Governance in India undergoing 'paradigm shift': IT leaders

The governance in India is undergoing a "paradigm shift" because of digitisation and fast implementation of broadband connectivity in villages, two Indian entrepreneurs have said.
They said that ambitious projects like the GST and Aadhar would help unleash India's potential in the coming years.
Devendra Taneja, founder and CEO of Delhi-based PC Solutions, a leading Indian partner of US giant Microsoft, told PTI that there was a "paradigm shift to the governance in India to bring the whole country into the mainstream economy."
Prashanth Subramanian, executive director of Coimbatore-based Quadra Systems, which builds and delivers technology solutions to businesses, in a separate interview said India was on the cusp of development that has been unparallelled in its history.

"If you see the digital initiatives that the government of India is taking, it harbours very well for the industry. The emphasis on digital payments, the emphasis on digital transactions, the emphasis on digitisation means everything goes online," Subramanian said.
Taneja and Subramanian were in Washington DC this week to attend the annual partners conference of Microsoft - Inspire.

More than 170 representatives of Indian IT firms attended the conference that concluded in Washington DC yesterday.
Quadra has a track record of winning global awards at Inspire for 13 years - a total of 33 global awards.
"Now even the smallest business - somebody with just one computer - has to file returns electronically, and he has to use a computer system to go ahead and transact or go ahead and file returns and take care of regular governmental regulatory filings," Subramanian said.

He claimed even the US was "sitting on older equipment" when compared to India.
"Sometimes being late is also an advantage. For India, I think we are well poised, with all the initiatives that the government is taking, to actually go ahead and capture this opportunity and make Indian businesses much more competitive across the world," he said.
As the government starts adopting technology, it also forces others to adopt technology, which means the market for technology is going to expand, Subramanian explained.
"Today the saying is that every company is a software company, but it's not because their business model has changed, but because they have to use technology very, very well if they have to succeed," he said.

Taneja said the government's digitisation programme is helping in empowering the common man and the the GST would help create more jobs with the unorganised sector being its biggest beneficiary, he asserted.
Taneja said that because of these steps India now has the potential to address global challenges. "India has the basic ingredients (to succeed)..."
According to Taneja, India stands as a force in the IT sector. "IT has added a lot of star on every Indian shoulder when they travel abroad," he said.
He also praised Indian-American chief executives in the IT sector like Satya Nadella and Sunder Pichai, saying they are adding to India's glory. "We are at a very interesting point.