Digitisation Growth and Economy

Why in news?

Economic Outlook for Southeast Asia report for China and India has been released by OECD development centre.

What are the findings of the report?

• The report indicates that ICT (information and communication technology) services embodied in manufacturing and services.
• It account for a considerable share of the value of exports from China, India and other Asian nations.
• Government embracing ICT in its operations and services are enabling India to play a significant role in the digital economy.
• Report has found out that digital payment services have provided flexibility and transparencyand digital learning platforms have augmented literacy.
• Though India pioneered offshore IT services to contribute to exports worth $150 billion, it is this wave of digitisation that has brought ICT services to the domestic market at large.

What is the relevance of Digitisation and economy?

• Various data shows that cross-border goods, services and financial flows contribute to about $30 trillion and about 40 per cent of world GDP.
• There is increasing trend in knowledge intensive data flows compared to capital and labour intensive flows.
• These flows typically have high research and development (R&D) component and intellectual property, and enable exchange of ideas, thoughts and expressions, facilitated by the digital platforms.

What Policy measures needs to be taken?

• The use of digital technologies requires higher-order cognitive, socio-emotional, and technical skills that help respond to fast-changing technologies and their adoption at scale.
• India’s technical and management institutes revamp their curriculum to integrate all the above features instead of promoting rote learning.
• Movement of information across borders is crucial to the operation of the digital economy, and thus to the producers of goods and services that rely on it.
• Stricter data protection laws that govern such cross border digital flows is needed.
• Since the digital economy is heavily based on intellectual property, strict protection to patents and copyrighted work, whether produced in India or elsewhere is also need to be implemented.
• It is time governments took notice of services and programmes for digital inclusion of the society at large.

Source: Business Line