Equip Digital Skills

By: Amit Sharma, Executive Vice President, and President, Asia, ATC

ATC India’s Digital Village Project is anchored by digital learning centers that provide computer and Internet access as well as training for adults to help them use digital technology and navigate the internet for essential activities

In the Indian context, where the economy is projected to grow in the range of 7%, it is necessary to focus on developing and advancing skills of the citizens, especially digital skills. This will support the effective implementation of government programs and increase the adoption rate of government services. This can be done by integrating digital literacy as a part of the curriculum in schools, colleges, and universities.

For this, private players also need to take an active part and shoulder the responsibility to help speed up programs like Public Internet access, E-governance, and EKranti – Electronic Delivery of Services – key pillars of Digital India initiative.

ATC strongly believes and supports the Government’s vision of Digital India through its Digital Village project. Key skills that we are trying to promote are self-learning for students using our internet-enabled e-learning kiosks and digital literacy of common villager.

Growth in Telecom

The telecom industry is witnessing unprecedented growth in data consumption. India is currently in the midst of 4G rollout, with 4G services currently available only in selected cities in India. Speedy adoption of the 4G technology is expected to be critical for the success of data growth and for India to achieve 8% plus growth for the next decade.

For the next several years, the focus will continue to be on making infrastructure that supports 4G, available across India. Post that, telecom operators are also likely to focus on IoT that include other utilities equipment with the likely advent of 4.5G particularly in Digital Smart Cities. The shift to high-speed digital content delivery, enabled by advanced network technology will need better telecom Infrastructure.

The telecom industry is going through a phase of consolidation. ATC has rapidly grown over the last few years and continues to grow via acquisition of attractive potential targets. We have a deep focus on training of our existing workforce and preparing them to scale up and build internal capacity. We will continue to recruit to keep pace with our growth.

Crafting ICT Talent Pool

Through strategic partnerships, ATC India is continuing to champion the Indian government’s “Digital India” mission to improve lives in rural communities by enabling digital connectivity and promoting education through the use of technology.

Building upon its success in bringing e-learning access to over 10,000 schoolchildren in remote villages through digital learning kiosks, ATC India has since set out to bring digital literacy to these communities through its “Digital Village” project.

ATC India’s Digital Village Project is anchored by digital learning centers that provide computer and Internet access as well as training for adults to help them use digital technology and navigate the internet for essential activities. In addition, ATC India is in the process of partnering with agencies that can provide financial and healthcare literacy programs, telemedicine, banking services, Wi-Fi, ATMs and more.

Since October 2016, 69 Digital Village sites have been opened throughout rural India. Around 7,000 people have been trained in basic digital literacy and certified by NIIT Foundation, ATC India’s non-profit partner.

These initiatives represent ATC India’s commitment to help enable a digitally empowered society. By establishing case studies of digital growth in rural communities and sharing such success stories for large-scale adoption, ATC India aims to propel the Digital India mission forward.