Complementary Roles of PCs and Smartphones in Enabling Digital India

According to a recent United Nations report, India has the world’s largest youth population with 28% of its population within the range of 10 to 24 years of age. Highlighting the fact that young people are innovators, creators, builders and leaders of the future, the UN pointed out that India’s young people present a tremendous opportunity to transform the country’s future (Source: Economic Times, November 18, 2014). Accordingly, India needs to invest heavily in young people’s education, health and progress. In the recent past, India’s efforts towards long-term social and economic development have largely centred on “Digitising India”. One such effort is the “Digital India Programme”. It is a flagship programme undertaken by the government of India with a vision to achieve two specific objectives: 1) to transform India into a digitally empowered society, and 2) to make India a knowledge economy (Source: digitalindia.gov.in). India is indeed poised for a major technological revolution where millions of Indians can use connected devices to access information, education, healthcare, government services and e-commerce.