“Digital is the only torch to see through the haze of Covid-19”

“Covid-19 is like a forest fire that created a thick haze of ambiguities, obscured our vision or clarity for the future, and I believe digital was the only torch available to see through this haze,” said C P Gurnani, MD and CEO, Tech Mahindra, while delivering a keynote address at IDEADigital Enabler Awards & E! Live organised by Entrepreneur India.

After the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic and the ensuing lockdown restrictions across the world, digital took the centre stage to become the one thing that literally kept everything and everyone going. But, at the same time, the pandemic also exposed the real digital divide, said Gurnani. “Digital divide for both the parties—those who could consume digital and those who could provide digital—was laid bare.” The former is a strictly social issue, he explained. “For instance, my wife runs an NGO and for her to provide education to students was difficult despite the teachers and the students being ready as one mobile phone or other such gadget was being shared by the entire family. So, how do you get the student to allocate his or her time to come on that digital medium?”