Issues related to Digital Talent and Digital Expertise Ecosystem in India: The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the digital transformation of enterprises, creating significant opportunities for all organizations. The demand environment is extremely positive given the customer-centricity of the technology industry in India and many companies have announced double-digit growth this fiscal.
Companies are adopting a multi-pronged approach to tackle talent-related problems, including new recruitments to increase the supply pool, promotion of re-skilling programs through online learning, engaging-talent skills for on-the-job learning ( Adjacent-Talent Skills) and providing a holistic employment experience to the employees, etc.
In an emerging technology ecosystem, India has a huge opportunity to become the digital talent hub of the world.
Experts believe that by 2025, the demand for talent in advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, and data science will exceed the supply by 20 times.
Digital genius
It refers to a group of talented personnel who are capable of adopting and using existing digital technologies.
The need for digital talent: According to a report by the World Economic Forum (WEF), investment in ‘upskilling’ can add US$6.5 trillion to the global economy and US$570 billion to the Indian economy by 2030.
Here ‘digital talent’ does not mean education in traditional ‘STEM’ disciplines (S-science, T-tech, E-engineering, and M-maths).
Instead, the concept of ‘digital talent’ stems from a digital-first mindset, which includes hard digital skills like data analysis and soft digital skills like ‘storytelling’ and ‘comfort with ambiguity.
Gone are the days when engineers just sat in the room and wrote code. The most important skill for a Data Scientist today is ‘Storytelling’.
Indian prospects
India needs to bring about a change in the traditional approach to talent development to maintain its edge in the digital age.
The race to become a ‘talent hub’ and be visible is taking shape all over the world.
For example, the United Arab Emirates recently announced plans to introduce a ‘Green Visa’, expand eligibility for a ‘Golden Visa’ and attract top technology workers, making it a preferred investment for technology companies. Be the center.
Several other countries, such as the UK, US, and Australia, are reconsidering efforts to attract high-skill talent, including fast-tracking visas for at-risk sectors and promoting visas for highly skilled applicants.
The biggest opportunity for India is to develop digital talent for the world of the future. In this way, India can become the ‘talent leader’ of the world.
The talent present in India will be the biggest competitive advantage for the country. Businesses will go where the best talent is available and make their investment decisions based on that.
Reasons for lack of digital talent
Lack of digital skills: 53% of Indian businesses were unable to make new hires in the year 2019 due to skill shortage.
Thus, the lack of digital skills is one of the major challenges at present.
The problem of ‘brain drain’: One of the major problems is also that our best-trained people often do not work in our country, but they migrate to other countries for opportunities.
This is known as ‘brain drain’ or mass exodus of skilled workers from India.
Quality Standards of Private Institutions: There are a large number of private engineering colleges which have a poor quality of teaching and are mainly run for personal gain.
These colleges do not encourage R&D on their campus.
Lack of remuneration: People working in technology sectors are not paid adequate remuneration.
India is one of the few countries, where after graduation in engineering, talented students often pursue an MBA to go into the field of marketing or management.
High unemployment: Inequality is increasing in the country and rural and urban distress is also increasing. Migration is increasing, real estate prices are falling, spending is increasing, and wages remain stagnant or stagnant. All these problems are not new but have been there for some time.
Lack of R&D: India’s digital talent often focuses too much on salary packages and ignores innovation.
way ahead
Focused Implementation of National Education Policy: It is important to have a long-term focus on National Education Policy and develop the right approach towards it.
Continuous learning, skill credit, world-class academic innovation, experiential learning, faculty training—all these topics need to be addressed properly.
Creation of an alternative ‘talent pool’: Digital capabilities should be built even in small towns; Include more women in the workstream with hybrid work norms, and improve the vocational education provided by Industrial Training Institutes and Polytechnic Institutes.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funding can be availed by the industry for these programs.
Promoting Skills: Tax incentives played a significant role in building the global footprint of multinational corporations in India during the early stages of the technology sector.
We must now create schemes that encourage skills not only for their own needs but for the entire ecosystem.
Innovative Learning Models: Adopting innovative learning models, ‘apprenticeship programs should be used on a large scale not only for certifications but also for assessment.
Investment should be made in creating world-class ‘free content’ that anyone can benefit from and that is aligned with a credible system of certification.
Democratization of training: It will be necessary to remove all the barriers to the development of skills among the people.
It is necessary to eliminate unnecessary entrance qualifications and eligibility criteria. There should be no barriers to entry, but the exit process should be quality-controlled.
Conclusion
To catalyze the next phase of growth and innovation, India should consider strategies aimed not only at the growth of domestic talent, but also to attract the best global talent.
For this, along with continuous investment in re-skilling, there is also a need to adopt a culture that promotes skill development.
Building a strong digital talent ecosystem will enable us to be future-ready and take advantage of the opportunities of the digital future.
