Data is the New Oil and Need to Leverage on its Potential, Says Kiran Shaw at CII Karnataka Meet 2019

Data is the new oil in today's world and it's crude oil in nature and we need to refine it before we use it, says Kiran Mazumdar-shaw, Chairman and Managing Director, Biocon Limited. Data is an immensely, untapped valuable asset. Like oil, for those who see Data’s fundamental value and learn to extract and use it there will be huge rewards. We are living in the most existing and best of times ever in terms of the potential we have to change the world with technology, Shaw said addressing at the Karnataka Annual Meet 2019: Public Session "Business Transformation & Agility in Volatile Times" on Wednesday in Bengaluru.

We are witnessing the birth of technologies that will fundamentally alter the way we live, work and relate to one another and Bengaluru is driving this trend in India. Today this city has 2 million software engineers that accounts to about 20 percent of Indian's best engineering workforce and another 10 percent of medical and other skilled professionals all living in Bengaluru.

The next decade will see cutting edge technologies such as Data Science, Cloud Computing, Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence provide huge opportunities will create new employment opportunities, she informs adding that however, quality of air, water in the city is deteriorating and technology is the new enabler in this front. "Don't let Bengaluru follow in lines of Lucknow and NCR, who are ranked India's top polluting cities."

Another major issue is the traffic problems in the city and mobility is the huge challenge. "With electric vehicles coming in, the government, industry and associations like CII need to come together to address these problems using technology,  she adds.

As part of the Clean Air Policy, Azim Premji along with Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw will take it up to the governemt shortly. "We will continue to invest in science and technology in a big way," she concludes.

Addressing the new members of CII, K.J. George says eminent industriest like Narayana Murthy, Azim Premji and Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw took the initiative to develop the industries in the city. Today with the fast growth, infrastructure is taking a beating. Today we got funds to develop to upgrade the infrastructure. Like the Metro project, the government generated its own funds. We are connecting the airport with city and also other parallel roads will connect the airport. We are also laying out a Peripheral Ring Road and other roads to ease the traffic in the city, he said.

"ITI, HMT which were once were well doing industries are today on the verge of closure mainly because they did not adopt new technology. But BHEL, BEL are doing well because they have implemented the new technology. Both the governemt and industry can come together to develop better infrastructure using technology," he remarks.

Others who spoke on the occasion include: Dr N Muthukumar, Chairman CII and also Dr Charan Singh, Chief Executive and Director, EGROW Foundation.