Data Is the New Raw Material: Prof Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, Ministry of Science & Technology
Prof Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, Ministry of Science and Technology said that”Data is the new raw material” and is as important as water, which is the life line. He was speaking at the inaugural session of IoT for Digital India, organized by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), today.
Addressing the delegates, Prof Sharma discussed the role of new communication in IoT. He mentioned how 5G is going to be a reliable and a source of fast communication because of its stability and speed. He said that IoT has a large number of customers that are growing on a daily basis and the definition of IoT (Internet of Things) has actually changed to (Internet of Everything). He also specified the future of IoT is the integration of materials, machines, data, communication, computing and decision making.
Delivering the inaugural address, Mr. Vivek Dixit, Vice President, Reliance Jio Infocomm spoke about how IoT is rising to a new horizon daily. He stated the difference between industry perspective and social perspective of IoT and said that India is a growing hub for IoT. He mentioned that a certain budget has already been allocated to develop 100 smart cities, conserve water and power and improve healthcare, transportation, and security. Lastly, he mentioned the challenges that the industry faces some of them being Investment from the user community, Security, Data ownership, Industry awareness, etc.
Harmeen Mehta, CIO & Head Cloud and Security Business – Bharti Airtel Limited delivered a keynote address at the conference and shared how IoT is developing. She discussed about the fundamental use cases of IoT and mentioned that 5G is going to be extremely beneficial to the consumers for its high speed and soon it will become the need of an edge.
The highlight of the conference was a panel discussion on ‘The Digital Revolution: IoT, 5G and beyond‘. Panel members discussed how 5G is different or better than existing connectivity formats and also how are OEM and service providers preparing for 5G and building capabilities?
The Summit speaker’s line-up included several high profile industry stalwarts like Vinay Dua, Head Business Development, IoT & Digital Transformation Office, Cisco; Vinay Solanki, Head – IoT (APAC & MEA), Lenovo; Amit Marwah, Head of Marketing and Corporate Affairs, Nokia India; Santhosh Kumar Madathil, Global Head of IoT – Solutions Engineering, Wipro;
Kapil Bharati, Co-Founder & CTO, Delhivery among others and had discussions around topics like Transforming Manufacturing with IoT, The Digital Revolution: IoT, 5G & Beyond, Intelligent Transport Systems for the Connected Consumer.
The daylong conference had discussions around the various facets of what is required to close the value chain of IoT in public and private and propel Indian towards becoming a smarter India. Industry experts brainstormed on the potential of IoT Market that will chart a roadmap for its future growth. They also discussed how investing in IoT will boost the economy on par with global leaders and how IoT will bring in investments, create jobs and improve Indian public infrastructure and that Indian IoT market is also expected to reach $15 billion by 2020.
