‘Digital India’, a vision of the government, that promised a multi-dimensional leap towards progress, has always remained unachieved because in a country of 1366 million how do you teach every inhabitant the need and benefits of digitalization? ‘Every crisis is an opportunity in disguise.’ The onset of Covid-19, otherwise wreaking havoc, very vividly forced us to accept the digital means that were blatantly ignored earlier. It took the whole nation and economy to be in a total chaos and pressure for us to fully reap the benefits of technology. Th
Be it ordering daily essentials at a tap of your phone and having delivered at your doorstep during a lockdown, or working from the comfort of your home to maintain social-distancing, shifting to digital means proved to be convenient and handy for all!
Digitalization is the future with social distancing
being one of the many essential principles in our lives.
.
To make matters more transparent and our lives easier, Digital Banking came with a solution to help us all. Along with online financial services, ‘Digital Banking’ brought more transparency into the system, helping the economy curb black money. Covid-19 gave Digital Banking a push, although people were initially hesitant to trust online transactions, they were circumstantially compelled to eventually increase their dependence on this mode of white money. We are building trust, the trust that a third party can help us manage our finances better. All that is left for one to do is, just a few taps on the phone screen and voila! - ‘Payment received’.
Learning is a continuous process, and nothing stops education. Online education allowed students to attend classes at their own pace, and understand each topic multiple times. Although it does not provide the best environment conducive for learning, it opens doors for teachers and students to explore more arenas, and make education a smoother process. The lockdown period encouraged students to learn new skills and complete different online courses from the best universities worldwide. According to an analysis of Coursera, the world's largest online education provider, 1.3 million of its users are from India out of 18 million registered learners.
Although digital learning is a boon for society yet it is not universally distributed. The power of digitalization is still arcane for the less privileged. An online scholarship platform, in its recent survey of rural students (April 2020), found that the education of more than 75% students has been severely impacted as they have found it hard to pursue studies online for not having it done before. However, with the support of government in training the rural and under- privileged masses for adopting digital means, digitalization can bestow its benefits to all the sections of our society!
Brands and multi-national companies have also been forced to rely on digital means to implement their marketing strategies and execute their endeavors of staying relevant during a lockdown. Skoda asked its team to create 3 advertisements using toy cars at home, and the results were amazing! Burger King offers free whoppers to those who use its billboards as Zoom video conferencing backgrounds. McDonald’s Brazil outlets recreated its logo by breaking its iconic golden arches to reinforce the message of social distancing and posted its image on its Facebook page.
(Data on no. of users of above-mentioned Digital activities since Covid-19)
Companies would generally prefer in-office working employees and holding physical meetings unless the participants are overseas. However, productive online meetings held over video- conferencing platforms are now questioning the need of holding every meeting in person. Online meetings not only save the time and resources spent on traveling but it is also an eco- friendly measure against rising pollution rates.
Jack Dorsey, the dual CEO of both Twitter and Square, informed his employees at both companies that they can continue working from home “forever.” Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, followed with his own announcement that his employees may also work from home. Against the traditional corporate mind-set of in-office working employees being the most productive; a better work-life balance, and peace, emanating from work-from-home measures is leading to better output from individuals.
The Indian healthcare system has shifted towards digital means as well. Apps like CareFit enable patients to have a video-interface with the doctor and a digital report is submitted by the doctor on the same platform. Many small doctor-visits in the future for minor ailments won’t be necessary due to video-call appointments and online follow-ups. Apps developed to monitor the availability of beds and services in hospitals, can potentially revolutionize the way we book hospital services in the future.
Moving towards a Digital India also raises a potential framework for protection against cybercrime, better laws, and more transparency. Technology has made our life simpler, but we need to be responsible regarding how we want to use it. Using digital means mindfully is the least we can do to prevent any cyber-related mishap.
As mentioned earlier, sadly, the gap between the use of digital means by different classes of people across India still persists. But at least Covid-19 made the country realize how important role technology can play in the sustenance of an economy, even during a crisis. It pushed us to explore this previously uncharted realm of digital means to simplify our lives and work processes phenomenally!