From what I have seen in the so-called Silicon Valley of India, there is an increasing number of young people with an entrepreneurial spirit and great ideas. I met a 24-year old CEO of a company that provides web solutions to small and medium size companies in Europe and North America. He started at the age of 14 from a cyber cafe and is now on the World Bank's advisory board as well as a regular on the World Economic Forum circuit.
The same day, I met the co-founder of Flipkart. This is a young man, who was educated in IIT Delhi and instead of running off to America, moved down to Bangalore and set up a company that is essentially India's own Amazon.com. Books on Flipkart are sold at a discount that retailers can't match and with 10 million titles in stock, it would be tough to not find a book there.
I also met people who are actively involved in tele-medicine and the use of technology that ensures that the rural population has access to the best of doctors. Others involved in making sure that cell phones have perfect Indian language settings and enable us, Indians, to learn each other's languages.
The "ecosystem" in Bangalore is conducive to entrepreneurship and new ideas. The city is full of angel investors and the Karnataka government helps those with ideas. This is a sea of change from the days when the city was nothing but the world's back office. Start-ups in the city employ many enthusiastic youth who don't just want to slave for a big multi-national until retirement age.
The change is happening and is being driven by technocrats.
The same day, I met the co-founder of Flipkart. This is a young man, who was educated in IIT Delhi and instead of running off to America, moved down to Bangalore and set up a company that is essentially India's own Amazon.com. Books on Flipkart are sold at a discount that retailers can't match and with 10 million titles in stock, it would be tough to not find a book there.
I also met people who are actively involved in tele-medicine and the use of technology that ensures that the rural population has access to the best of doctors. Others involved in making sure that cell phones have perfect Indian language settings and enable us, Indians, to learn each other's languages.
The "ecosystem" in Bangalore is conducive to entrepreneurship and new ideas. The city is full of angel investors and the Karnataka government helps those with ideas. This is a sea of change from the days when the city was nothing but the world's back office. Start-ups in the city employ many enthusiastic youth who don't just want to slave for a big multi-national until retirement age.
The change is happening and is being driven by technocrats.
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