Role of Information and Communication Technology in Economic Development of India

Abstract

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) stresses the role of unified communication and integration of telecommunications, intelligent building management systems and audio-visual systems in modern information technology. In the information age, using information is a prime issue. ICT includes of all technical means that are used to handle information and aid communication. It includes computer and network hardware, middleware and necessary software. Time accessibility of relevant information is vital for economic development of any country. The improvement of economic activity can be brought by improving capacity in terms of enhancing access to information, while also the technical nature of economic activities required that the knowledge of users are constantly updated which can be achieved through their enhanced information seeking behavior by the use of ICTs. Moreover, use of ICTs lead to innovation which further lead to the enhancement of economic growth and human resource development. Thus, the present paper highlights the role of information technology on economic development of the country as a whole. A period of fifteen years is considered for the study Information and Communication Technology index and Economic Development index has been constructed on the basis of Principal Component Analysis. A simple linear regression has also been conducted to examine the impact of ICT on Economic Development in India. Stationarity of the data set are also checked with the help of appropriate unit root testing technique such as Augmented-Dickey Fuller test. The result shows that there has been considerable impact of ICT on Economic Development in India. Policy suggestions are also given on the basis of the findings of the study.