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In the vanguard of digital revolution

Hitachi, with its advanced technological solutions, is contributing significantly to mission 'Digital India'

BRAND CONNECT
Published: Feb 24, 2020 08:08:13 PM IST
Updated: Feb 28, 2020 01:06:34 PM IST

India is at the cusp of becoming one of the leading global economies in the world. The $5 trillion target set by the government for the Indian economy in the medium term is the vision for the massive transformation, which entails structural changes across the board. This is well reflected in a host of initiatives undertaken in the recent past meant to trigger a paradigm shift in the delivery models of services to citizens and creating an inclusive growth environment. Digitisation, as manifested by flagship programmes like ‘Digital India’, ‘Make in India’ and ‘Skill India’, is the cornerstone of this massive social sector revamp drive. 

These initiatives embody the spirit of the new age India, which is keen to embrace technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Data Analytics, Robotics, etc. to give a cutting edge to its social delivery system. In terms of economic benefits, they are meant to pave the way for a leapfrog trajectory for segments like manufacturing where Industry 4.0 regime no longer seems to be a distant reality. The grand vision of Digital India, pursued through multiple yet converging technological programmes, has become an encompassing imperative for all major players resulting in robust public-private partnerships. 

With over eight decades of solid foundation in India, Hitachi India is gearing up to seize the burgeoning opportunities of a services-driven, fast-digitalising Indian economy. With the experience and expertise of nearly 100 years in Operational Technology (OT) and of around 50 years in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), Hitachi has been partnering India’s digital transformation together with multiple stakeholders offering advanced state-of-the-art technological solutions, aiming to achieve last mile delivery of products and services. 

“India has been growing at a brisk pace and today it presents an opportunity like never before. Hitachi has been aligning itself with the growth drivers and synergising its solutions with the Government of India to support both physical and digital transformation of the country,” says Bharat Kaushal, Managing Director, Hitachi India

Through Social Innovation Business, Hitachi’s connected customer life cycle solutions ensure greater social, environmental and economic sustainability in diverse business domains like mobility, IT, social infrastructure, payment and smart life. These solutions harness Hitachi’s core platform technologies including OT (Operational Technology) x IT, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Big Data Analytics. Social Innovation co-creates value through collaboration with stakeholders.

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In strategic terms, Hitachi’s offerings are targeted to make a holistic difference through its Social, Environmental and Economic values.

Partnering in vital e-Governance schemes

Besides physical infrastructure, the government’s vision also entails building a more inclusive society with better governance, schools, banking and insurance facilities. In India, the first wave of technological changes vis-a-vis digitisation has begun showing results in terms of emergence of efficient delivery model of social welfare schemes. Citizens today not only have access to all necessary information through digital means but also readily available platforms to reach out to authorities, meaningfully interact and take an issue to its logical end expeditiously. This has significantly changed various aspects of public life and governance conducting elections and census, computerisation of government offices and activities, digital lockers, e-Education, e-health, e-transportation, tax payments, etc.  

Hitachi, through its Social Innovation Business Solution, has actively and intensely been engaged in several areas of e-Governance in India. It is actively partnering in reformative schemes such as ‘Make in India’ and ‘Digital India,’ providing technological expertise in areas such as electrification, agriculture, healthcare, etc. Empowered by Hitachi’s solutions, government agencies involved in dissemination of the services to the people have successfully modified some of the complex processes like large-scale digitisation of public records for easy access.

Industry 4.0 Drive 

Considering the current growth impetus which India is pursuing, there are a host of transformative initiatives which are slated to make India a leading digital economy, globally is not so distant a future. According to the global think-tank, McKinsey, the digital economy will contribute $355-435 billion to the Indian GDP by 2025, from $200 billion, or 8% of the GDP in 2017-18. The benefits of digitisation are slated to change the operational regime for most of the vibrant sectors of Indian economy like agriculture, healthcare, logistics, energy, education and financial services.

In a more macro sense, the digitisation drive is also meant to pave the way for Industry 4.0 regime in the country. India is committed to contribute the share of its manufacturing to GDP from below 20 percent to around 25 percent in the medium run and that makes the convergence of digitisation and industrial processes upgradation inevitable going ahead. The massive exercise practically means rewriting the rules and changing the functional models forever by harnessing new age technological marvels like Information Technology and Operations Technology, IoT and Big Data analytics. With its vast experience, Hitachi is perfectly placed to become a leading partner in India’s Industry 4.0 revolution with its superior offerings aligned with IoT (Internet of Things) era. In fact, aided by the company’s innovative and globally recognised OT (Operational Technology) x IT solutions and data analytics, customers have transited from IoT-enabled interactive devices to AI-enabled ones. Such a paradigm shift touches lives and equips devices and operations with cognitive functions that are similar to human beings.

Mobility Makeover

Going by an estimate, 50 percent of India is expected to reside in urban centers by 2030 and this entails major change in mobility and urban transportation. With these affordable solutions, movement of people between cities and within cities are imperative. The government’s vision includes bullet trains, dedicated freight corridors (DFC), high speed train corridors in the Golden Quadrilateral linking Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai, metro networks within cities with metrolite options for smaller cities. 

Hitachi Rail Systems Business Division is fully aligned with the government’s vision for India’s railways: the world’s third largest network. Hitachi’s seamless cross-platform solution capabilities are supporting the government in its quest for turning the country’s existing urban areas across India into Smart Cities. Hitachi’s rail expertise encompasses rolling stock systems to state-of-the-art signaling systems and has developed future-ready railway solutions in multiple countries across continent. Through its connected customer solutions Hitachi can contribute in enabling seamless integration of high-speed corridors with multi-modal transportation systems in the rapidly growing cities with last mile and first mile connectivity. Creating new benchmarks for India’s urban transportation system through Social Innovation Business Solution, Hitachi aspires to Power Good and build a sustainable society.

Revolutionising Digital Transaction

The Indian banking sector has evolved from physical banking to digital anchor in the past two decades. Several factors aided this sea-change improved penetration of ATMs and banking correspondents, rapid digitisation backed by cheap mobile data, growth of payment ecosystem, and government measures such as Aadhaar, Jan Dhan, and DBT. But there is a crucial need to accelerate this story. The next frontier for the digital banking drive entails making the national financial regime inclusive for the next half a billion people. Needless to say, this would be a monumental opportunity for the stakeholders in the fray.

According to a NITI Aayog study, the booming digital payment space is expected to reach $1 trillion by 2023. This is no less than a revolution and Hitachi Payment Services is an intrinsic part of this gigantic churning. Hitachi Payment Services and State Bank of India (SBI) have entered into a joint venture for the establishment of a state-of-the-art digital payment platform for India. The JV will facilitate expansion of the digital payments landscape in India.

Hitachi will continue to invest in developing its capabilities and introducing quintessential technologies, playing a crucial role in India’s march towards digital transformation.

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Disclaimer: The views, suggestions and opinions expressed here are the sole responsibility of the experts. No Forbes India journalist was involved in the writing and production of this article.

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