Emphasizing on the disruptive innovations of the ‘New Economy’ like Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman proposed further measures by the Government to take advantage of these new technologies. These were stated in her Union Budget Speech 2020-21, presented in the Parliament today.
The Finance Minister observed that technologies like AI, Internet-of-Things (IoT), 3D printing, drones, DNA data storage, quantum computing, etc., are re-writing the world economic order. She noted that India has already embraced new paradigms such as the sharing economy with aggregator platforms displacing conventional businesses. The Minister added that the Government has also harnessed these new technologies to enable direct benefit transfers and financial inclusion on a scale never imagined before.
Proposals for Leveraging Data
Highlighting the importance of ‘data as the new oil’, the Minister asserted that Analytics, Fintech and IoT are changing the way we deal with our lives. Smt. Sitharaman proposed the following measures to take advantage of this power of data:
Proposals for Start-ups
With a view to expand the base for knowledge-driven enterprises, the Finance Minister underscored the importance of intellectual property creation and protection. In this regard, she proposed several measures to benefit Start-ups:
Proposals for Quantum Technology
The Finance Minister noted that quantum technology is opening up new frontiers in computing, communications, cyber security with wide-spread applications. She pointed out that a lot of commercial applications are expected to emerge from theoretical constructs developing in this area. Thus, the Minister proposed to provide an outlay of Rs. 8000 crore over a period of five years for the National Mission on Quantum Technologies and Applications.
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