Future of Talent: Skills for the DeepTech Economy

Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Director, IIT Kanpur delivered the keynote on the future of talent and skills for deep tech economy. We have seen many technologies, such as 2G, 3G, and 4G. Now, 5G is here. Besides human-to-human communications, it is also for human-to-machine, and M2M communications. 5G will touch almost every sector of the Indian economy. 5G use cases are about eMBB offering high data rates and also open low-latency communications.

There is increased softwarization also happening. There is convergence of cloud and communications, broadcast and broadband, etc. Features like network slicing are enabled by SDN and NFV. We are also seeing evolution of AI/ML. Edge computing in 5G will facilitate use of AI. There will be a scalable and distributed AI paradigm. AI and ML use cases will get enabled in future with deployment of IoT and mobile devices. In agricluture and farming, there will be AI and analytics powered by 5G. There will be crop data and soil health monitoring.

There will also be AI/ML uses cases in healthcare diagnostics and treatment. Next-gen healthcare research is happening at the intersection of engineering and medicine. Radio diagnosis and medical imaging of patents can be enabled by AI/ML. AI-based identification of disease causes, health issues, etc. can all be enabled by deep tech. When you combine AI/ML with 5G and beyond technologies, they will enable ease living and doing business. There will be government businesses, AI-enabled mobile devices can deliver e-governance services. Smart cities and villages where we can achieve energy efficiency, improved solid waste management, improved traffic, etc. These will lead to improvement in quality of life.

Use of these technologies will help in security of financial transactions, education and learning, etc. With Industry 4.0, the changing supply chain demand prediction, and reconfiguration of shop floors, etc., will also get enabled. AI/ML and advanced communications can bring a paradigm shift.

There are many opportunities for India. We are perceived as an emerging market. We are the second-largest market in telecom. We really lack in terms of innovation across these sectors. IPRs generated in design and patents filed, India scores low. IPRs have moved from USA to Asian regions, as we moved from 2G to 4G. Apac region is increasing share of standard issued patents. In 5G, about 65% of IPRs are held by Asian countries. However, the share of India is very low. It is also the same for deep tech. We need to really make a difference in these directions.

In 5G and beyond technologies, there is increasing softwarization in the network elements. There is use of software in high-end technologies. India can actually leverage its strength in software, and leapfrog in developing software. We have a strong software leadership and available talent pool. We can make the jump. India has an opportunity for India to make a strong industry-academia relationship.

Most IITs and other colleges are increasing focus on incubation. There is lot to be done in enhancing transational research. We need to convert lab prototypes to commercial products. Academia has a role to train the manpower. The industry can take ideas for developing innovative products and processes. We can leverage the large talent pool that exists. It is important we use talent pool in software, universities and academia to develop and deploy technologies.

There are challenges in achieving pervasive connectivity. We need security of data, better communications, and collaborations. Such innovations in tools and platforms, combined with the applicability of AI/ML can bring a very significant shift in the gig economy, going forward. We have to innovate in future. There should be participation of standards and patents. We need to have Indian IPRs influence global standards. Universities have a role to play in terms of faculty and startups. There is an untapped potential across India that we need to tap. We are seeing rise of entrepreneurial strength rise in the country.