From internet.org to drones, India enters new technology era
While “net neutrality” and its
ensuing debate kept Indian policymakers and the social media busy for most part
of the year, what took the country to the centre stage was a statement from
social networking giant Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg that if the world
needs to be connected then it is very important to connect the billion-plus
people in India.
Facebook rechristened its free
internet platform internet.org — which it developed in conjunction with
Reliance Communications Network — as “Free Basics by Facebook” in September.
Today, nearly 15 million people in 24 nations have access to internet as a
result of Facebook’s free internet efforts.
Although India has no regulations
yet on “net neutrality” a draft report on this from the department of
telecommunications (DoT) is with the government for clearance. Amid the
debate, Satya Nadella, the Indian-born chief executive of US-based technology
major Microsoft, visited India in November and announced a string of
partnerships, programmes and products to help Indian organisations and
governments explore unchartered business areas and enrich customer and citizen
experiences. Just a month back in San Francisco, top Oracle executive Thomas
Kurian announced that the leading cloud services provider fully supports the
latest digital initiatives launched by the Indian government.
When it came to wearable technology
in India, the year saw some tough competition to the leader Apple. While Apple
smartwatch was finally launched in India this year, at around Rs.30,000, it
still burnt a hole in people’s pocket. Later this year, Lenovo-owned Motorola
introduced five new variants of its android wear Moto 360 (2nd Gen) collection
for the Indian consumers.
Next tech trend that took the
country by storm this year was the launch of “Mobile Wallet” or “credit card
killer” as some referred it to. Although still in a nascent stage, the concept
of “Mobile Wallet” took rapidly on the psyche of the Indian consumers – making
it one of the most lucrative start-up avenue this year.
While drones or Unmanned Aerial
Vehicles (UAVs) took to new skies the world over this year — not just for
delivering pizzas but to perform some key tasks from the battlefield to
assessing climate change – India too appeared ready to utilise the technology.
Regards
Pralhad Jadhav
Senior Librarian
Khaitan & Co
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