Webinar: The Importance of Data – Encouraging Innovation

By Kealan Finnegan

On 12th May UK India Business Council hosted an insightful webinar, ‘The Importance of Data – Encouraging Innovation’. UKIBC Associate Director Meghna Misra-Elder chaired the discussion with Nikhil Narendran, Partner at Trilegal; Alistair Tebbit, Head of Government Affairs at RELX; and Jim Bligh, Director of Corporate Affairs – UK&I at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).

There are many short and long-term learnings to be taken away from the current lockdown situation. A key one being that technology companies and governments will need to collaborate and adjust to find solutions and to avoid such turmoil in a future pandemic or other crisis.

RELX and TCS shared their own initiatives in response to coronavirus, with both sharing their wealth of insights and resources with government and institutional partners at this time to support local and global efforts to mitigate the effects.

Our current situation gives governments the opportunity to review their current data laws and ensure they are as effective as they could be; it is hoped that those which are not can be modified accordingly. In particular, the group delved into India’s Personal Data Protection (PDP) Bill. As the bill is still under Parliamentary review before it is passed, this could be a great opportunity to re-evaluate it to incorporate learnings from experiences in light of the pandemic, and any necessary changes made to ensure the bill will be effective.

We need to be realistic about how the use of data is evolving, how much more significant it is, and how decisions are being made.

Digital and tech is already revolutionising other sectors and we expect to see an acceleration of that. For example, digital education. There is an opportunity to create better systems to deliver digitally for learners of all ages, which can benefit people personally, stimulate innovation, and support the economy and health industry.

Digital skills will continue to be critical and increasingly desired by companies. Companies are already working towards these goals. UKIBC member BT has been conducting some fantastic work in India to deliver local programmes using technology to empower girls in education, agency, health and economic empowerment.

Key to public and private collaborations are regulations and legislations that build trust. It is imperative that the general population trusts technology and the organisations (both public and private) managing it to maximise efficacy. In the short-term, the use of tracing and testing. In the longer-term, data and trends can teach us so much.

UKIBC is writing to the Government of India following consultation with our sector advocacy group and on the back of this insightful discussion, with a series of recommendations to support the digital and tech sector. More details will be shared on our website.

Many thanks to our outstanding speakers for sharing their expertise and opinions on such a timely subject matter. If you were unable to join, we invite you to watch the webinar below for more valuable information.


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