Indian entrepreneurs can solve global problems: NASSCOM President Debjani Ghosh

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], August 17 : Debjani Ghosh, President of the trade association and advocacy group NASSCOM, on Thursday said the current entrepreneurship ecosystem in India is not just about startups but it is more about solving problems facing the world. She said Indian entrepreneurs fit the bill to serve the world through the use of technology.
“Right now in India, the entrepreneurship ecosystem, it's not just about startups and ecosystems. It's a mindset. It's how we think. Everybody wants to become an entrepreneur. Everybody wants to solve big problems,” Ghosh told ANI on the sidelines of the two-day G20-Digital Innovation Alliance summit being held in Bengaluru.
“I think that's the mindset that India can now take to the world because the world needs it. There are so many problems you are facing and we need to be thinking about how to solve these problems. India has done a fantastic job in leveraging technology,” the president of the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) said.
She said in today’s India, anyone staying in any small city can do something big for global good and can become the next disrupter.
“So I think that's the confidence that our youth is growing up with, which is so important for a healthy start up ecosystem where you believe in your dreams. You will fail, you will fail quite a few times but you should have the ability to get up after every failure and try again and that's exactly the spirit that we are building in India today.”
India, she said, has “good problems” -- a big market, a large talent pool.
“India's biggest competitive advantage is our talent. We are a young country. We have people who are not scared of technology. We have a very tech-savvy young (generation). The world is looking for good talent as long as we can continue to build out the talent. We have a government that is tremendously supportive of business. So from a policy perspective, everything is very well constructive right now as long as we continue to build a talent and make it easy to do business in India, everyone will come to India that is the future.”
Asked about India’s semiconductor ecosystem, she said the country has a strong semiconductor history.
“India has been designing the latest chips you know the semiconductor design has all been happening in India for so many years. In fact, India is one of the largest hub so semiconductor design. I think that is a huge advantage for us we now think of going to the next step which is actually manufacturing (chips) in India,” she noted.
Meanwhile, the Bengaluru meeting was inaugurated by Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar. While inaugurating the G20-Digital Innovation Alliance Summit being held in Bengaluru, he spoke about key trends happening in India that are of interest to startups.
The Minister said the centre of gravity of tech which used to be in a few countries and around a few companies is now moving to open-source systems and younger startups are disrupting the normal.
“Three trends that are happening that are of interest to start up today in the innovation economy,” he said.
“The center of gravity of tech which used to be in a few countries and centered around a few corporations or few companies is moving to open source systems to younger and younger startups that are disrupting the normal and these 2 trends are intern capitalising on the broader trend of increased digitization and faster digitization,” he added.
Further, he said India has become a trusted partner for the world.
The two-day summit, being held on the sidelines of the fourth meeting of the ‘Digital Economy Working Group’ under G20, is being attended by global experts and digital leaders including representatives from other G20 countries.
The Summit is focused on discussions on ‘Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI)’, ‘Security in the Digital Economy’, and ‘Digital Skilling’.
As part of India’s G20 Presidency, G20 Digital Innovation Alliance (G20-DIA) initiative was launched under MeitY Startup Hub. It recognizes and accelerates the growth of startups from all G20 countries and nine invited guest countries in six sectors – Ed-tech, Health-tech, Agri-tech, Fin-tech, Secured Digital Infrastructure, and Circular Economy that are using digital technologies to solve humanity’s most pressing needs.
A total of 174 startups from 29 countries are part of the program. These startups will pitch to a jury of global leaders at the G20-DIA Summit.
The Summit will culminate on August 18 with an awards ceremony in which 30 startups will be honoured in various categories.