel, among others, to be discovered and engaged by any network-enabled application across the country. ONDC tries to move beyond the current tech platform-centric online commerce model where the buyer and seller are forced to use the same platform or mobile application to be digitally visible and complete a business transaction. ONDC through its protocols aims to standardize platform operations like digital cataloging, inventory management, order management, and order fulfillment amongst others. This would ensure that the small businesses are able to use any ONDC-compatible applications instead of being forced to follow any specific platform-centric policies. This will benefit small businesses as they would have multiple options to be discovered over network and conduct business.
ONDC as an open interoperable network has to build trust in platform-based e-commerce and this would require fresh thinking on fostering trust. Amongst the multiple trust-building measures by ONDC, the focus should be on search and discovery, order placement and fulfillment, payments and settlement. The stakeholders would also need clarity on returns, refunds, cancellations, and grievance management.
Interoperability helps ONDC by allowing different platforms to communicate with each other. Simultaneously unbundling gives when ONDC multiple different types of participants who handle a specific part of the e-commerce value chain. This becomes a double-edged sword as the responsibility and control are spread over multiple entities and thus establishing trust becomes the primary objective.
So, next time you want to buy something, spare a thought for the local vendor and give your business to your friendly neighbourhood!
Put a Smile on their Face!
OTW
Over the Weekend, friends and family at PBEL city celebrated #DaanUtsav or #FestivalOfGiving. Our community was part of India’s very own festival of giving where we join a community of do-gooders gearing up for an action-packed month of giving – from 2nd October onwards. This is facilitated by #Goonj, one of the co-creators, who celebrates this festival with great enthusiasm by connecting with its pan-India community of do-gooders, encouraging people to engage in simple acts of giving.
This season of giving, we urge you to spread the joy, by giving back to the community and bringing a smile to as many fellow citizens as possible. Together, we can bring happiness to the lives of many by filling in the gaps of the ever-growing monetary and material needs.
Go ahead and make that contribution. Now is usually the right time.
I love you
Shailendra
OTM
Opportunities through MountainSpeak are available with the Centre of Excellence for Digital Transformation, where we are reaching out to experts who can contribute to the Digital Street Regional Consultation hosted by Icfai University Dehradun on 15th October 2022.
PLEASE let me know if you would like to contribute.
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 message with a copy to your recommended guests OR alternatively, fill in the Google Form to help us to contact them directly.
https://forms.gle/Lyz8nsx7Gehf1TR58
You may also want to contribute to National Consultation on “Digital Transformation of Street Vendors”, IFHE Hyderabad, 11-12 Nov 2022.
PPS-
Like me, now you can also use AI to create any image in seconds and you can use DALL-E. Good news- The waitlist for the DALL·E beta has been removed so users can sign up and start using it immediately.