If it was the ‘first mover’ who made a difference in the industrial era, it is the ‘best mover’ who matters in the information era, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi while opening the 23rd edition of Karnataka’s annual tech exposition, Bengaluru Tech Summit, through a video link on Wednesday.

“Unlike the industrial era, the first mover does not matter in the information era, but the best mover does. So anyone can build a product any time that disrupts all existing equations of the market,” said Modi. “The achievements of the industrial era are in the past, and now we are in the middle of the information era. In the industrial era, change was linear but in the information era, change is disruptive.”

He said ‘Digital India’ is no longer a government initiative but has become a way of life, particularly for the poor, the marginalised and for those in the government.

Tech-first approach

Addressing a large gathering of technocrats, bureaucrats and diplomats from several countries online, the Prime Minister said thanks to Digital India, the country has witnessed a more human-centric approach to development. The wide-scale of technology has brought about several changes for the citizens and the benefits were clearly visible, he said. He said added that his governance model was technology-first and through technology, crores of farmers have received monetary support in just one click and have successfully operating the world’s largest healthcare scheme- Ayushman Bharat. He stressed that technology ensured India’s poor received proper and speedy assistance even at the peak of the lockdown.

Modi said that his government has been using the power of data analytics to ensure better service delivery and efficiency. “Technology is the prime reason our schemes have transcended files and changed the lives of the people at such a speed and scale.” He said due to technology we are able to provide electricity to all, cross toll booths faster, gives us the confidence to vaccinate a large population in a short period of time.

‘Uniquely positioned’

Modi added that India was uniquely positioned to leap ahead in the information era as the country has the best minds as well as the biggest market. India’s local tech solutions have the potential to go global. The policy decisions of the government are always aimed at liberalising technology and innovation industries, he pointed out. He said the government has always been trying to engage with stakeholders in the tech industry and chart out future-proof policy frameworks.

Praising the tech sector for showing resilience during the pandemic he said, “The amount of tech adoption that would not have happened in a decade, happened in just a few months. A high amount of tech adoption is visible in the fields of education, health and e-commerce.”