Technology transformation upswing

Girija Pande highlights 3.7 million technical professionals bedrock.

India is at the cusp of technology transformation and currently ranks third in the global start-up ecosystem with nearly 3.7 million technical professionals forming the bedrock, a Singapore-based business veteran said.

“Key enablers to this transformation in India are the buoyant venture capital funding eco-system, the ever increasing government support, strong mobility adoption which will cross one billion people, and global digitisation of enterprises,” said Girija Pande, Chairman of Apex Avalon Consulting Private Limited, a Singapore business consultancy.

“India is at the cusp of technology transformation and currently ranks third in the global start-up ecosystem,” said Pande, adding that the US and China being first and second, respectively.

He said that nearly 3.7 million technical professionals form the bedrock of startup ecosystem.

Singapore, which is developing fast as a “Smart Nation” and creating an innovative start-up culture, will benefit by linking up with India, he observed.

Elaborating, Pande believes the Indian start-up eco-system will lead the next wave of business growths between the two countries with closer links to the Silicon Valley.

He also observed that Bangalore-based tech start-ups are capitalising on Indian ingenuity in information technology (IT) in building a long-term bridge with financially-backed counterparts in Singapore and the Silicon Valley.

“The India-Singapore-Silicon Valley corridor is growing and Indian startups, with innovative low-cost solutions, will play a very important part in this growth story in years to come,” said Pande, who leads Apex Avalon consultancy straddling the global network of start-ups which includes ASEAN and China corridor.

Singapore is expected to continue funding many Indian start-ups, with a growing number of them setting up headquarters in the city state, he pointed out.

“I can see a major interaction and growth in this area of start-ups, especially as Singapore has turned to innovation and value-creating businesses,” said Pande who will chair a session “Perspective From The Region” on India at the South Asian Diaspora Convention (SADC) to be held July 18-19 in Singapore.

“The Indian start up environment is innovative and its low-cost solutions are beneficial both for the Indian market and the rest of the world,” said Pande, a former President of Tata Consultancy Services for the Asia Pacific region.

“As we move towards a start-up environment, the Indian eco-system of start-up and innovation will be very useful. Major Silicon Valley-based venture capitalists are channeling investments through Singapore into Indian start-ups in Business-to-Business and Business-to-Consumer areas,” said Pande, also a Director of the Management Board at the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS), organisers of the SADC. fii-news.com