Mashable/ by Stacy Martinet
Following the United States and China, India is the world’s third largest Internet population. The country is projected to be home to 243 million Internet users by June 2014 -– but that’s still only a fraction of the country’s 1.2 billion population.
As access to the Internet penetrates deeper into the Indian population, it is changing the ways politicians campaign, companies lead and people connect.
Mashable was in Mumbai last week to explore the influence connectivity is having on the country at the first-ever India +SocialGood conference. The event brought together more than 400 members of India’s technology, social media and non-profit communities for a day of exchanging ideas and networking. More than one million people participated in the social discussions and joined the event via Livestream.Here are five key takeaways from the event, which dive into the country’s powerful online potential.
India’s first 4G network arrived in April 2012 in Kolkata, West Bengal. Since then, 4G has slowly spread throughout the country. This February, Apple made a joint announcement with Bharti Airtel that it would bring 4G mobile service to users of Apple’s latest phones in Bangalore.
To date, 4G access has been primarily data-only. As 4G becomes more widespread and accessible for all types of devices, the potential increases for digital communications, online media, both large and small businesses, entrepreneurship and mobile commerce. Many +SocialGood community members expressed particular excitement about future opportunities for mobile commerce and peer-to-peer lending.
On April 9, the same day as the event, Facebook reported it had crossed the 100 million users mark in India, making it the second largest country on the social network, behind only the United States, where the company started. However, 100 million users is still just a small percentage of India’s overall population, and the market still has potential for significant growth.
What you hear and see in Mumbai is that, in many ways, Facebook is the gateway to the Internet. For instance, many small businesses have forgone original websites and sites such as Yelp, instead focusing on building out their company Facebook pages.
India may also be the biggest reason that Facebook acquired the messaging service WhatsApp for $16 billion. It is an extremely popular service as it works across all smartphones using low amounts of data, unlike SMS/text messages, and is nearly free. It also offers several features such as group messaging and audio and video messaging using little data, making it by far the easiest and cheapest way to stay in touch and share information with others both domestically and internationally.
Social media is playing a major role in the Indian national elections for the first time.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has largely adopted social media in this election cycle, creating several campaign activations for its candidate for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The candidate has a strong presence across platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and India’s own social media platform Vebbler.
Holograms of Modi were shown at rallies, and Google+ Hangouts were used to interact with the movement’s supporters. Modi currently has 3.4 million Twitter followers and over 10.6 million “likes” on his Facebook page.
As we’ve seen in other elections around the world, social media has the potential to play a big role. It is very unclear how this will shape the current election in India, as Rahul Gandhi, the incumbent National Congress Party’s candidate for Prime Minister, doesn’t yet have a verified Twitter account. Many are comparing the contrast of social media strategies in this election to the 2008 U.S. presidential race between Barack Obama and John McCain.
But one thing is clear: With the rise of social networks in the country, more young people are getting involved in the election. As we have seen in the United States, this year’s race could be the tipping point that will never again allow an Indian national election to go without social media campaigns.
The Companies Act was enacted April 1, the start of India’s fiscal year. The mandate requires that one-third of a company’s board is comprised of independent directors. This board committee must ensure the company spends “at least 2% of the average net profits of the company made during the three immediately preceding financial years” on corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. Conservative estimates calculate this will net $2.5 billion annually. If the company fails to spend this amount on CSR, the board must disclose why in its annual report.
The act defines CSR as activities that promote poverty reduction, education, health, environmental sustainability, gender equality and vocational skills development. Companies can choose which area to invest in, or contribute the amount to central or state government funds earmarked for socioeconomic development.
The CSR legislation was a big topic of conversation among the businesspeople and NGO workers at India +SocialGood. How this new mandate will work, and what the total result of the giving will be is uncertain, but what is clear is that both sides are working to ensure accountability, transparency and measurement, and social media can help play a major role.
Another part of “The Companies Act” mandates that corporations’ boards of directors include at least one female member. While U.S. media writes countless op-eds and Twitter buzzes about getting more women to the top, India has taken a proactive legal step to make it a reality.
Reports indicate fewer than 30% of India’s female population is active in the workforce, but the new legislation is a significant first step in incentivizing and rewarding professional women across India. While it can’t be known what the long-term effects of this mandate will be, in theory, the law will provide opportunities for millions of Indian women to take on high-level management and strategy positions across the nation’s top industries.
Last year, 16.9% of board seats in the United States were held by women, a relatively low number compared to the 27% of Swedish board seats and 40.9% of Norwegian board seats held by women. However, in India, women hold only 4.7% of corporate board positions, a statistic significantly lower than in western nations.
By introducing the female board member mandate, India has the potential to not only grow its female working population, but to increase the value and importance of female leadership culturally and socially across the nation.
