Digital India campaign It is an initiative taken by government of India on July 1, in order to create transparent, participative and responsive government. It was being launched with a vision of transforming India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. There are three major aspects of the visiona) Digital Infrastructure as a Core Utility to Every Citizen b) Governance and Services on Demand c) Digital Empowerment of Citizens The program was being launched, with a huge support from top industrialist of this nation with a common dream of connecting people from every city to every village through a digital-platform. The need for digitalization was felt, back in the mid-1990s. When it took a broader dimension for wider sectoral applications with emphasis on citizen-centric services. The major ICT initiatives of the Government included, inter alia, some major projects such as railway computerization, land record computerization, etc. which focused mainly on the development of information systems. Later on, many states started ambitious individual e-governance projects aimed at providing electronic services to citizens. Few other steps like Adhaar Card for e-identification has enabled citizens as well as government to connect each individual to a protected data base. Though these e-governance projects were citizen-centric, they could make less than the desired impact due to their limited features. The isolated and less interactive systems revealed major gaps that were thwarting the successful adoption of e-governance along the entire spectrum of governance. They clearly pointed towards the need for a more comprehensive planning and implementation for the infrastructure required to be put in place, interoperability issues to be addressed, etc. to establish a more connected government. According to a report on, “Top 20 countries with the highest number of internet users” published by Internet World Stats India ranks 2nd with 34.4% of active internet users of the total population with a growth percentage of 9,142.5 % from year 2000-2017. But the current infrastructure is yet to be developed to accommodate such massive development like installation of High speed fiber optics cable network across the country. The government has proposes seven lakh kilometers of optical fiber to be laid to connect 250 gram panchayats in three years. Few other measures had been taken to support the program like- installation of Public Wi-fi spots, states like Maharashtra, Madhya Prasad, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Haryana and Chhattisgarh roll out the NOFN (National Optical Fibre Network) to facilitate the mission of digital India. To list a few impacts of digital Indian to the population of India are as follows:
Broadband in 2.5 lakh villages, universal phone connectivity
Digitally empowered citizens (Public wi-fi hotspots for citizens) e-Governance & eServices: Across government Wi-fi in 2.5 lakh schools, all universities; Digital Inclusion: 1.7 Cr trained for IT, Telecom and Electronics Jobs Job creation: Direct 1.7 Cr. and Indirect at least 8.5 Cr. Usage of digital locker- The campaign makes possible the implementation of digital locker system which in turn reduces paper work by minimizing the usage of physical documents as well as enabling e-sharing through registered repositories. Conclusion- India is heading toward to growth at a rapid pace. The growth majorly depending upon developing and strengthening it IT infrastructure. A country where major portion of the population is young, has correctly understood the strength of Information enabled generation. It not only creates accountability across sectors and industry but also makes even the remote crowd accessible to the basic amenities through a click of a button.
Source- http://www.digitalindia.gov.in/content/management-structure
TOP 20 COUNTRIES WITH HIGHEST NUMBER OF INTERNET USERS - MARCH 31, 2017
#
Country or Region
Population, 2017 Est.
Internet Users 31 Mar 2017
Internet Penetration
Growth (*) 2000 2017
Facebook 30 June 2016
1
China
1,388,232,693
731,434,547
52.7 % 3,150.8 %
1,800,000
2
India
1,342,512,706
462,124,989
34.4 % 9,142.5 %
157,000,000
3
United States
326,474,013
286,942,362
87.9 %
200.9 %
201,000,000
4
Brazil
211,243,220
139,111,185
65.9 % 2,682.2 %
111,000,000
5
Indonesia
263,510,146
132,700,000
50.4 % 6,535.0 %
88,000,000
6
Japan
126,045,211
118,453,595
94.0 %
151.6 %
26,000,000
7
Russia
143,375,006
104,553,691
72.9 % 3,272.7 %
12,000,000
8
Nigeria
191,835,936
93,591,174
48.8 %
46,695.6 %
16,000,000
9
Germany
80,636,124
71,727,551
89.0 %
198.9 %
31,000,000
10 Mexico
130,222,815
69,915,219
53.7 % 2,477.6 %
69,000,000
11 Bangladesh
164,827,718
66,965,000
40.6 %
66,865.0 %
21,000,000
65,511,098
60,273,385
92.0 %
291.4 %
39,000,000
12
United Kingdom
13 Iran
80,945,718
56,700,000
70.0 %
22,580.0 %
17,200,000
14 France
64,938,716
56,367,330
86.8 %
563.1 %
33,000,000
103,796,832
54,000,000
52.0 % 2,600.0 %
54,000,000
16 Italy
59,797,978
51,836,798
86.7 %
292.7 %
30,000,000
17 Vietnam
95,414,640
49,741,762
52.1 %
24,770.9 %
40,000,000
18 Turkey
80,417,526
46,196,720
57.4 % 2,209.8 %
46,000,000
19 Korea, South
50,704,971
45,314,248
89.4 %
138.0 %
17,000,000
20 Thailand
68,297,547
41,000,000
60.0 % 1,682.6 %
41,000,000
TOP 20 Countries
5,038,740,614
2,738,949,556
54.4 %
914.7 %
1,051,000,000
Rest of the World
2,480,288,356
993,023,867
40.0 %
990.6 %
628,433,530
Total World Users
7,519,028,970
3,731,973,423
49.6 %
933.8 %
1,679,433,530
15 Philippines
NOTES: (1) Top 20 Internet User Statistics were updated for March 31, 2017. (2) Growth percentage represents the increase in the number of Internet users between the years 2000 and 2017. (3) The most recent user information comes from data published by Facebook, International Telecommunications Union, official country telecom reports, and other trustworthy research sources. (4) Data from this site may be cited, giving the due credit and establishing a link back to www.internetworldstats.com. Copyright © 2017, Miniwatts Marketing Group. All rights reserved worldwide.
Source- http://www.internetworldstats.com/top20.htm
Demonetization- Its impact on Indian economy
The move by Indian government had a direct and indirect impact on the economy of the country. This step was being taken to curb out the black money, fight against terrorism are to name a few reasons. The impact of demonetization was felt across every sector be it automobile, cement, capital goods, consumer staples / jewellery, NBFCs, Real state, health care, retail or Smart phone for that matter. Post demonetization we all witnessed a massive cash crunch. Were bank ran out of cash. The demand was so huge that it took nearly 60 days to fully recover from the crisis. In such scenario a latent need for digital cash came into picture. Companies like paytm, airtel money, Mpesa etc who were struggling in the market of pre-demonetization era, got a huge positive response. According to RBI data, in the first four days of December, the volume of transactions done daily through eight leading mobile wallets and prepaid payment instruments (PPI) was about 25 lakh, worth about Rs 60 crore. Paytm alone witnessed at least 32.5 lakh transactions every day on its digital wallet. FreeCharge registered a nine-fold jump in merchant transactions on its platform, and MobiKwik reported an overall 18-time increase in its transaction volumes. Oxigen Services, which also has a digital wallet, its transactions increased to Rs. 600 crore in November from an average of Rs. 450 crore a month. In the absence of currency notes, with digital transactions, money came into the system, which was accountable, generated tax and help develop the country's economy even in the crisis situation. Witnessing the positive aspect of digital economy, the government doled out a number of sops for consumers when they make payments digitally. These include discounts on purchase of fuel and payments for insurance and at toll plazas. Service tax has been waived on digital transactions for purchases up to Rs 2,000, while charges on transactions through feature phones have also been cut. Conclusion- Though one never had thought of the digital money being the reality of the future. But the transparency and accountability which come as a plus point has pulled the attention of the government towards it. In a nation where only 1.5 % of the total population pay their taxes. Government has banked its hope on the usage of digital economy. The campaign done by the Indian e wallet company paytm’s slogan, “Paytm karo” successfully caught the attention of the huge mass. But at the same time raising a new Challenge for IT Security & Networking. Sources-
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/slideshows/investments-markets/how-demonetisation-willimpact-top-11-sectors-of-economy/telecom/slideshow/55432939.cms http://tech.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/mobile/digital-wallet-cos-claim-growth-postdemonetization-rbi-thinks-otherwise/55865444 http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Digital-payments-soar-by-up-to-300after-demonetisation/articleshow/55902284.cms?TOI_browsernotification=true http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/why-income-tax-payers-in-india-area-small-and-shrinking-breed/articleshow/56929550.cms http://businessworld.in/article/As-Demonetization-Boosts-Digital-Banking-Raises-NewChallenges-For-IT-Security-Networking/23-12-2016-110224/ https://indianceo.in/news/paytm-digital-marketing-increase-profit-demonetization/
3) Impact of these two policy on Paytm (e-wallet) and Indian Mobile Wallet Industry
