"The age of celebration of technology for technology's sake is over": Satya Nadella
Bengaluru (PTI): Suggesting that the age of celebration of technology for technology's sake is over, Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella on Thursday said it is now about technology and its use for everyone in the world, where India can contribute immensely.
Speaking at the 'Microsoft Future Ready Technology Summit' here, he also highlighted the "magic" of government programmes and India Stack "co-evolving" in the country.
"I had a chance to have a brief conversation with the Prime Minister yesterday, his vision and all the programmes, the yojanas and the India Stack. In fact the thing I'm realising is the magic of India Stack, because everything needs feedback. The yojanas or the policy and the technology stack co-evolving, that's just like a virtuous cycle that is unlike anything I have seen and it's just tremendous," Nadella said.
He said, "I absolutely think both of these are perhaps the greatest contributions that India can make to the world quite frankly. The idea that there is digital public good is great, but also there is some sort of new way to use them to make it possible for every society and economy to be more inclusive."
Nadella was in conversation with IT industry veteran and Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani as part of the summit.
Stating that what he learns from India every time he comes here is the common man being able to use the greatest technology to do something that is useful to them, he said, "and it is not about tech for tech sake. That to me is what I think India can contribute."
"The age of celebration of technology for technology's sake is over, it is about really thinking about technology and its use for everyone in the world, and that I think will be the greatest contribution," Nadella added.
Further pointing out that the original vision of the internet was that it was a great leveller, so that everyone can build and create, and there would be frictionless access, Nadella said, at some level some of the new protocols and the stack work is re-bringing those ethos.
He also said it is also fostering the right amount of competition at the right layers, so there are no "incumbencies".
Earlier addressing the summit, Nadella said Microsoft stays grounded in its mission to empower every person and organisation on the planet to achieve more.
"Ultimately for me is being able to put the technology into the hands of other technologists so that they can go on to create more technology to have real impact in the world, across every small, large businesses, non-profit and public sector. Couldn't be more excited to be here in India, to be able to talk about all of this, to see all that is being developed here," he said.
Nadella also spoke about the use of digital technology to solve the hard problems faced by our people, the society and organisations.
"That to me is at the gist of what we as developers, people participating in the digital ecosystem should get really energised by...How can digital technology help us achieve more but with less resource is going to be key for- energy transition, tackling inflation, also it is going to be key to reach every citizen of India and the globe," he said.
Nadella also listed out six imperatives that are key for technologists, they are - migrate to the cloud, unify data and apply AI models as platforms, empower fusion teams, re-energise your workforce, embrace collaborative business processes, and prioritise security.
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BJP's main agenda is to keep minorities in fear, alleges Stalin
Chennai (PTI): DMK President M K Stalin has alleged that the BJP's main agenda is to keep the minorities in fear, and everyone is aware of what is happening in the states governed by the saffron party.
Stalin further alleged that Muslims continued to be subjected to attacks.
"Now, a situation has arisen where even Christmas could not be celebrated peacefully. Christians are being targeted. The entire country is a witness to what is happening in Manipur. The BJP's plan of action is that a state of insecurity for minorities should spread like a wildfire across the country," he told PTI in an interview.
That was why it first enacted the CAA, and the next was an amendment to the Waqf law, and now it is "desperate" to amend the FCRA, he alleged, and lashed out at AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami.
"Palaniswami, who supports all these three amendments and has formed an alliance with the BJP, does not have any concern for the welfare of minorities. However, the DMK is always firm in its commitment to ensure that India must always be a secular state; that people belonging to all religions must be equally respected and that the Constitutional safeguards conferred on minorities must be upheld. If any of these is threatened, the DMK will be the first party to raise its voice against it," he said.
Denying that the BJP made the minorities feel insecure, BJP state vice president M Chakravarthy said the chief minister was making the allegation due to the "fear that the Christian and Dalit votes would go to Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam led by actor-politician Vijay."
He was depicting the BJP as a bogeyman in an attempt to create unnecessary apprehension among the minorities, the BJP leader told PTI.
On FCRA, Chakravarthy asked, "What's wrong with ensuring accountability in the use of funds?"
