Developments in IT sector Of India and Educational Options in IT

Undoubtedly, the IT sector in India is booming and is rightly referred to as the “Fourth Industrial Revolution”. It comprises industry factions such a

Undoubtedly, the IT sector in India is booming and is rightly referred to as the “Fourth Industrial Revolution”. It comprises industry factions such as software and services and technology hardware and equipment and is an umbrella term for anything involving the computing of information, its transference, and the systems that facilitate the same. Further, there has been tremendous growth in this domain in the last decade, making India one of the fastest growing IT markets in the world, soon to cross the $100 billion milestone.

Concerning the same, below mentioned are several technological trends that will lead the IT industry, making way for rapid digitization by increasing the diffusion of innovation:

Artificial Intelligence (AI): Defined as the “simulation of human intelligence processes by machines such as computer systems”, this technology has been booming in India today. AI is deemed to increase India’s GDP by 450-500 billion USD by 2025, forming 10% of the country’s GDP target of 5 trillion USD. Additionally, this hugely impacts tasks such as speech recognition, robotics, machine learning, natural language processing, and computer vision. Specifically, it contributes immensely in fields such as healthcare, education, agriculture, smart cities, and infrastructure, including smart mobility and transportation using such dynamic data. Furthermore, one of the most effective byproducts of AI is Hyperautomation, which allows streamlining of various processes for better accuracy, efficiency, and productivity. Speaking career-wise, AI skills are highly sought after, leading the job postings to increase by a drastic 119%. For example, some job profiles in this area include data scientist, software engineer, research scientist, business intelligence developer, data analyst, etc.

Cloud Adoption: Essentially, it is a process of storing, managing, and processing data by using a network of remote servers, which include highly sensitive and private information. It is deemed as a more secure alternative to storing data on a local server or personal computer. Moreover, it is an extremely important resource for businesses to slim down unnecessary costs by eliminating hardware usage. Further, realizing the importance of this technology, the Indian Government has started the Meghraj program which is aimed at speeding up the delivery of e-service while optimizing its ICT spending. Besides this, other programs such as the National and State Service Delivery Gateways, AIRAWAT (a Cloud-based AI program), TechSaksham, and other initiatives facilitate ease alongside providing authenticity to allow access to the government’s benefits provided by cloud computing. In line with this expansion of cloud computing, India is estimated to require about 20 lakh professionals in this domain by 2025. To validate, the positions available in this field include cloud administrator, cloud security analyst, cloud network engineer, cloud automation engineer, cloud consultant, cloud architect, etc.

Cyber Protection & Data Security: Globally as well as nationally, cybersecurity is becoming a major area for R&D owing to the exponentially increasing number of data security breaches in the past couple of years. In view of the multiple cybercrime cases stealing tonnes of information from large corporations and even personal data and financial records from individuals, the Government of India has promulgated several initiatives to promote cybersecurity. For instance, CERT-In is a cybersecurity tactic that has drastically reduced the rate of cybercrime attacks on government agencies. Similarly, Cyber Swachhata Kendra is a program aimed at creating secure cyberspace by identifying botnet contaminations and advising, empowering cleaning alongside end-client security to preempt new viruses. Lastly, regarding careers in cybersecurity, the industry has its most successful career paths in engineering & architecture, incident response, management & administration, consulting, and hacking. Further, specific and exceptionally well-paying job profiles include cyber security analysts, associate security consultants, cyber security engineers, etc.

Blockchain technologies: Essentially speaking, blockchain is a digital ledger of transactions that is distributed over a network of computer systems. Typically, it makes the recording of information secure to an extent where it is not possible to manipulate or hack the system. Further, one of the most useful applications of this technology is the prospect of tracking products from the get-go, that is, from the time they are created to when they are stored in the warehouse, to when they are shipped, and then finally sold to customers. Another superior application of this innovation is its ability to prevent and minimise the rate of fraud in digital contracts while curating more efficient data retrieval for ledgers. Speaking about India, nearly 55% of businesses are inclining toward blockchain technology. This has led the National Informatics Centre to develop a Centre of Excellence (COE) in Blockchain technology to function as a coordinated, integrated, and interoperable blockchain ecosystem around the nation. Concerning jobs that might spur out of this technology, blockchain developer and blockchain quality engineer, and blockchain solution architect are the positions rapidly opening up in the Indian market.

After discussing the various new technologies and the jobs that could ensue in the IT industry, here is a list of 7 colleges and the courses they offer in the IT sector, that one should look out for: