Importance of Digital Literacy in Education & Economy

Digital literacy is the ability to learn, understand, and adapt to technology-inclined changes in a constantly evolving digital world. The pandemic has re-emphasized the importance of being equipped with the right skill set to efficiently use technology to sustain and even preserve the “normalcy” of our day-to-day lives. The idea is to have in place a system so resilient that, despite severe disruptions, life can carry on without having to come to a screeching halt. Today, digital literacy is just as important as any other subject that children and young adults are taught at educational establishments and could even be leveraged as a teaching platform in itself.

The future has enormous potential to be transformed into a digital world; in fact, we are already witnessing a technological revolution. From ordering medicines to delivering shipments using drones, the future is set to be one where digital solutions are going to be able to cater to a myriad of requirements. The youth of today should be educated and well-versed in tech-enabled solutions as it is going to be their future. Industries across verticals have already begun adopting automated solutions that reflect a strong impact on numerous facets of their business, both internal and external. Tech will continue to govern numerous facets of our lives, from becoming a medium of teaching in itself to adopting digital solutions that provide better career and life prospects. Going forward, digital literacy is going to be an imperative aspect of our education system.

Companies which are consistently been investing in and adapting to new technology, which includes redesigning ERP to a microservices-based design and launching future-ready solutions. The intent is to make sure that decisions are based on data and not just instinct. Deploying ML also enables us to drive operational efficiencies through optimised routing, address correction, and also aids in operations by predicting volumes and manpower requirements. We keep exploring new avenues and areas where we could make use of AI and ML to impact operations and drive efficiency and optimization.

How the youth can be digitally empowered, what kind of exposure and engagement opportunities in the educational curriculum can educational institutes implement to raise the interest of youths to up-scale their digital skills, and should it become a must for schools, colleges, and other educational institutes to conduct workshops or crash-courses programmes to drive the importance of technology for businesses ???

Teaching and learning is a two-way street. The future necessitates individuals who can remain resilient by adapting to the needs of the hour efficiently. Therefore, schools and colleges must start building a technologically inclined foundation for students to help them adapt better to the world of tomorrow. The in-school curriculum must be tailored to include programmes that induct individuals into adopting tech solutions; this in turn will help them leverage their strengths to do more rewarding tasks. Currently, some institutes have an IT component as a pre-requisite course. However, the level of depth with which the subject is being taught needs to penetrate much further to truly make an impact. Courses to familiarise children with such subjects can also be introduced at an earlier stage with a much simpler explanation provided. We all begin school by learning the alphabet in order to speak fluently in any language; technology and automation should also be considered a language, allowing children to learn the basics, setting up a strong foundation for them and then banking on it to further increase their knowledge and agility in the long-run.

Having said that, schools and educational institutes can only do so much. Growth can only be witnessed if the individual is also willing to learn and invest well in themselves by looking online, finding the right courses, and actively working towards the pursuit of When asked what advice as an IT leader would he give to the youth considering their career in the technology industry, what should they know about the industry before starting their career, and what challenges they could face and how do they overcome the challenges, he said, to anyone looking to begin their careers in information technology or any of its sister streams, my only insight on this front is: opportunities and more opportunities! The industry is growing at an exponential pace, and the opportunity for career growth is optimal. Especially in a post-pandemic world, the significance of the industry has been propelled to much greater heights and shows immense promise. My only advice would be to grasp every opportunity coming your way and consistently invest in updating your industry knowledge.

Children of the present and in the future too, have and will grow up alongside technological leaps. Having said that, networking across industries and age groups will also be incredibly important. While technology and digitalization are the future of tomorrow, it is crucial to not entirely eliminate the element of human touch while interacting with a customer. Challenges on this front could arise. However, leveraging the insight of your seniors and curating solutions that are a combination of artificial and augmented intelligence is the best way forward to negate those challenges.

Getting introduced to learning more about industries and businesses early on is also a very important aspect of bridging the learning curve. This will assist students in connecting theory to real life and comprehending the impact of technology on actual business. Mentors also play an important role in guiding youth to take the right steps to achieve their goals; their experience and wisdom enrich one’s learning.

Understanding design concepts is another important step in this journey, and the earlier one begins, the better. Mathematics and physics are also important subjects to master, particularly for engineering, AI/ML, and analytics.Understanding the concepts in detail can help develop better solutions for businesses and customers in the future.

Disclaimer : This is purely a knowledge sharing article, not offering or influencing any deal or transaction or investments.

CA Yogesh Birla

Director
Birla WP Management Co.
read my blogs : www.YogeshBirlaCA.Blogspot.com

Saving Economy v/s Spending Economy; which is better……

Indians wastefully save…. Ask them to spend, on imported cars and, seriously, even on cosmetics!  This will put India on a growth curve. This is one of the reason for MNC's coming down to India, seeing the consumer spending. Does it not look true, with our traditional thought, let’s examine the same with global facts…

The Japanese save a lot.  They do not spend much.  Also, Japan exports far more than it imports. It has an annual trade surplus of over US$100 billion. Yet the Japanese economy is considered weak, even collapsing.

Americans spend a lot and save very little. Also United States of America (USA) imports more than it exports.  USA has an annual trade deficit of over $400 billion. Yet, the USA economy is considered strong and expected to get stronger.

But where do Americans get money to spend? 

They borrow from other countries like Japan, China and even India. Virtually others of the world have to save for the Americans to spend.  Global savings are mostly invested in USA, in dollars.

India itself keeps its foreign currency assets of over $50 billion in US securities.  China has sunk over $1.1 trillion in US securities.  Japan's stakes in US securities is in trillions.

RESULT :

The USA has taken over $5 trillion from the world.   

So, as the world saves for the USA - It is the Americans who are spending freely.   

Today, to keep the USA consumption going, that is for the USA economy to work, other countries have to remit $180 billion every quarter to the USA, which is $2 billion a day, to the USA!

A Chinese economist asked a neat question. Who has invested more, USA in China, or China in USA?   

The US has invested in China less than half of what China has invested in the USA.

The same is the case with India.  India has invested over $50 billion in the US.   

But the US has invested less than $20 billion in India.

Why is the world after USA?

The secret lies in American spending, that they hardly save for.  In fact they use their credit cards to spend their future income.  That the USA spends is what makes it attractive to export to the USA.  So USA imports more than what it exports year after year.

The result is…..The world is dependent on USA consumption for its growth.  By its deepening culture of consumption, the USA has habituated the world to feed on USA consumption. But as the USA needs money to finance its consumption, the world provides the money.

It is like a shopkeeper providing the money to a customer so that the customer keeps buying from the shop.  If the customer will not buy, the shop won't have business, unless the shopkeeper funds him. The US is like the lucky customer….and the world is like the helpless shopkeeper financier.

Who is America's biggest shopkeeper financier? Japan and China of course.  Yet Japan is regarded as weak economically.  Modern economists complain that Japanese do not spend, so they do not grow.  To force the Japanese to spend, the Japanese government exerted itself, reduced the savings interest rates to almost zero, even charged savers for keeping their money in the bank.  Still the Japanese did not spend (habits don't change, even with taxes, do they?).  Their traditional postal savings alone has over $1.2 trillion.  Thus, savings, far from being the strength of Japan, has become its pain.

CONCLUSION: That a nation cannot grow unless the people spend, not save. Not just spend, but borrow and spend.

This is a very Interesting article written by an Economist about the world economy. Disclaimer : This is purely a knowledge sharing article, not offering or influencing any deal or transaction or investments.

CA Yogesh Birla

Director
Birla WP Management Co.
read my blogs : www.YogeshBirlaCA.Blogspot.com