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India’s up-and-coming digital ecosystem Extending entrepreneurial possibilities IBM Institute for Business Value 2 ’s up-and-coming digital ecosystem Economic growth in India

India is poised to further redefine its already transforming economy. A new digital ecosystem that includes close to a billion people is being created at a scale unprecedented anywhere else in the world. To prepare for the next decade, IndiaStack, a new generation of public and private digital infrastructure in the form of last-mile internet connectivity has emerged. Enormous opportunities exist for organizations and individuals to leverage the IndiaStack digital infrastructure to build platforms, work collaboratively and create and ride a new wave of digital innovation. India’s up-and-coming digital ecosystem 3

The rise of dynamic entrepreneurialism

A number of initiatives are converging to accel- The biometric identification initiative erate expansion of India’s already growing digitally links individuals with the various economy. India has been encouraging digital socio-economic features characterizing them. innovation for startups and entrepreneurship This universal identification database already has grown significantly. New company registra- covers 99 percent of India’s total adult popula- tion has grown from 15,000 annually in the tion and is being further integrated in several 1980s to almost 90,000 in the 2010s.1 ways.5 For example, all telecom subscribers Additionally, funding for startup companies must be reverified using Aadhaar cards. And more than doubled between 2016 – 2017.2 Aadhaar has become mandatory for taxation In a survey conducted by the IBM Institute for records, death registration, bank account Business Value, in collaboration with Oxford opening and for larger financial transactions. Economics, more than three-fourths of Indian Another initiative, the BharatNet project, aims executives (76 percent) pointed to India’s for 100 percent internet connectivity by 2020.6 economic openness as a major business advan- It is promoting expanded service by telecom tage, while 60 percent identified India’s skilled operators, including Reliance , , workforce. And 57 percent said India’s large and Vodafone with decreases in domestic market provides significant advan- bandwidth cost of up to 75 percent and signifi- tages.3 With a median age of 32, India’s cantly expanded broadband and Wi-Fi services entrepreneurs rank among the youngest in in rural areas.7 the world.4 4 India’s up-and-coming digital ecosystem

A new goods and services tax (GST) is Mobile data will continue to help drive the intended to make it easier to do business digital economy. Greater mobile access is across the nation, with Indian startups and expected to cause a rise in mobile penetration others benefiting from the reduced logistics to 85-90 percent by 2020.9 Early adopters of costs. GST is also intended to lower the tax smartphones are likely to be consumers of burden on new businesses and reduce entertainment and media. constraints on GDP growth while increasing revenue to reduce the fiscal deficit.8

Figure 1 The rise of dynamic entrepreneurialism

Funding /support Expanding from government digital and investors infrastructure Digital Data-led platforms disruption Rise of dynamic entrepreneurialism

Digital Digital partnerships innovation

Systemic Increasing economic digital transformation consumerism India’s up-and-coming digital ecosystem 5

IndiaStack digital infrastructure

IndiaStack has become the underlying platform on top of the core APIs to create new compelling Figure 2 for . It provides a technical and digital solutions. The expected outcome of all of The IndiaStack digital infrastructure collaborative infrastructure upon which digital the exchanged data and transactions in this Permission India can grow, evolve and innovate. The digital-first ecosystem is expected to take India Consent layer on demand expanding set of APIs operating on IndiaStack from being a “data poor” to a “data rich” nation Financial transactions Cash-less layer allows governments, businesses, startups and in five years.10 on demand individual developers to use the digital infra- Paper-less layer Documents IndiaStack is significantly lowering innovation on demand structure to achieve new types of presence-less, costs, which makes it easier for businesses to Presence-less layer Authentication paperless and cashless service delivery. The on demand build digital solutions. Using IndiaStack, Indian Aadhaar “presence-less layer” provides Indian organizations are able to tap new opportunities citizens authentication services that are essen- to reinvent and improve existing applications tial for robust digital governance. The and services, such as back-office processes and “paperless layer” supports paperless transac- administration. Digital transformation of Reduce cost Enable easy Expand Increase tions through digital signatures, which eliminate of service development access to focus on remaining manual-ridden functions such as delivery and faster large user innovation the need for paper collection and storage. The deployment base employee recruitment and onboarding, “cashless layer” offers unified and universal document collection and ID management online payments. And the “consent layer” become not only possible but inevitable. And makes it possible to securely provide Aadhaar once the digitization of underlying processes details to service providers. and functions has been completed, organiza- IndiaStack provides the digital infrastructure to tions will be positioned to fully embrace link more than a billion consumers with devel- conception and development of potentially opers, start-ups, enterprises, government and disruptive new business models. other organizations. It includes common specifi- cations to enable developers to provide services 6 India’s up-and-coming digital ecosystem

Collaborating to find new opportunities

Figure 3 IndiaStack has become fundamental to the As digital technologies evolve, they have the Collaborating to find new opportunities deeper cultivation of India’s startup community. potential to create more dynamic digital And entrepreneurialism is central to India’s business ecosystems. New and novel data future economic growth. Fostering startups has sources will feed into existing and emerging the potential to reap benefits extending well digital technologies, generating even more data.

Regulatory Universities beyond the startups themselves, promoting new Much like mobility apps disrupted the transpor- bodies Trade Incubators skills, capabilities and deeper integration into tation industry, or how online retail disrupted associations the global economy. Collaboration with startups many traditional stores, startups with the is already helping established organizations benefits of IndiaStack can provide new competi- Government achieve greater agility and improved customer tion and partnering opportunities for incumbent experiences. For example, HDFC Bank is part- businesses. As in the financial services industry, nering with several startups.11 And India’s incumbent organizations such as banks will be Digital business largest automaker, Tata Motors is already well positioned to collaborate more deeply with Investors Digital ecosystem startups engaged with half a dozen startups and dynamic digital entrants such as the expanding exploring partnerships with 20 others.12 fintech community.

Recent IBM Institute for Business Value data Established corporations confirms this understanding. In fact, almost 80 percent of the surveyed executives from estab- Employees Technology lished companies said collaboration with Research Individual companies developers startups can accelerate new ideas, augment and improve development of products and services and enable better access to skills.13 India’s up-and-coming digital ecosystem 7

Are you ready? Experts on this topic

Innovators in India need to look at how various As you look at options for working within these Clifford Patrao emerging technologies can be combined to ecosystems, consider these questions: Partner, Strategy and Transformation, solve problems and create new opportunities. Global Business Services, IBM India – What new opportunities might be available to India has unique advantages, and based on [email protected] your organization if you collaborate aggres- those advantages and the recognition that sively and work more closely with partners? economic transformation is essential for the Vasantha Kumar nation’s long-term wellbeing, strides are being – What capabilities does your organization Director Marketing and Communications, made toward economic advancement. Digital possess to facilitate interacting with other India South Asia, IBM CHQ, Marketing [email protected] innovation has come to India. This systemic potential ecosystem partners? economic transformation and Digital – How can your organization support India Reinvention™ will benefit both businesses and becoming a leading player in the emerging the Indian population. Ecosystems made up of global ecosystem economy? established companies, startups, venture capi- talists, government and centers of higher education are well positioned to accelerate and amplify benefits and help India become and remain a leader in the global economy. About ExpertInsights@IBV reports ExpertInsights@IBV represents the opinions of thought leaders on newsworthy business and related technology topics. They are based upon conversations with leading subject matter experts from around the globe. For more information, contact the IBM Institute for Business Value at [email protected]. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2018

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IBM, the IBM logo and ibm.com are trademarks of International Notes and sources 8 Kashyap, Karan. “The Four Benefits Of The New Goods Business Machines Corp., registered in many jurisdictions 1 Registered companies database. Ministry of Corporate And Services Tax (GST) For Startups In India.” Forbes. July worldwide. Other product and service names might be Affairs. . http://www.mca.gov.in/ 10, 2017. https://www.forbes.com/sites/ trademarks of IBM or other companies. A current list of IBM MinistryV2/indianandforeigncompaniesllps.html krnkashyap/2017/07/10/the-four-benefits-of-the-new-goods- trademarks is available on the Web at “Copyright and trademark and-services-tax-gst-for-startups-in-india/ information” at www.ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml. 2 “Indian Startup Ecosystem - Traversing the maturity cycle.” NASSCOM. 2017. https://www.investindia.gov.in/ 9 Sharma, Sahib. “Mobile phone penetration in India set to This document is current as of the initial date of publication sites/default/files/2018-03/Indian Startup Ecosystem rise to 85-90% by 2020: report.” Live . May 17, 2017. and may be changed by IBM at any time. Not all offerings are - Traversing the maturity cycle.pdf http://www.livemint.com/Consumer/zxupEDYD560L- available in every country in which IBM operates. JrnoRxcn4L/Mobile-phone-penetration-in-India-set- 3 “Entrepreneurial India: How startups redefine India’s THE INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED “AS IS” to-rise-to-8590-by-2.html economic growth.” IBM Institute for Business Value. WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, November 2016. https://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/ 10 Ganapathi, Manoj. “India Stack: Thoughts on Unleashing INCLUDING WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF cgi-bin/ssialias?htmlfid=GBE03784USEN The Potential of Digital India.” India Stack. MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE http://indiastack.org/india-stack-thoughts-unleashing- AND ANY WARRANTY OR CONDITION OF NON- 4 “Indian Startup Ecosystem - Traversing the maturity potential-digital-india/ INFRINGEMENT. IBM products are warranted according to the cycle.” NASSCOM. 2017. https://www.investindia.gov.in/ terms and conditions of the agreements under which they are sites/default/files/2018-03/Indian Startup Ecosystem 11 Bhalla, Tarush. “Why this is partnering with provided. - Traversing the maturity cycle.pdf startups.” Your Story. March 2016. https://yourstory. com/2016/03/hdfc-bank-fintech-startups/ This report is intended for general guidance only. It is not 5 “Aadhaar covers 99% of adults in India: Prasad.” The intended to be a substitute for detailed research or . January 27, 2017. http://www.thehindu.com/ 12 Phillip, Lijee. “Auto companies turn to startups for better exercise of professional judgment. IBM shall not be business/Aadhaar-covers-99-of-adults-in-India-Prasad/ ideas.” ET Rise. October 18, 2016. https://economictimes. responsible for any loss whatsoever sustained by any article17104609.ece indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/auto-companies-turn- organization or person who relies on this publication. to-startups-for-better-ideas/articleshow/54906014.cms 6 “Govt starts BharatNet Phase 2, aims 100% connectivity The data used in this report may be derived from third-party by 2020.” . November 13, 2017. https:// 13 “Entrepreneurial India: How startups redefine India’s sources and IBM does not independently verify, validate timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/govt-starts-bharatnet- economic growth.” IBM Institute for Business Value. or audit such data. The results from the use of such data are phase-2-aims-100-connectivity-by-2020/ November 2016. https://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/ provided on an “as is” basis and IBM makes no representations articleshow/61633671.cms cgi-bin/ssialias?htmlfid=GBE03784USEN or warranties, express or implied. 7 “What is BharatNet project and why it’s a big boost for PM ’s Digital India dream?” Financial Express. 32017132USEN-00 November 14, 2017. http://www.financialexpress.com/ industry/technology/what-is-bharatnet-project-and-how- it-could-add-whopping-amount-of-rs-4-5-lakh-crore-to- -gdp/931358