Panelists at the Russia India Business Forum said the hegemony of a small group of companies that control digital solutions across the world must be challenged.
A session on ‘Digitalization in Industry and Microprocessors Invention for the New Wave of Tech Innovation’ was held on the first day of the two-day dialogue. (Photo credit: News9 Plus)
“A big fish was sleeping in the middle of the ocean, so still that a lot of sand came over it. As time passed, trees grew on it, birds and animals made it their home. People thought that the fish would sleep forever and came to stay on it, built their houses, and their places of worship. One day, the fish woke up and dived deep into the ocean and everything just vanished with it.”
Showing a beautiful image that showcased this Russian folk tale, Mikhail Kukharenko, Advisor to the General Director, BaseALT, asked: “What is not sovereignty?” and said: “It is important for companies whom to trust, what to trust?”
Kukharenko, whose company develops software operating systems designed for the development and production of confidential information protection tools, was speaking at the Russia India Business Forum discussions on Wednesday during the session ‘Digitalization in Industry and Microprocessors Invention for the New Wave of Tech Innovation’ on the first day of the two-day dialogue between traditional partners Russia and India.
The session had a dominant underlined thought of how a small group of western companies control digital solutions across the world; when Russia faced sanctions, almost all of them abandoned it and how it is incumbent upon Russia and countries such as India to up their ante to ensure that obligations to customers from their respective countries can be fulfilled.
Ravi Sachdeva, Chief Executive Officer, Advanced Digital Technologies, gave a presentation about the IT industry in Russia and India and posed a question, “Who owns the server market?”
Naming the top two companies along with others, Sachdeva, who is also an advisor to EDMA (Electronics Developers and Marketing Association), said all profits are sent out of India and appealed to the Indian and Russian companies to work for their own servers. Russian companies are offering their help, India should grab it, he added.
The panel comprising business leaders from both countries agreed that IT companies in Russia and India have complementary technological and human resources, which should be channeled to become the technological leaders of the new wave of tech innovation.
Earlier, pointing out that India, for many years, did not have any facility to manufacture semi-conductor fab Varun Manwani, Director, Sahasra Electronics Private Limited, described how under the government’s PLI (production linked incentives) scheme launched in March 2020, his company set up the first facility to manufacture IC packaging (integrated circuits). “Today, India wants to be a manufacturing-based economy and not a trade-based economy,” he said.
(This story first appeared on news9live.com on Mar 26, 2023 and can be read here.)
