Plan For India To Leverage New-Age Digital Engineering Skill-Sets

The success of the ability to launch missiles to outer space or new inventions by domestic scientists has helped to confirm India's position in the technology field worldwide. Thanks to the technical capacity passed down through generations, India's economic power and integration are now echoing the world.

Engineering research and development (ER&D) is the new fuel to India’s GPD growth

While global growth is estimated to be around 3.5% by 2020, the IMF's forecast suggests that the country's economy is up 7.5% in fiscal. This makes India the fastest growing economy.

The concepts of new technology era like the Internet of Things (IoT), Machine Learning, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Mobile Applications and Digital Reality, Advanced Robotics, Cybersecurity must be focused on developing their potential besides businesses in different fields.

The potential for growth of the research and technical development segment is extremely important because it can provide long-term visionary services. Nasscom Industrial Authority has confirmed this. It estimates that India's ER&D service will help increase to $42 billion (or double) in the fiscal year 2022.

Demand for ER&D services is increasing

Many reports say that there is an increasing demand for ER&D in India. By 2020, an estimated amount of $125 to $150 billion will be spent on technical outsourcing services worldwide, according to ResearchGate. In which, 40% of this expenditure comes from India. The total cost of hiring external technical services is estimated to increase 3 to 4 times compared to the total technical cost.

Demand for IoT agreements and engineering service contracts has contributed greatly to the growth of ER&D services. Emerging trends such as electrification, autonomous service, shared mobility, and connectivity will be the potential for future growth in ER&D services. Besides, a number of initiatives such as Digital India, BharatNet and Make in India supported by regulations.

Facing challenges

Of course, all growth stories must have their own challenges. India has also had a lot of difficulties in its efforts to increase ER&D services.

The first challenge we have to overcome is to convert our thinking. Even if India is currently a country that is able to adapt very well to the development of global business and technology, we are always a follower whenever it comes to technology. We must set trends and become leaders in ER&D including analysis and automation in the wave of global innovation.

The next challenge is that we need to be equipped with talented teams to be able to imprint on major partners across the globe, especially digital skills.

Last but not least, completely changing and modifying the engineering education system is the third challenge we face. We have to build a training system for top engineers with new inventions that bring innovation to the country's industry.

Remedial plan

India needs to focus more strongly on STEM in education from the time of school. College and university curricula need to be upgraded. The combination of academia and industry is essential for this plan to succeed. For example, the B. Tech program with AI support was recently launched by IIT Hyderabad.

According to Nasscom, 65% of the 4 million jobs in the industry will change in the next 5 years. We need to proactively build a talented young generation that is well equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary to take advantage of new digital skills in the new-age.