India has over 300 million internet users, making it the world’s second largest connected-population, said Nitin Bawankule, IIMB alumnus and Director, eCommerce, Google.

Speaking at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore’s (IIMB) First Digital Summit organized by the students of Executive Post Graduate Programme in Management (EPGP), Bawankule said “We are a mobile first nation as well, where 65 per cent of users access the internet through mobile devices. Over half our searches come from mobile devices, and mobile as a platform will continue to spur the growth of internet.”

Quoting a report from Ericsson, Bawankule said there will be over 500 million smartphone users in India by 2020. By 2020, over 600 million Indians will be online, out of which about 250 million will be buying online. The online retail market, which was pegged at $4.5 billion in 2014, is projected to grow to over $75 billion in 2020.

Declaring that over the next decade, ‘India will not go online, it will be always online,’ he underscored his forecast with plenty of real-world examples from the lifestyle, media and entertainment industries. Exhorting students of marketing and sales to gear up for a challenging time, Bawankule said the intelligent leveraging of technology, data and strategy would help them stay on top of their game.

Describing how the smartphone had empowered users in India, especially women, he explained that the internet revolution had changed social and economic life.

“Earlier, the PC or laptop was typically controlled by the earning male in the family. With the proliferation of the smartphone, this social dynamic is also changing. Moreover, we as a country are challenged in terms of infrastructure. So advancements in digital technology are welcome as they change the way we work, earn and play. Hence this is a huge opportunity for marketers.”

The summit saw top executives from Google, Facebook, Snapdeal, Flipkart, InMobi, Fybr, Cisco and BRIDGEi2i Analytics Solutions, and policymakers dissect trends and discussed strategies.

New cocktail Saurabh Chandra, Head of IT Apps at Flipkart, described digital technology (Mobility, Data & Cloud) mixed with SCM and robotics as the “new cocktail of the season” for VCs and business. “Intelligence, powered by technology, supported by data and strategy and executed speedily, will win the race. I also believe many new gen companies and entrepreneurs will disrupt this space,” he added.

Working together Dr Rathan Kelkar, CEO, Karnataka Centre for e-Governance, spoke on “transforming India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy”. Describing the focus of the Union government’s ‘Digital India’ campaign, he also touched upon the achievements of the State government in using mobile technology to deliver services quickly and in a transparent manner.

“My biggest challenge today, in this galaxy of corporate speakers, is to sell government to you and prove that we too do work,” he quipped as the room erupted in laughter. Going on to list the Mission Mode Projects (MMPs) under the National e-Governance Plan, he said citizens’ lives were being made infinitely easier with changes in delivering services be it the postal services or law and offer services using ICT. “We are using technology to empower citizens.”

Multi-pronged approach Professor Dinesh Kumar, Chairperson, EPGP, IIMB, set the tone for the summit by sharing his learnings when working on a case study on the impact of digital marketing on the box office collections of a Bollywood movie.

“We hope the best minds from industry and policy who will speak at this summit will help students of marketing decipher future technological trends, identify opportunities, understand the challenges and come up with strategies to ride the digital wave. This would be a key event for anyone who wants to gain strategic insights into how digital technologies are shaping the dynamic business landscape,” he said.

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