Use of digital technology to push biz growth: Study

Adoption of advanced digital technologies in India can bolster revenue by up to 27%, drive employment by 84% and enhance significantly access to overseas markets for small and medium businesses, says a study.

"In India, adoption of advanced business digital technologies can lead to increase in revenues by up to 27%, increase in employment by up to 84% and enhance access to international markets by up to 65% for small and medium business (SMBs)", the ASSOCHAM-Deloitte study said.

Digital infrastructure can also help leverage technologies like telepresence, that, in turn, reduce the travel need for businesses, resulting in cost savings.

Increased levels of digital technology-use can improve employee satisfaction and collaboration, leading to a more productive workforce, it added.

"In India, it is estimated that employees in SMBs with advanced digital engagement are 8.7 times more likely to collaborate than offline businesses," noted the study titled 'Digital India: Unlocking the trillion dollar opportunity'.

The government has taken several measures to improve ease of doing business in India. Services such as eBiz portal, KYC and other e-governance initiatives have started to contribute to the improvement in ease of doing business and this is expected to further improve, it added.

"Availability of digital infrastructure will help companies drive significant efficiencies, reduce time to market (new products, new markets) by digitising their core operations and supply chains", it pointed out.

The implementation of telepresence and cloud computing technologies under Digital India will lead to reduction in carbon emissions.

"For example, telepresence can eliminate 20% of the business travel, leading to reduction in carbon emissions by 1.08 million tonnes globally. Use of cloud storage for documents will significantly reduce the consumption of natural resources like paper," it added.