Will Kerala ride the digital wave?

It has been only a week since Kerala held #Future or ‘hashtag Future’ for those not familiar with the digital language. Billed as India’s first global digital conclave, it was aimed at giving Kerala the first mover advantage for the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’. It cannot be wished away that artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, autonomous vehicles and the like are in the process of taking away many routine and repetitive jobs. Globally, technological innovation is leading to new job trends even while the existing jobs are threatened. A good example is the emergence of Uber and Ola, triggering protests by traditional taxi drivers all around.

It was fortuitous that barely a week after #Future concluded, news broke about Japanese automotive major Nissan mulling a digital hub in Kerala. A delegation led by top Nissan executives met senior officers in the state capital to explore the possibilities for a R&D centre for the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance. If it becomes a reality, the facility will come up at Technopark, the country’s first IT Park. The  hub will create 300-500 high-end jobs in the first phase. But more importantly, the state would be staking claim to the first mover advantage, the very purpose of #Future.

As it tries to shrug off its investor-unfriendly business climate adorned with frequent hartals and protests for all and sundry reasons, the Nissan hub would be just what the doctor ordered. Of course, there can be many a slip between the cup and the lip. And the memories of the BMW delegation that got cheesed off with the state’s ‘strike culture’ a couple of decades ago still rankles. True, movements like ‘Say No to Hartal’ and ‘Hartal Free Kerala’ are gaining momentum. Importantly, the Left government is working out of its skin to rattle up ‘ease of doing business’ brownie points. As it claims to be ready to join the fourth industrial revolution, more than anything else, the litmus test for Kerala now is going to be Nissan. Hope the bureaucrats are polishing up their Japanese, at least enough to say Domo Arigato.