Tag: DIGITAL ECONOMY

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Amazon’s Initiatives to Turbocharge India’s Digital Economy, Exports

India Post and Amazon also unveiled a commemorative postal stamp that celebrates the partnership between Amazon and India Post in reaching out to customers in 100 per cent serviceable pin codes…reports Asian Lite News

E-commerce giant Amazon on Thursday announced a slew of initiatives to boost India’s digital economy and exports, along with an MoU with India Post for an integrated cross-border logistics solution.

The move will expand the e-commerce exports opportunity to lakhs of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) across the country.

Additionally, Amazon is engaging with Indian Railways’ Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFC) to enable its sellers deliver faster to their customers across the country.

The company also announced to introduce a generative AI-based personal digital assistant for sellers and opened its logistics and supply chain capabilities to direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands across the country.

“We had recently announced an incremental investment of $15 billion in India across all our businesses by 2030 and will continue to be a partner in India’s growth in the 21st century”, said Amit Agarwal, SVP India and Emerging Markets, Amazon during the ‘Amazon Smbhav Summit’ here.

India Post and Amazon also unveiled a commemorative postal stamp that celebrates the partnership between Amazon and India Post in reaching out to customers in 100 per cent serviceable pin codes.

“I am delighted to know about Amazon’s commitment to digitising 10 million MSMEs, enabling 2 million jobs, and driving $20 billion in e-commerce exports from India by 2025,” said Dr Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology.

“For lakhs of small businesses across India, digitisation can offer economic growth, broader customer reach, reduced marketing & distribution expenses, and access to foreign markets” Singh added.

The announcements followed Amazon CEO Andy Jassy’s meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his state visit to the US in June.

“We are focused on investing long-term in physical and digital infrastructure and building cutting edge technology solutions to serve customers and enable Indian businesses to scale and grow in India and globally, thus contributing to India’s rising digital economy,” said Manish Tiwary, Country Manager India Consumer Business, Amazon India.

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‘UAE champions future investments with digital principles’

The UAE minister highlighted the significance of the “Digital Readiness” Retreat in shaping the digital future of the UAE…reports Asian Lite News

The UAE has established a solid framework of digital principles aiming to drive future investments, said Omar bin Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Remote Work Applications, adding that the country has harnessed technological transformations as a strategic means to foster forthcoming opportunities.

This came during the “Digital Readiness” Retreat organised by the Government Development and the Future Office, an esteemed event that gathered over 250 government officials, leaders, and decision-makers from over 50 federal entities. Al Olama contributed virtually with a speech titled “The Power of Digital Approach: Promoting a Digital-Driven National Economy”.

The minister highlighted the significance of the “Digital Readiness” Retreat in shaping the digital future of the UAE and enhancing government capabilities in the coming phase. Emphasising the UAE government’s pioneering approach, Al Olama affirmed the UAE’s commitment in embracing digital solutions as a fundamental instrument for fostering interaction and promoting business advancement.

Al Olama further said that the UAE’s leading position in Venture capital indicators and the number of digital companies reflects the UAE’s commitment to comprehensive digital transformation. The UAE has solidified this achievement through three key factors such as the UAE’s government belief in technology’s transformative power, proactive utilization of the technological revolution, and dedicated investments in digital infrastructure.

Moreover, the UAE has developed policies and legislative frameworks that enable the adoption of digital foundations, overcoming legislative challenges through strong collaboration between the government and private sectors.

The minister elaborated on achievements within the realm of the digital economy in UAE, shedding light on the UAE’s record of attracting unicorns in a new phase to achieve global leadership. He emphasised the UAE’s commitment to a cooperative approach in sharing success stories and strategies for overcoming challenges.

Al Olama added that the future role of governments worldwide depends on their full awareness and investment in developing secure and effective systems.

Furthermore, he highlighted the forthcoming era’s focal point, which revolves around generative AI and empowering society to leverage AI-based solutions predicting substantial revenues reaching trillions of dollars from this futuristic field, thereby reflecting the positive impact on countries’ digital economies.

Therefore, he stressed the need for comprehensive plans to assess the short and long-term impacts of such initiatives, alongside the continuous adaptation of policies and legislation, ensuring the UAE’s proactive approach within this sector.

He noted to “Falcon”, renowned as one of the highly proficient and accomplished generative AI systems. With an impressive capacity of 40 billion variable factors, this system serves as a catalyst for fostering visions aimed at guaranteeing its secure utilisation. Moreover, it promotes the creation of a robust framework that empowers businesses and serves as a benchmark for countries striving for sustained achievements and advancements.

The “Digital Readiness” Retreat aimed to equip government officials with comprehensive knowledge relating to significant digital transformation initiatives.

The Retreat fostered an environment encouraging the exchange of perspectives, enabling participants to propose projects and initiatives aimed at expediting government digital transformation.

Furthermore, it provided an opportunity for attendees to stay well-informed of the latest emerging trends in global digital transformation, thus facilitating their ability to anticipate and navigate future developments in this field.

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Business

‘India has all ingredients to become a $1 trillion digital economy by 2025’

According to him, India has all the ingredients to become a $1 trillion digital economy by 2025, and Oracle is investing big in the country to help it achieve the goal fast…reports Asian Lite News

As India gets its 100th unicorn, Cloud major Oracle said it is not only nurturing the next breed of startups to expand their footprint but also connecting them with many venture capitalists so that they get the required funding not only in India but globally as well.

Kapil Makhija, Vice President-Technology Cloud, Oracle India, told that the company is already giving startups the much-needed exposure in 170-odd countries where it operates in.

“If you’re going to invest in these startups, they are going to grow and become $1-billion unicorns soon. In the process, our Cloud consumption also grows so it is a win-win situation for both. We are not only giving startups access to our customers but also jointly working with them,” Makhija told.

The company has onboarded thousands of startups in the country, nurturing them from early stages on their journey to the Cloud.

The ‘Oracle for Startups’ programme was first piloted in Bengaluru before it was scaled globally.

According to him, India has all the ingredients to become a $1 trillion digital economy by 2025, and Oracle is investing big in the country to help it achieve the goal fast.

“Oracle is doing its part to help India maintain and sustain its digital growth. We are investing big time in India. We have created a lot of employment opportunities in the country and are hiring big time,” Makhija said.

Oracle, which has consistently clocked high double-digit growth in India over the last 4-5 years, is set to further double down on the country as a key growth market in 2022.

India was one of the first few countries where Oracle opened two local, next-generation cloud regions (Mumbai and Hyderabad) in quick succession.

According to Makhija, the company is also putting a lot of focus on education and the ‘Skill India’ initiative.

“We have trained almost 800,000 people free of cost in the last 12 months just to ensure that the skill gap which exists in the country today gets plugged fast,” he informed.

With Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), the Indian firms are reporting time savings to the tune of 30 per cent, with faster migration and improved data management, resulting in faster reporting and analytics, particularly for some of the long-running and time-consuming reports/procedures.

Makhija said that Oracle has formed specific teams responsible for empowering startups, not only in India but also in the entire Asia-Pacific region.

“In fact, a separate team responsible for the Japan business and for most of the startups in the APAC region are based out of India. We are putting in a lot of mentoring support and imparting a lot of technical know-how to startups in the country and in the Asia-Pacific region,” he noted.

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