DIGITALEUROPE position paper EU-India Cooperation in ICT

We would like to express our congratulations to the Indian Government for launching many good initiatives such as “Digital India”, “100 Smart Cities” and “Make in India”. The Government of India has shown great vision and leadership in launching the “Make in India” Campaign along with “Digital India” and “100 Smart Cities” launch. The Tech Industry in Europe is very much aligned with the vision and believe that these three campaigns are interlinked with each other and would define India’s growth in the ICT sector in next five years.

Last year, the European Commission (EC) with the lead of President Jean-Claude Juncker and the Government of India with Prime Minister Modi both decided to make the digital economy a priority of their respective working programme: the “Digital Single Market strategy” in the EU; and “Digital India” on the other side. The European Union (EU) and India share several objectives through an “umbrella” programme and a single vision: enable change and a new Industry, digitisation of society and businesses, digital inclusion and eSkills, job creation, Smart cities, and IT services.

The European ICT Industry has been operating in India since many decades, some EU companies for more than a century and is committed to continue playing an active role in the country. Therefore, we believe a dialogue between the EU and India is crucial to create more business-friendly environment, notably by keeping existing operations and attracting new ICT investments in the country in order to achieve digital inclusion. Both partners should work hand in hand to share the best practices and avoid unnecessary barriers to ICT development.

DIGITALEUROPE is appreciative of excellent initiatives of the current Indian Government towards financial inclusion. The “Jan Dhan Yojana” scheme of Modi Government is providing a very effective path for an ICT enabled inclusion of unbanked population into the Indian banking system. DIGITALEUROPE is very optimistic on the larger “Skill India” initiative of the Indian Government, which will further strengthen India’s position as a hub for ICT skill sets. The capacity building initiatives will definitely go a long way in developing an ICT culture in the country. The unprecedented roll out of India’s national identity scheme “Adhaar” is another feather to the cap. We see a big role for citizen ID enablement of Government service delivery to ensure transparency and efficiency.