“Technology is the language of business and sustainability, its grammar,” said Ramkumar Ramamoorthy, Partner, Catalincs and former chairman and managing director of Cognizant India, in Udhagamandalam on Friday.
Delivering the keynote address on day one of the Nilgiris Economic Dialogue organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), he said that technology had taken over every facet of our lives, including business, and that businesses that failed to adapt to these technologies faced the prospect of being supplanted by newer, more adaptable business models that take advantage of it.
Using the example of how ride-sharing apps have brought about uniformity and consistency in pricing for autorickshaw and taxi fares as well as better safety, Mr. Ramamoorthy said that the impact of technology was not limited only to certain segments of business, trade and industry.
He spoke about how e-commerce has been revolutionised in less than a decade due to the widespread adoption of digital payments among the public. “In India, there are over 110 unicorns with a total market value of more than U.S. $ 330 billion, and all of these are new business models founded on digital platforms,” said Mr. Ramamoorthy.
Participants at the Nilgiris Economic Dialogue meeting in Udhagamandalam. | Photo Credit: M. SATHYAMOORTHY
Following the keynote address, a panel discussion, “Innovative Horizons: Navigating the Nexus of Digital Economics” was moderated by Mr. Ramamoorthy. Panellists included M.P. Vijaya Kumar, Executive Director and Group CFO, Sify Technologies Limited, M. Muralidharan, Chief Operating Officer, Bahwan CyberTek and Chairman, Ethiraj College Trust; Rajesh Subramaniam, CEO and founder, EmbedUR Systems; and Karthikeyan Arumugham, Managing Director, DIGIIT Business Services Private Limited and Technology Service Provider – ONDC network.
The panellists touched on the importance of cybersecurity for businesses, the need for more government expenditure on higher education and research as well as ensuring more access to technology and services for more people.
The Nilgiris Economic Dialogue is set to continue till Sunday. Billed as “An initiative that will bring together diverse worlds of industry, government, academia, planning and social work,” the event on Friday also had a discussion on “The Changing Ecology and Economy of the Nilgiris” as well as “Jigsaw World: Small Wars, Middle Powers and Big Risks,” featuring eminent businessmen as well as local entrepreneurs.
