Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Speech by
at
MOBICOM 2018
New Delhi
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A very good morning.
I have the highest respect for Shri Narayana Murthy for putting India on
the Global IT map.
Rohan told me when I saw him in my office that right now he is busy
disrupting the business that his father founded.
Disrupting the old and constructing the new, which is bigger and better.
That is exactly the spirit of the youth of India – they are not happy being
incrementally innovative but they want to be truly disruptive.
Disruption is about creating a new way of life that will make the old way
of life completely obsolete.
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Dear Friends,
When the first conference of MobiCom was held in the mid-90s, I was
busy in the world of energy and atoms.
India’s GDP in the early 90’s was around USD 350 billion.
And very few in the world thought that our country’s prospects were
bright.
I can say with confidence that if there is one place in the world where the
transformative power of digitisation is breaking new ground every day, it
is India.
As you have heard from the Honorable Minister and Rohan, in just 24
months, India has taken a leadership position in the world from being
155th in wireless broadband technology adoption – and to the number
one in the world in last two years.
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The impact of this unprecedented growth can be seen across all digital
domains.
In the next two decades, I can confidently say – that India shall be
leading the world and shall contribute to the next wave of equitable
global economic growth.
Friends,
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I can say with full confidence that India has a chance of not just
participating in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, but also leading it.
The India of today is a very young nation, infact the youngest in the
world – 63% of our 1.3 billion population are aged below 35.
Just imagine the kind of connected intelligence India can create if the
power of a billion-plus minds is combined!
Our nation is more vibrant and ambitious than ever before on the back of
its youthful energy and enterprise.
Digital India is his vision, which was started by our Honorable Minister
when he was Minister of Telecom.
And I still remember the day when we launched Digital India and the
Minister told me that this is not the time for India and for you to be meek.
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So, do not hesitate in investing whatever it takes for Digital India to
succeed.
With world-class digital infrastructure in place, each one of the 1.3 billion
people of India can now productively participate in the Fourth Industrial
Revolution.
And this will be far higher than any other country in the world.
With the world-class digital infrastructure in place, each one of the 1.3
billion people of India can now productively participate in the Fourth
Industrial Revolution.
We can solve the biggest unsolved problems facing humanity right here
in India.
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It has already succeeded in creating a healthy ecosystem to nurture
entrepreneurs, especially young entrepreneurs.
Dear Friends,
How can India rise to its full potential, to its desired eminence?
There are four major areas, which India needs to focus on and
embrace:
All Indians will have access to computing on the cloud, and access to
information on the planet.
All our 1.3 billion connected minds are going to accelerate our future.
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And also imagine the force of IoT, when nearly 80 billion things
worldwide join the network and begin to communicate with each other.
Every single aspect of our lives – the way we earn our living or conduct
our business – will undergo a sea transformation… not in 30 years….
not in 20 years… but within the next decade.
You could be an expert in any one of these, but it's the convergence of
two or three or four of these that's transforming existing ways of working.
You may have a brilliant idea and that has the potential to disrupt an
industry.
And in order to do that, you have to master the art of collaboration with
your peers anywhere in India or in the world, pooling your ideas, and
leveraging all your competencies.
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Third, we have to shift from a system of time-bound education to a
model of continuous learning.
Now, it is both possible and necessary to reorient education for this new
kind of productive and creative opportunities.
These are the skills required to build the foundation for sustained
leadership in the digital age for India.
Within a single generation, we can empower and enrich our vast and
young human resources to give India a competitive edge in the world.
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Dear Friends,
India can leapfrog competition and lead the world in each one of these
sectors.
Today, our average farm yields are about 20-30% of the best global
yields.
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The second big digital opportunity is in education.
But we need a good quality education for all to make them a productive
asset.
58,000 colleges, over 700 universities and 1.9 million schools in India
will be digitally connected, with Jio playing a leadership role in
connecting all these educational institutions.
Any student, even in a remote village, can have access to the best
teachers and the latest knowledge in the world.
And which can in fact overcome the gaps and the constraints of
classroom education ----- like any age, any time and any subject learning
in any language.
For the first time in history, this has become possible because of digital
technologies – accessible even in remote locations.
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India can overcome these constraints by adopting digital tools and
innovations.
As in education, the best doctors and the best diagnostic facilities can
become accessible to all citizens anywhere in the country.
And I can safely predict that, from now on, every new generation of
Indians will live a better, longer and more-fulfilling life – than previous
generations.
Friends,
Jio, our youngest and fastest growing venture, has been conceived not
as a business, but as a digital movement.
India is ranked quite low at 134th in global ranking for fixed broadband.
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Our state-of-the-art digital infrastructure provides mobile and broadband
connectivity across the country, with the largest fiber optic footprint.
For the 30 million small merchants and businesses, this will provide
them the agility and the customer obsession of a small owner-driven
business and simultaneously provide them the tools and capability of the
best in the world to compete on level terms with all larger businesses.
Friends,
Across the world, the digital era is dispelling despair and bringing new
hope.
For the first time, we can make poverty a thing of the past, and provide
the fruits of prosperity for the entire world.
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With these words, I wish each and every one of you the very best of
success for the first-ever MobiCom 2018 conference in India.
And wish you a good conference.
We are also nearing our festival of lights in India, which we call Diwali,
where we celebrate the victory of good over evil.
So let me wish each and every one of you a happy Diwali.
And thank you very much for being in India.
Thank You.
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