Bengaluru : Infosys co-founder and former UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani Tuesday swore by big data, saying it will address issues of economic growth and jobs and help small businesses avail of loans that have eluded them so far. “The fact that we are talking of using big data is not just some technical mumbo-jumbo, it is actually creating a cycle of investment and growth for India’s small businesses, which will lead to economic growth and jobs,” he told reporters at an event organised by CII here.
Big data refers to huge complex number sets that are not easily dealt with by traditional processing application software. It faces challenges like capturing data, storage and data analysis.
Nilekani was asked to assess the state of the Indian economy, especially in terms of jobs and overall economic growth, as the country is close to celebrating its 70th Independence. “With companies becoming data rich due to availability of digital footprints through GST, some eight million small businesses in GST will start getting loans. When they start getting loans, they will grow and when they grow, it will create jobs,” he added.
Small businesses were not getting loans due to lack of business data on performance, Nilekani reasoned.
‘Lucky to have missed IIM exam’
Infosys Co-Founder Nandan Nilekani considers himself lucky to have missed out on his IIM entrance exam, as he would not have been associated with Narayana Murthy, who built Infosys along with four other founders. “I was very fortunate to have missed my IIM entrance exam.. I was looking for a job and walked into a small company where Narayana Murthy gave me one.. We shared a great relationship thereafter, and then, of course, Infosys began and the rest is public history,” he said.
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