Bhubaneswar, Feb 6: President Droupadi Murmu today urged entrepreneurs and innovators to ensure that technology becomes a tool for social justice and inclusion.
The President graced the Black Swan Summit, organised by the Government of Odisha in collaboration with Global Finance and Technology Network at Bhubaneswar today.
Speaking on the occasion, the President said that we are living in a time when technology is evolving at an unprecedented pace. New innovations arrive so rapidly that our systems, skills, and business models often struggle to keep up. At the same time, these rapid advancements can also bring serious challenges, including cybersecurity threats, deepfakes, misinformation, and an increasing dependence on technology. However, the rapid technological changes have a huge positive impact on innovation and growth. Through events such as Black Swan Summit, innovative methods can be explored to leverage technologies for further enhancing capabilities through skilling, generate employment and accelerate the digital and financial transformation.
President said that in the past decade, India has witnessed an impactful revolution in the financial system. Direct benefit transfer into bank accounts and the digital payments have become very common among farmers, small shopkeepers and women. For them, “fintech” is not a technical term, it has become their lifeline.
President said that India’s fintech story should be remembered not only as a tale of technology but also as that of gender justice. Women constitute an important segment that requires focused attention for the promotion of fintech. Fintech ecosystem must view them not only as end users but as leaders, professionals, and entrepreneurs. For every new platform, product, or policy, it needs to be evaluated if it makes women active participants in the digital and financial ecosystem.
President said that fintech does not guarantee inclusion on its own. There continue to be citizens, especially in remote, tribal, and rural areas, who are not conversant with the digital tools. Skilling them is very important to make them participants in the development journey. Only then, fintech can become an engine of inclusion, employment generation and promotion of entrepreneurship.
She urged entrepreneurs and innovators to ensure that technology becomes a tool for social justice and inclusion.
The President said that technology has a huge potential for making positive impact on all sectors of economy and all sections of society. However, at times it can be misused for financial frauds. It is pertinent to enhance awareness among people to be vigilant and alert to prevent such frauds. The Government of India has undertaken various measures to prevent and report such frauds including setting up of Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System and Cyber Fraud Mitigation Centre. Ensuring digital and financial literacy is essential to deter online financial fraud. It needs to be made part of school curricula so that the advantages and disadvantages of technology can be understood at a young age.
The President said that advancing skill development, establishing global capability centres, and enhancing innovation capacity are investments in human capital. She was happy to note that Government of Odisha has launched BharatNetra initiative for building a future-ready workforce and innovation ecosystem in digital, financial and insurance technology sectors. She appreciated Government of Odisha and Global Finance and Technology Network for co-organising the Black Swan Summit as part of the BharatNetra initiative. She expressed confidence that discussions and collaborations that emerge from this Summit will be of transformative effect not only for Odisha but also for India and the world.
