Ajay is acclaimed leader and award winner for his contribution in the field of technology and supporting other entrepreneurs

Demonetization in India has very positive side effect, Digital India movement is now on fast track and unstoppable. Digital revolution happening in India, internet and tech players are trying everything to lure more people to try online shopping, stream a movie, open wallet, book hotel or even just speak into Google’s app to search.They all have a dual target. Engage existing 350+ million Indians who already using the internet, a number larger than the U.S. population and many other countries. But, there is also the bigger prize pending - the 1000 million (one billion) Indians who aren’t online yet.

Given the masses of people gearing up to come online, many say the industry and brands will have to play significant roles. Are we ready? I don’t think so, because, the biggest hurdle to get next billion online is language, and India do not have even one percent websites catering to languages neither have plans to catch up this gap fast enough. How do you get a person online who does not know English at all? There are challenges at every step.With 220 million users, India is now world’s second-biggest smartphone market, which is further expected to grow very fast.

Now, with the connectivity of internet, Indian
population has become digitally equipped but there are other factors that require to be taken into the consideration for achieving greater digital and mobile connectivity. The issue of language is extremely critical, which remains largely unaddressed and email plays a very critical role as its still number one application used over Internet.

The issue of language is extremely critical, which remains largely unaddressed and email plays a very critical role here, as its still number one application used over Internet

As per IAMAI report titled Proliferation of Indian Languages on Internet, 89 percent of the Indian population is a non-English speaking segment, yet Indian languages account for less than 0.1 percent content on the worldwide web. With this kind of readiness, it’s impossible to get next billion online and will remain a distant dream.It is estimated over half of all internet content is in English. So, while billions more will be coming online over the next few years, what type of internet will they discover and in what activities will they mainly engage? Also, how can this rapid adoption of technology help to address some of the critical issues facing humanity? These are the big questions that we should be asking ourselves, and many are. However, to me the biggest challenge as of now is language and entire eco-system of technology need to look at removing language barrier and ease the adoption of Internet.

Foreign players are working furiously to seem locally relevant in India, with advertising steeped in local touches and unusual outreach catering to India`s specificities. Currently, Google advertising is asking users to search by ‘speaking’ into the app in ‘Hindi validates my point to some extent.To make dream come true and get everyone online email is likely to play very important role and these ID’s must be made available free and easy to use. I believe that with the application like DATAMAIL, which is World’s First Linguistic Email address service, the dream of having next billion online possible and will pave the way for other stake holders to make their services/content available in all 22 Indian languages.