On 4th and 5th March 2021, Adamas University witnessed India’s largest media, entertainment and communication summit named “India Communication Summit 2021”. The occasion was graced by many eminent personalities hailing from the media background like Utpal Chakraborty, Lloyd Xavier, Jimmy Tangree and others. It was a 2-day session spanning 10 hours. A lot of relevant and informative topics were touched upon during the session including brand communication post-pandemic, regional entertainment, and the like. In the fourth session of the second day, Utpal Chakraborty, an industry expert on AI in banking and Head of Artificial Intelligence at Yes Bank joined the interaction and expressed his point of view over local and global OTT platforms.
Past and the present scenario
He began his speech by remarking that in today’s scenario every company is turning into a tech company and that new developments are taking place in the market every day. According to him, India is doing an incredible as well as an appreciable job in promoting start-ups on indigenous social media platforms. He very accurately stated that Indian ways of mining data have changed a lot in the past few years. Earlier newspapers, journals, television, and radio were the only sources to get data. But with changing times and the advancement of technology the scenario has changed a lot. Now we can get information about any topic or event from any part of the world by sitting in the comfort of our homes with just one click. He further added “The ease of access of content to this extent has never happened before and is revolutionary. This has also opened the gate for many new opportunities.”
App ban as “boon”
As per his vision, with the ban of certain social media platforms such as TikTok and PUBG by the government, soon India will see a rise in the development as well as usage of indigenous OTT platforms. This can provide a positive impetus if India puts effort into the improvement of a user-friendly interface and thereby stand apart in the international market.
His advocacy for the future generation
He also asked the future and the present generation to be creative in the field they are in. This will not only solve unemployment but also create more jobs in the market for other people. The opportunities are endless when creative content creation and investment in the indigenous platform is viewed as a feasible investment. This way people’s dependency on jobs will reduce and many would even become employers which will be very healthy for the economy of the country.
The internet has potential
During his entire speech, Chakraborty majorly stressed the need to encourage local platforms and pave the way for more such opportunities. He said that “Quality along with new touch-ups and creativity is the key to strengthening our performance at the global level in terms of social media and OTT platforms.”
In the 1-hour long session, he also briefly spoke on the significance of youth in building up the foundation for stable growth of the concerned sectors. Considering the fact that in today’s world the usage of the internet has expanded vastly and that everyone is a user of it, he highlighted the apparent potential of every individual in becoming a support system to the players in the web market.
To sum up, the speech of Chakraborty was extremely valuable and fruitful in providing information on the role of technology in propelling growth. Holding many years of vivid experience in the field of technology himself, he shared his thoughts as well as suggestions in the most lucid way. His notions and take on the present scenario and insights of expectations from the future provided a glimpse and much-needed exposure of the latest advancements going on in the virtual world.
The author, Prithwish Panda is associated with Adamas University Media School.