The Solution

Bridigital nation tries to answer how technology and its innovations can solve India's twin problems. 

There are more Indians jostling for the same resources every month and skilled people are rare. We have to harness AI, the cloud, machine learning & IoT- combination of these technologies can provide answers to problems that would be considered intractable just a few years ago.

We have to be razor focussed on what is needed. Not technology for technology's sake but technology in context- applied in ways that makes sense for people and that can help increase the yield of India's existing human and physical resources.

We have to adopt technology relevant to india. For example, Aakash tablet programme was a complete failure as focussed heavily on developing an affordable device and not enough on how a tablet could change students’ educational experience. It was shunned by teachers as very few textbooks were digitized. The tablets ultimately became a burden to its users, who couldn’t afford its maintenance.

The future of India is to harness and it has to come from a mutually beneficial relationship between its citizens and new applications of Technology. Neither Human or machine alone can help in the preparation for the great changes at its doorstep. Technology will bring destruction, change of order, jobs will be lost but others will be created. 

For Example, when cars replaced railway engines, new technology and jobs emerged at fuel stations, repair shops and automobile dealers. Instead of being fearful of the disruption, we have to embrace our world where both human and technology coexist.

We know, deep in our bones, this time the technology transition is different. With cognition being automated with AI, there are questions of human irrelevance. But even now the most advanced robots have the intelligence of a cockroach. We have time!

And automation should be viewed as a human aid, not a replacement for human intervention. This approach will be Bri-digital.