While the world of meta beckons with a promise to turn many things physical into digital, there still are many areas that need physical human movements
In historical analyses, two years can appear as a very tiny dot in the continuum of time. Yet, some periods stand out from the rest for the manner in which events leave a lasting impact on humanity. The period 2020-22 will, perhaps, go down in history as one such. The Covid-19 pandemic has left an impact that has not only stirred up the economic and business cauldron, but also triggered innovations that, otherwise, would have taken years to come.
Prominent national and international CEOs, opinion makers and government leaders shared their thoughts on the rapidly evolving geo-political calculus, the disruption in economies and the path to the new normal, as they discussed and deliberated on an accelerated move towards sustainability, better governance, and tech-led innovations for the new world order at the Economic Times Global Business Summit 2022, in diverse topics sewn together under the broad theme ‘The Great Resurgence: Now, Next & Beyond.’
Nitin Jairam Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport & Highways, who delivered a keynote speech at the summit, opines on the positive multiplier effects of development, particularly of infrastructure projects that the government is focusing on, and believes this, will radically improve the quality of life and investment opportunities.
India’s role and status in the global comity of nations have also catapulted many notches, a point that Meenakshi Lekhi, Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture buttressed at length in a session aptly titled “India and the Great Powers” at the summit.
The biggest transformation is taking place in the area of digitalization, particularly in the context of metaverse, which has held out enormous promise to overwhelmingly change the way businesses are transacted, goods are bought and sold, the experiential potential of augmented reality and the influence of artificial intelligence in everyday lives.
Shantanu Narayen, Chairman & CEO, Adobe, offered a peek into what’s happening within the tech giant as well as in the broader universe of research and innovation. The role of leadership in ushering this change cannot be over-emphasized
“I think in our roles as leaders, it’s about saying, are we planting the flag in terms of where we want to go as a company and making sure that it’s aspirational enough so that employees find different ways to demonstrate and add their own value to this really, truly. So, having said that, when you talk about web, 3D and when you talk about the metadata, maybe I’ll talk about a simple example, which is clearly what has happened, is a lot of the things where we participated in a physical world are going to move into a virtual world”, Narayen said in a session titled “Shaping the Digital Revolution”.
While the world of meta beckons with a promise to turn many things physical into digital, experiential occurrences, there are still many areas that need physical human movements. Travel and tourism is one such.
The pandemic’s impact on travel and tourism was similar to pressing a mechanical button to bring to a sudden, screeching halt on a car that was in cruise mode. People have to crisscross across locations for the revival of the sector, which have been laid low by multiple Covid-19 waves, leaving a debilitating trail on hotels and homestays.
On the top of it comes the Ukraine-Russia conflict, prompting the question: Will the conflict set back recovery in the global homestead business?
Nathan Blecharczyk, Co-Founder, Chief Strategy Officer, Airbnb was upfront. “I think it’s really early to tell. All of this has played out in the span of a couple of weeks. Two weeks ago, no one would have predicted where we were at. I’m an optimist. I hope things will take a turn for the better. So far, this conflict has been in a focused geography. Obviously, we’re seeing the impacts of it broadly in terms of fuel prices, refugees, et cetera. I think one thing we’ve learned from the pandemic, though, is that there is this appetite to travel,” he said at a session titled “Tourism: Riding the Recovery Wave”.
The key challenge, though, remains on how to build a resilient and sustainable future. How is sustainability going to impact the Indian economy, the world economy, and businesses?
Expressing his views, Jamshyd N Godrej, Chairman and Managing Director, Godrej and Boyce, elaborates that, “this transition has been in progress for some time. I think you have to look at the change that’s going to take place in a way that will get affected over decades because we have been told clearly by the science that if we are not doing this, then by the turn of the century the weather would become rather catastrophic. So, I think the most important point is that people know that they must now decarbonize”.
Another defining characteristic of the pandemic has been the way people work and the way education is imparted. Is work from home going to be a permanent feature in the new normal? Probably. more towards a hybrid, blended mode.
Mark Read, CEO, WPP, put things in perspective at the summit. “It’s become closer, more trusting, and more critical. Although hundreds of millions of people have faced working from home for longer than they may wish, their physical distance has not stopped work from building stronger bonds in the workplace. Will businesses want to walk back these bonds, or has it now become a permanently new way of working? Our industry is historically an in person collaborative business. We’re bringing people together to associate with better results, especially when innovating or creating,” Read said.
What about education? Is the future one where tech companies will necessarily have to promise education with a job guarantee? Ronnie Screwvala, Chairperson & Co-Founder – upGrad.com gave an interesting, return on investment (ROI)-based insight.
“ROI on your investment is very critical. Does that equal a job guarantee? Absolutely not. Let’s be very clear. Even when you’re an entrepreneur, you’re not guaranteed because you could be busted out”, opined Ronnie.
Written By Anupama Sughosh
Edited by Queenie Nair
