● What is digital economy?
Digital economy or the internet economy is increasingly influencing our social and economy activities and even the way we live. The internet and its accessory activities including information and communication Technologies have given birth to new products, services , jobs , enterprises and even markets. World's largest firms Google's alphabets , Facebook and Amazon are from the digital world.
Besides the internet and the internet of things, several new inventions are about to alter the way we live and economically engage,Artificial intelligence,machine to machine communication,sensor technology,robotics,big data,cloud computing,3 D printing etc.,indicate that the role of digital technologies in economic activities are going to rise.
Thomas Mesenbourg (2001) has provided three main components for Digital Economy.
• e-business infrastructure ( hardware, software, telecoms , networks , human capital, etc. )
•e-buisness (how business is conducted ,any process that an organization conducts over computer-mediated networks),
•e-commerce (transfer of goods,for example when a book is sold online).
● Advatages of Digital Economy
• Cashless transactions is only possible with white money which renders the black econo.y untenable.Black money is a major problem in Indiaand th fact that less than 5% of all payments in the country are made electronically has not helped matters.
• Real Estates prices would drop considerably because a huge share of black money is invested in this sector which inflates the prices int he real estate market.
• The expenditure incurred by the RBI in printing notes would be considerably reduced.Int he year 2015,the RBI spent Rs 27 billion in issuing and managing currency notes.
• Cashless transactions can be easily monitored by the government which will enhance revenue collection and consequently increase the funds to carry out developmental activities.
• The citizens would no longer have to carry liquid cash with them.It would be sufficient to carry mobiles,cards or tablets.
●Disadvantages of Digital Economy
• Many poor people do not have bank accounts.Although the Jan Dhan Scheme launched by the government succeeded in bringing millions into the banking system,the process is not complete and many of the accounts are non-functional.
• The small retailers in India deal only in cash and have not been able to invest into the digital infrastructure.
• The taxes,surcharges and the fees charged on digital transactions need to be made liberal in order to encourage the people to adopt the practice.
• Hacking and cyber theft are grave dangers that plague the digital world.Hackers can steal information and money from anywhere in the world.
• The Indian public is not much educated with regards to the benefits of using cards or online payment methods.A vast majority prefer using cash as a convenient method of payment.
