Technology today is evolving at a rapid pace, allowing for faster change and advancement and thereby accelerating the rate of change. However, it is not just technological trends and upcoming technologies that are changing; the breakout of COVID-19 has made IT workers recognise that their job in the contactless world of tomorrow will not be the same. In 2021-22, an IT professional will be continually learning, unlearning, and relearning.

TSSC launched its ‘Overview: Indian Telecom Market 2022-23’, charting out the areas of traction where the telecom industry would witness growth in the coming financial year. The report highlights that in the past year, there was a combined demand of over 1.5 lakh in roles in 5G, Cloud Computing, AI & Big Data Analytics, IoT, Mobile App-Development and Robotic Process Automation – the demand-supply gap is almost 28%.  The talent demand-supply gap will continue to widen with the advent of 5G and allied technologies rollout. There is also a detailed section by TSSC that explains “which emerging technologies have the most potential for near-term business impact.” Here’s an overview of it:

Cloud: Shaping the new technology

First, to understand the term, Cloud computing is a general term for anything that involves delivering hosted services over the internet. These services are divided into three main categories or types of cloud computing: infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS) and software as a service (SaaS). Furthermore, the cloud comes in two options: private or public. A public cloud sells services to anyone on the internet. A private cloud is a proprietary network or a data centre that supplies hosted services to a limited number of people, with certain access and permissions settings. Private or public, the goal of cloud computing is to provide easy, scalable access to computing resources and IT services.

 Growth Statistics as per TSSC

As per the report, end-user spending on public cloud services in India is forecast to total $7.3 billion in 2022, an increase of 29.6% from 2021. This has also led to increasing in the demand for cloud technology professionals, which is likely to touch 2 million by 2025. Furthermore, the data collected from the previous year (FY21) also reveals that India ranked third with 608,000 cloud professionals across all verticals, including technology.

The rise in the demand

The demand for cloud solutions is growing exponentially both in India and worldwide, leading to a higher demand for talent in this space. India had about 380,000 job openings in the cloud in 2020, up 40 per cent over 2019. The demand for cloud skills far outweighs the current supply and needs to focus across stakeholders on upskilling.

By the end of 2022, India’s cloud market is predicted to have grown by 26%. Clouds that are highly demanded in the market today: cloud computing, AWS/Azure, Cloud Migration, SAP, Cloud Security, and Machine Learning/AI. Furthermore, with over 608,000 cloud experts across all sectors in India, demand for cloud-related roles has surged rapidly since last year (40 per cent).

Also Read: Cloud Computing sees highest talent demand-supply gap, here is why

Cloud supporting companies in India

AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, Oracle Cloud, IBM Cloud, and TATA Communications.

IoT  

The Internet of Things (IoT) describes the network of physical objects or “things” that are embedded with sensors, software, and other technologies. It has one primary purpose of connecting and exchanging data with other devices and systems over the internet. These devices include ordinary household objects to sophisticated industrial tools.

Growth Statistics as per TSSC

IoT is projected to grow rapidly, from US$726 billion in 2019 to US$1.1 trillion in 2023 the industrial IoT market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 16.7 per cent from 2019 to reach US$263.4 billion by 2027. High-value drivers of IoT Revenue Growth Using data from interconnected systems, a customized offering can be created for end consumers, leading to a potential revenue boost. Quality Control Assessing process historical data from sensors or edge devices helps operators manage the product’s quality. Cost Reduction Using data from IoT solutions, operators can proactively make better decisions, leading to increased efficiency and reducing operational costs. security and Safety Remote monitoring and control of critical asset support operators in determining trends and patterns and reporting any abnormality.

Sector themes driving IoT growth in India

The Indian market has the following three sectors: enterprise/industrial, consumer, and services/public. Each segment has distinct characteristics and market opportunities. COVID19 is expected to further accelerate the investment pace in IoT.

Enterprise/industrial

This segment is driven by manufacturing and product development. The life sciences, discrete manufacturing, and process manufacturing industries, along with utilities, will be spending most on IoT solutions in the coming years The trend is expected to continue with most of the use cases focusing around enhancing asset tracking and asset life with condition-based maintenance and equipment tracking and the ability to enforce physical distancing.

Consumer

Focus on customer experience has driven investments in this sector. Smart homes and connected vehicles are expected to drive investments in IoT. The consumer sector is expected to overtake process manufacturing to become the second-largest source of IoT spending by 2023.

Services/public sector

The Government of India (GoI) has taken several initiatives (discussed later in the report) that have encouraged most the IoT spending. Considering the government’s plans of launching 100 smart cities, 500 rejuvenated cities, and numerous projects to create industrial hubs, the segment has a substantial potential for IoT spending. With IoT software spending totalling US$39.3 billion in 20193 in the APAC region and the fastest growth (a CAGR of 14.4 per cent) expected over the five-year forecast period (2018-23), let us understand the industries that are making significant investments in IoT technology and promoting its growth in India.

IoT development companies in India

TCS, Infosys, Mindtree, HCL, Tech Mahindra, LTI

Satellite Broadband: No wires or towers

Satellite broadband promises to be the next big thing in India Some of the biggest global names – including OneWeb, SpaceX and Hughes – are betting big on the opportunity to deliver satellite-based fast internet services – anywhere, anytime.

Currently, satellite broadband services in India are primarily B2B play with market size of roughly $100 million. Nearly 75% of India’s rural population does not have access to broadband since many locations go without cellular or fibre connectivity, according to the estimates of the Broadband India Forum (BIF), which represents OneWeb, Hughes, Amazon, Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Qualcomm.

Drone Technology

India’s drone market is expected to grow by $885.7 Mn by 2021; Jobs look like a guarantee here! To become a drone pilot, training and assessment are required, as per guidelines released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Drone-related careers can open for pilots, UAV operators, engineers, and data processing and analysis experts. Potential positions range from full-time to contract-based work, even internships across many industries.

While drones have captured the fascination of consumers for entertainment there has been considerable interest and growth in the commercial drone market in India and globally. The market is slated to grow at a 12 per cent CAGR. In India, commercial drone applications have been mainly in Defense, Surveillance and monitoring. We are seeing increasing interest in Drone usage in the Agriculture and Medical space. These are areas which can drive significant societal impact.

Also Read: Telecom Sector Skill Council to train 1 lakh people in new-age and emerging technologies