The Power of Technology

Today we live in a world that remains divided. A world in which we have made great progress and advancement in science and technology; but it’s also a world where millions of people die because they don’t have access to technologies.Many countries have developed and are still developing through the use of technologies. India is a good example of a developing country which has adopted technology to improve her standard of living. With support from the government of India, and considerable investment in technology, there has been improvement in different sectors of the economy like agriculture, health care, space research and nuclear energy. India is gradually becoming self reliant with the help of some certain technologies.

India ranks third among the most attractive investment destinations for technology transactions in the world.Technology can be defined as the use of tools to increase the effects of human impact on the natural environment; India has greatly harnessed the power of technology and has assured that this definition is true. India continues to dominate in different sectors of the economy like Agriculture, Election, Health sectors, Roads, Infrastructural facilities, and Natural resources.India adopted technology in voting as to curb some crimes associated with elections by introducing Electronic Voting Machines (EVM). The electronic voting machines have been used in all general and state assembly elections of India since 2014.

Prior to the introduction of electronic voting, India used paper ballots and manual counting. In India the robust electoral machinery and the processes have been aided and strengthened by technology. A major push to use of technology in the Indian elections came with the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs). It entirely disrupted the way the elections were conducted. Use of EVMs was not simply the replacement of ballot boxes and ballot papers. It was a paradigm shift for everyone including the political parties, candidates and the voters.Electronic Voting is the standard means of conducting elections using Electronic Voting Machines, sometimes called “EVMs” in India.

The use of EVMs and electronic voting was developed and tested by the state-owned Electronics Corporation of India and Bharat Electronics in the 1990s. They were introduced in India’s elections between 1998 and 2001 in phased manner. The electronic voting machines have been used in all general and state assembly elections of India since 2014.Prior to the introduction of electronic voting, India used paper ballots and manual counting. The paper ballots method was widely criticized because of fraudulent voting and stealing of ballot boxes. The printed ballot papers were also more expensive, requiring substantial post-voting resources to count hundreds of millions of individual ballots.  

Embedded EVM features such as electronically limiting the rate of casting votes to five per minutes. A security lock-close feature, an electronic database of voting signatures and thumb impressions to confirm the identity of the voter. Conducting elections in phases over several weeks while deploying extensive security personnel at each polling booth. It has helped reduce electoral fraud and abuse, and eliminate ballot box snatching and has created more competitive and fairer elections. Indian EVMs are stand-alone machines built with once write, read-only memory. The EVMs are produced with secure manufacturing practices and by design, are self-contained, battery-powered and lack any networking capability.

They do not have any wireless or wired internet components and interface. The M3 version of the EVMs includes the VVPAT system. Another field of the economy that India has harnessed the power of technology is the health sector. Health care in India faces several challenges including inadequate access, low insurance penetration and a growing chronic disease burden.  Traditional business models have found it hard to show attractive returns on investment, except for few providers. Technology infusion along with expanded infrastructure and efficiencies from process improvements helped improve health care accessibility and affordability.

 Health care has the potential of strong economic growth and to provide employment, but it is also a crucial sector in terms of protecting the health and the wealth of the nation. Technological advancement has constantly improved the job sector. Giving rise to millions of new jobs, especially in the IT industry across India. According to the Indian Staffing Federation (ISF) research, the future is set to witness another three million new jobs in the IT space, catapulting India’s tech army to 7 million by 2023.The new-age jobs are envisioned to spawn in emerging technology areas such as the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Big data, block chain, Augmented Reality (AR), and Data science.

While these technologies add greater efficiency to enterprise operations by reducing human hours and increasing productivity levels. The on-going transformation in the job sector has also raised concerns for Indian masses, especially among the labor community. It is observed that robotic automation has emerged as their biggest worry as it significantly replaces low-skilled jobs, mainly consisting of simple assembly tasks. Automation is anticipated to execute over 40 per cent of such jobs across the world in the coming years, according to International Labor Organization (ILO) report.

There is also an indication that automation can be a massive blow to women’s employment, and majorly in sectors like retail, business process outsourcing, and textiles.  These sectors comprise more women’s workforce than men; automation can turn out to be a significant drawback for women employees. Digital technologies are also bringing volume of benefits to people across the country. Mobile learning for instance is significantly flourishing in India, providing affordable, accessible and quality education to a huge populace in the country. These digital learning platforms are giving people instant access to great learning programs.

 Platforms like LinkedIn, has made it easy for recruiters to post jobs, conduct interviews and eventually absorb talents according to enterprise requirements.  Clearly, technology is shaping the India’s job sector and has enabled every sector to transform while creating new jobs.  The logistics industry is rapidly transformed by leveraging on digital technologies like AI an ML. Nigeria could stir an economic revolution in Africa if technology is the anchor. What could Nigeria learn from India? A country that has attained self-sufficiency in virtually every aspect of its economic life through technology.