India-Sweden Relations: Where technology and innovation take centre stage
CP Gurnani, MD and CEO of Tech Mahindra, writes about the recent Swedish-India Business Leaders Round Table, and the opportunities of collaboration between the two countries
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With a history of collaborating on the business front going back almost 120 years, the relationship between Sweden and India has since grown considerably stronger, especially over the past few years.
Job skilling has recently emerged as a key focus area that is high on the agenda of both countries. India’s nationwide ‘Make in India’ and ‘Skill India’ initiatives have made Swedish companies take skilled local talent on board to boost their businesses in the country. National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) recently signed MoUs with both Business Sweden as well as with Skilled India, a joint venture between Kunskapsskolan Sweden and Manav Rachna Educational Institutions. It provides opportunities for vocationally trained Indian citizens to meet the specific skill sets required for industrial jobs in India.
We concluded the recent session on June 16, graced by the presence of Swedish banker and industrialist, Marcus Wallenberg, and business leaders including Tom Johnstone. I believe Sweden’s robust technological ecosystem, a vibrant and thriving start-up environment, and world-class universities, coupled with the inventive minds that graduate from India’s technical universities, offer vast potential for both societies and economies to learn from each other.
There is an opportunity for India to capitalise on its demographic dividend and partner with countries like Sweden, which is famed for its innovation and entrepreneurship, to combine synergies and accelerate the pace of technological advancement.
The global shift towards contactless and voice-driven technologies is soon going to accelerate the use of emerging technologies such as drone delivery, 3D and additive manufacturing. Currently, both countries have taken significantly different approaches to Covid-19 and can derive considerable benefits by sharing strategies implemented, outcomes obtained, and best practices implemented in the realms of medicine and disease control. With more than 10,000 new Covid-19 cases being added every day, India urgently needs innovative solutions like telehealth, virtual care and app-based tracing, monitoring and reporting. Improvements in last-mile connectivity in rural India is absolutely essential to ensure testing and proper medical care reaches all communities.
Take the example of precision medicine. India’s huge population promises to be a treasure trove of medical data for the Swedish medical sector with its rich experience in cutting edge bio-molecular research. The developments from this collaboration can have a major positive impact on India’s collective health.
With 5G connectivity fast becoming a reality, I look forward to having the best of AI education being easily and widely available in India. The potential benefits that can be unlocked with cooperation between leading Indian institutes and the Wallenberg Foundation are immense.
This keen interest from both countries for interventions in mechanisms for climate accountability and unlocking potential in areas of workplace equity, economic realignment and green technologies, ensure that the future of Sweden-India relations is definitely on the upswing and poised to keep growing.
The writer is MD and CEO of Tech Mahindra