Frontline
The #FUTURE is here
A By Sarosh Bana Mumbai Correspondent
10 | Asia Pacific Security Magazine
s the Indian government rolls out its Digital India programme that seeks to transform the entire public service ecosystem by leveraging information technology (IT), it is curiously the Communist-ruled state of Kerala that has taken up this mission in earnest to set itself on the path to becoming a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. Kerala today is the only one of India’s 29 states that is under Communist rule and has been pursuing transformative initiatives for raising the quality of life of its people. A recent global digital summit, labelled ‘#FUTURE’ and having the theme Towards a Digital Future, helped launched the southern Indian coastal state towards its goal of becoming a knowledge-based society. The landmark event was attended by over 2,000 IT professionals and experts, government and industry leaders, start-up entrepreneurs, and knowledge stalwarts. At the inaugural, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan informed the gathering - that included S.D. Shibulal, Kris Gopalakrishnan and Nandan Nilekani, the founders of India’s second largest software major Infosys, former Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan, Kerala’s economic advisor and Harvard University economist, Gita Gopinath, and a galaxy of achievers from the Indian diaspora - that his
government is putting in place all infrastructure and policy framework to achieve this objective. An industry initiative supported by the state government, #FUTURE showcased Kerala as a global digital and IT destination that is drawing on its wealth of highly qualified and skilled human resource and world class physical and digital infrastructure to connect and collaborate in enabling a digital lifestyle for all. “Through this summit, we look to equip our industries and government services like our education system, social welfare and healthcare so as to make the best use of emerging technologies,” affirmed the Chief Minister. The state, famed for its verdant landscapes and sylvan beaches, is promoting startups through technical and financial support and is also investing in skill development platforms, apart from ensuring last mile connectivity. #FUTURE also saw the launch of M-Kerala, a unified mobile application to enable and simplify government services, Kerala having the largest public wi-fi deployment in the country. While the state has excellent primary, secondary and higher education systems in place, it looks now to the next logical step of readying a platform for its highly qualified youngsters from where they can make their dreams take off. Kerala is not only the first state in India to declare internet access a basic human right, it has also earmarked