Critically analyse the role of Deep Technology in providing comprehensive social development as well as social security.

Deep technology holds immense potential yet its adaptation in India is low. The role of Deep technology can be seen in the success of multinational giants like Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon. Ranging from revolution in Quantum-computing to augmented reality, their contribution is ever-expanding. 

• In India tech wizards like Infosys and TCS have made considerable transformation in IT and service sector. Yet India is still to see a success in innovation in deep technology. 
• Though India startup system has been thriving for over a decade, the new startups like Flipkart, Oyo, Ola which have scaled are simply rechristened versions of already existing global players like Alibaba, Amazon, Uber and AirBnB. 

Reasons why India needs deep tech startups – 

• Country specific technology – While Deep technology has excelled at AI and lightning fast computing, these can be employed to develop based on the needs of India for agriculture, water-management, fintech, healthcare and urban development. There is a need for talent present in the country to understand challenges in the domain of food, energy and water security and work their way to present solutions. 
• Affordability & access to services – issues related to affordability and access to utility services, which may not be clearly understood by a multinational giant. A number of Indian start-ups are now beginning to focus on creating solutions using deep tech such as artificial intelligence, analytics, augmented reality/virtual reality and the Internet of Things, among others.
• Job opportunities – deep-tech companies can offer alternative job opportunities to our engineers who were sought after by multinational tech companies but are now finding it difficult to move to research labs located out of the country due to tough visa norms.
• Data security & localisation – Indian deep-tech companies will help to manage and secure the country’s data sovereignty. Data is the new oil and many players, both legitimate and unscrupulous want to lay hands on this enormous power There are many examples of how data can be misused, the recent ones being massive data breach at Facebook and online attack using spyware Pegasus on Whatsapp.

Handling concerns – 

• One of the major problems towards scalability is deficit funding both from government and private players. There is not much support for scaling up as these technologies need a long time to reach market ready maturity. 
• On an average, $1.3 million is required for biopharma startup with profitability starting after a minimum of 4 years while this figure for an IT based firms is $2,00,000 and a period of 3 years.
• Government schemes like the MUDRA, forums like NASSCOM, FICCI have supported businesses, yet more needs to be done to make available finance to enterprises. Established venture capitalists, angel investors are required along with mentorship and guidance to promising startups.