Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran's vision of a smart economy in 2030 does not have white, shiny robots taking away jobs

• Speaking at an event in Mumbai, Tata Sons Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran laid down a pathway for a smart, technology-led economy by 2030.
• In India, 90 million people are going to enter the workforce by 2030, and therein lies the potential of the country to leverage technology for growth.
• But, the narrative in India has to be way different than it has been for the west.

In India, 90 million people are going to enter the workforce by 2030, and these people need quality education, employment, access to basic healthcare, and a good life.

And technology can make this happen, according to warned Tata Sons Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran. “Industry 4.0 is what India needs to address the intractable issues of access that we have faced so far,” Chandra said, speaking at the NASSCOM Technology and Leadership Forum 2020.

The first disclaimer

India cannot think of white, shiny robots trying to take over mankind, and causing mass unemployment, while of Artificial Intelligence, machine learning and other new technology, he warned. “Unlike developed economies which use tech to make markets more efficient, India needs tech to first put together a market and that will create jobs," he said.

Chandra's construct

India's labour market is overwhelmingly informal and that is a big reason why the impact of new technology may be different in India. When a person in the US moves from a white collar job to drive an Uber cab, he or she is entering the 'gig economy'.

The gig economy, simply put, is informal employment where there is no assured income or perks like insurance or pension provided by the employer.

However, in India, if a farm worker decides to drive an Uber, he or she is, in some way, moving closer to the formal economy, Chandrasekharan explained demanding a different narrative around the impact of technology — one that is not centred around the fear of job losses.

'India has been and will always be stretched economy'

The other reason why India needs to leverage technology is the shortage of resources. "Thinking we have to build more and more infrastructure to solve the problem, is not the solution" he said.

India perennially faces shortage of skilled human resource and infrastructure. From truck drivers to doctors, there is always a shortage. "In India, technology still hasn’t taken over massive opportunity areas like construction, education and healthcare," Chandrasekaran said and added that "technology, in India, can turn almost everything into a service."

The narrative has to be different in India

Tech experts, not just the Tata Group Chairman — who led India's largest software exporter Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) ⁠— have warned that the world in 2030 will be very different.

"A smart economy is not just about creating software professionals. It has to include farmers, children, blue collar workers. We have to remove the halo that says AI is only for a bunch of elites,” he said.

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