The Hindu Business Line : Infotech to drive growth in various sectors: Study

CII-Accenture has released a report stating that access to information, communication and technology (ICT) in the low-income market would lead to greater efficiency in the supply chain in various sectors.

The report estimates that due to greater ICT usage, telecommunication is expected to grow by 25 per cent, basic farming by 13 per cent, processed farm products by 11 per cent, education and training by 10 per cent, banking and finance by 6 per cent.

This is followed by basic business process outsourcing, which would increase by 5 per cent, healthcare by 3 per cent and retail by 3 per cent.

ICT is expected to improve access to education. While 36 per cent respondents placed education as having the most significant impact on the country's low-income communities, another 40 per cent said that ICT would give improved access to education.

While 17 per cent respondents put health as the second most important social and business service, 8 per cent respondents felt that ICT would improve access to healthcare. Access to information on health, law, rights, opportunities, support structure were placed on third position by 13 per cent respondents and 11 per cent said that ICT would lead to greater accountability of government and local bodies.

Further, 12 per cent of respondents said that e-government process was the fourth service that would impact low-income communities. Another 9 per cent felt that access to market information was necessary, 4 per cent were of the view that ICT would provide improved opportunities for entrepreneurship.

However, for the penetration of ICT in rural areas, 69 per cent respondents said that devices must be affordable and 29 per cent shared the view that language flexibility was important criteria.

More Stories on : Outlook | Information Technology | Economy

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Motorola unveils low-cost handset

Tata Indicom's `One Nation' plan

Airtel unveils Easy Music card in Karnataka

Hyderabad set to quadruple IT infrastructure within 3 years

Where Brazil scores over India

Autodesk portal for students

`Lower phone tariffs for dial-up users'

Barcamp Bangalore 2.0

Wipro to scale up size of acquisitions

Ascendas buys out L&T interest in Cyber Pearl

Infotech to drive growth in various sectors: Study