We often come across terms like youth empowerment and enablement. However, few of us really succeed in instilling its true essence into the lives of the unattended. Equality and empowerment should begin from the grassroots.
Such remote areas where people barely hold onto straws, technological interventions prove to be a ray of hope in their lives.
“Almost everything that is great has been done by youth.”
– Benjamin Disreaeli
One of many such inspiring stories is of young girls — Shamma Kausar and Amith Gupta — from a small village in Goa, who created what they call the “Intelligent Irrigation and Village Electrification” model. A model that leveraged natural energy to combat global warming and make their little village self-sustainable. They proudly stated, “solar power is a technology not a fuel”. Another set of students of class five created a drone-based ocean cleaning system to detect toxic and carcinogenic substances from the ocean.
Instances like this makes us deliberate. Youth, if provided, with proper guidance can ignite young minds to steer towards a path-breaking direction. I firmly believe that technology education in early childhood can help children in finding their own ways of exploring and learning. It brings a ray of hope in their lives by giving them the kind of exposure that seemed farfetched for decades. Imagine a world with such innovative minds, considering the lengths that they go to, given the right platform.
To have a fresh perspective on today’s pressing problems, we need to think out of the box to upskill the youth in our country. Currently, 1.2 billion young people pertain to the age group between 15 and 24 years, accounting for 16 per cent of the global population. Ninety per cent of India’s population, approximately 1.18 billion, is digitally illiterate. Low quality jobs, greater labor market inequalities, longer and more insecure school-to-work transitions explains why the youth today is three times more likely to be unemployed than adults. Imagine the kind of new ideas and progress we are leaving behind by ignoring this digital divide. With technology at the core of everything we do, it becomes our responsibility to join forces and help our fellow natives. Enabling youth by imparting digital literacy, will help them stand on their feet. The world is coming together with the help of technology and we must equip one another to be a part of this digital wave. A Call for Reform is required as we engage ourselves in inculcating digital literacy into the lives of others.
As every drop counts, every organization should contribute towards the community they seek participation in. SAP believes in constructive growth and therefore, as a corporate entity we have made our moves towards building a ‘Digital Native India’. We have been working towards empowering the youth of the nation with initiatives like Code Unnati, Bharat ERP, and engaging with universities and education institutes all of this has illuminated the lives of more than 7.5 million citizens in India and this is just the beginning.
Inspired by young children like Shamma and Amith, who are full of life and innovation alike, we get motivated on our journey of doing good. We all must strive to diminish the digital divide and set our best foot forward towards forming an enlightened future.
