The National Association for Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) has asked educational institutions to train students who are open to learning and adapting to new learning demands.

Nasscom President Debjani Ghosh has said that there is a shift in the definition of talent. “Talent has been democratised as tools to learn are available to all. We want institutions to build trainable mindsets. Industry can equip them with skills but what we need is adaptable mindsets,” she said.

She was addressing a session on ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat: Synchronising Globalisation with Decentralised Cooperation’ in the Deccan Dialogue organised by the Indian School of Business (ISB) on Monday.

‘Technology the enabler’

She said technology should not be looked at as a standalone vertical. “It is an enabler. It has the potential to contribute 9 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country. Technology is the most effective tool accelerate recovery,” she said.

Citing the example of Artificial Intelligence, she said, this technology can contribute up to $500 billion to the economy in the next five years. “Are we doing enough to leverage technology to digitise various sectors. The future is hyper digital,” she asked.

Medical tourism

Sangita Reddy, President of FICCI and Joint Managing Director of Apollo Hospitals Enterprise, said that the country produces 62 per cent of all the vaccines manufactured and 20 per cent of all pharma products in the world. About 40 per cent of USFDA approved units in pharma manufacturing in the world are in India.

“There is a huge potential in medical value travel . It is estimated that there is a potential of $500 billion,” she said.

“We are expected to close next year with $9 billion. We can target $40 billion,” she added.

Ambassador Dammu Ravi felt that globalisation and self-reliance were not mutually exclusive. They reinforce and strengthen one another.

He said that the country needed to import some products and export some. “There will be limitations. We depend the world for certain things. There needs to be a strong export element as we target to become a $5-trillion economy. We need to be competitive,” he said.

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