Artificial intelligence (AI) can enable a new era in the digital transformation journey, offering tremendous potential to transform industries for greater efficiency, sustainability and workforce engagement. Even though the impact of AI applications in manufacturing and value chains is known, the full opportunity from their deployment is still to be uncovered due to a number of organizational and technical roadblocks. Recognizing this need, the World Economic Forum's Platform for Shaping the Future of Advanced Manufacturing and Value Chains and Platform for Shaping the Future of Technology Governance: Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, together with the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Türkiye, convened industry, technology and academic experts to shed light on these challenges and propose a step-by-step approach to overcome them.

The importance of data and digital transformation has grown significantly in the last few months. India’s prompt and scaled response to COVID-19 has been unprecedented. COVID-19 war rooms have further highlighted the importance of as well as gaps in data assets and integrated systems that are fundamental for pandemic response and reopening the economy. It has become time critical that rapid action be taken to further enhance data and AI capabilities at scale across all sectors, especially health, as the country moves towards recovery, economic stimulation and socially relevant reforms. The report “Unlocking Value from Data and AI: The India Opportunity” highlights that data and AI could address dual goals of economic and social value creation and recovery. Report Overview Role of data and AI in delivering economic value by 2025 Data and AI could add $450- $500 bn. to India’s GDP by 2025, representing ~10% of the $5 tn. aspiration pre-COVID-19 Enhancing AI usage at a functional level particularly operations can unlock ~50% of this value Nearly 45% of this value is likely to be delivered by 3 sectors: Consumer goods & Retail, Agriculture, Banking & Insurance Realizing India’s vision of inclusive development through data and AI Contributing to effective COVID-19 response and economic recovery Supporting social initiatives and equitable growth Enhancing talent and capabilities to position India as the global hub for data & AI services Essential building blocks to promote data utilization and AI Countries that are actively promoting data utilization and AI are driving initiatives across the 5 building blocks Strategy Data Technology Stack Talent Execution Potential actions needed to improve data utilization and AI in India Launch the National Program for AI and create an apex body Consider finalizing India’s Data and AI Action Plan Identify datasets of national importance Kick off work on 3-5 programs of socio economic importance Increase data utilization by facilitating access to datasets Create schemes to engage the AI ecosystem