Digitisation to usher in jobs, says Amitabh Kant

New Delhi: The digital world is going to change the way factories operate, with the digitisation process leading to job losses, but it will also create a plethora of highly skilled employment opportunities in the long run, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said on Wednesday.

He also said that in the connected world, manufacturing will become customer-centric and India must embrace technology with all its might.

“India should not miss the opportunity presented by the fourth industrial revolution, which will also create new kinds of highly paid and highly skilled jobs.

“There is an urgent need for more industry-academia collaboration and to develop requisite skills in technology,” Mr Kant said at an event organised by industry body CII.

He also suggested introduction of a compulsory apprenticeship programme to encourage hands-on experience on technology as early as higher secondary level.

To effectively embrace digitalisation, Mr Kant asked the industry to foster competitive advantage across their value chains, focus on productivity and fill productivity gaps to compete globally. He also suggested fortifying quality, prioritising investments in innovation and R&D and invest in life-long learning for employees.

He urged industry to think big and think global. “Thinking global will require quality and conformance to global standards which can be achieved through digitalisation,” Mr Kant observed.