India's Digitalisation: Development for All?

07.11.2019 Patrick Ruether

11/06/2019 23:00 to 01/01/1970 00:00 -

With a series of analysis, FES in India has been addressing the effects of digitalisation on the Indian economy and society since 2018. With our overview "AI for All - 10 Social Conundrum for India" we are now opening a new series of publications that takes up this.

As an emerging nation, India faces the twin challenges of keeping pace with global technology developments while creating sustainable employment and development opportunities for millions of people. The Future of Work is discussed in India above all as a question of the "Future of Jobs", because every month millions of new Indians flock to the labor market. The right to "skills for the future" will be crucial in deciding whether India can maintain an internationally competitive position in the world market.

With Bangalore, India has risen to become the world's call center, and remains a leader in the country's most ICT (Information, Communication and Technology) exports. But the leaps in development in automation, machine learning and artificial intelligence are putting massive pressure on Indian innovation and competitiveness. At the same time, the critical voices for dealing with data protection and online platforms in India are becoming louder and louder.

India, with its nearly 1.4 billion inhabitants, has a labor market that is heavily influenced by micro and small enterprises and is organised almost exclusively informally, i.e. without any social security. The new digital-based forms of work create many new job opportunities, some are eliminated by automation and in other fields of work but the digital surveillance is already a reality. Can there really be an "artificial intelligence for the good of all"?

Since 2018, FES has been researching digital developments and scenarios in selected areas together with various experts. Even if in many cases of Indian working life, the technological application is still in its infancy, regarding developments in other countries and its own development model, people in India are also asking themselves fundamental questions about the future scenarios. There are increasing critical voices warning against data misuse, dependencies on technology companies or unfair trade agreements.

With our overview "AI for All - 10 Social Conundrums for India" we open a new publication series. Further analysis for the automotive, IT, logistics, healthcare, education, governance, digital human rights and other areas will be published in coming months.

Artificial Intelligence and Democracy

Aneja, Urvashi ; Chamuah, Angelina ; Reddy K, Abishek | New Delhi : Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung India Office, May [2020]

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Artificial Intelligence and future cities

Ahmad, Zaheb ; Chamuah, Angelina | New Delhi : Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung India Office, [2020]

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AI and education in India

Chamuah, Angelina ; Ghildiyal, Harsh | New Delhi : Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung India Office, [2020]

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Industrial revolution 4.0 and the impact on information technology services sector

Tiwari, Pranav Bhaskar ; Rizvi, Kazim | New Delhi : Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung India Office, [2020]

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Artificial intelligence for sustainability

Mathur, Vikrom ; Ahmad, Zaheb ; Chamuah, Angelina | New Delhi : Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung India Office, March [2020]

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Regulating AI in the finance sector in India

Vipra, Jai | New Delhi : Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung India Office, February [2020]

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Making AI work in Indian education

Kasinathan, Gurumurthy | New Delhi : Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung India Office, January [2020]

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Impact of digitalisation in the ports sector

Gurumurthy, Anita ; Bharthur, Deepti | New Delhi : Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung India Office, December [2019]

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Industrial revolution 4.0 and the impact on automotive sector

Rizvi, Kazim ; Bhaskar Tiwari, Pranav | New Delhi : Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung India Office, December [2019]

Kazim Rizvi and Pranav Bhaskar Tiwari

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Taking stock of artificial intelligence in Indian agriculture

Gurumurthy, Anita ; Bharthur, Deepti | New Delhi : Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung India Office, November [2019]

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The wicked problem of AI governance

Gurumurthy, Anita ; Chami, Nandini | New Delhi : Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung India Office, October [2019]

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AI for all

Aneja, Urvashi ; Mathur, Vikrom ; Reddy K., Abishek | New Delhi : Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung India Office, [2019]

10 social conundrums for india

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Patrick Ruether is Resident Representative of Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung India office in New Delhi.

For more information about the FES India work on Economy of Tomorrow Project please contact the India-based Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Office and follow the facebook page for regular updates.