“Internet penetration through AP’s Fibernet project will improve tremendously and a lot of people in the rural areas will be covered in the coming six months creating different opportunities for youth,” said V. Srinivas Rao, IT expert and CMD and Chief Digital Consultant at ‘Better Today, Better Tomorrow’, a Hyderabad-based technology firm, here on Tuesday.
Mr. Srinivas, who worked at Tech Mahindra TCS, Infosys and iGATE spoke to The Hindu on the sidelines of ‘Samalochana’ programme at the book festival under way in the city.
Infrastructure
On the infrastructure needed for achieving cashless economy, Mr. Srinivas said, “The Central government started national fibre optic driver nearly half a dozen years ago but it did not take off still. In AP the initiative is wonderful and fibre grid was recently launched in Mori village. It is said a 10 per cent increase of broadband connectivity in a country can increase GDP by one per cent. New opportunities can be created in the rural India with a spread of industries.”
Speaking about the cashless economy, Mr. Srinivas said, “The Government should start publishing the security measures it has taken and review every payment instrument and its level of security. 85 per cent of the hacks are sponsored by rogue countries and they try to hack and trouble us when we enter into a cashless economy. We should have plans with a 360-degree view towards the initiative.”
Though the cashless economy is a welcome initiative, the first requirement is digital literacy among the public followed by necessary software development and security, he said.
“In a cashless economy, transactions will become transparent and things happening in the backend can be controlled. But it will not happen overnight as there are many challenges to overcome,” he said.