Health-tech, cloud to see major growth in India in 2021: Report

New Delhi: Telehealth is expected to see major growth in the post-Covid world with the advancements in consumer healthcare technology and broader digitisation of healthcare infrastructure, according to a report.

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP’s (DTTILLP) Annual Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT) Predictions 2021 also pointed to broad-based cloud adoption across the government and public sectors, large corporates, small and medium businesses (SMBs) and start-ups.

“We have seen a widespread acceleration in the adoption of digital and virtual business models (from a customer lens) and operating models (from an organisational lens). We predict these trends to continue in 2021 and see India’s TMT story emerge as a credible proposition in the region,” P N Sudarshan, Partner and TMT Leader at DTTILLP, said.

The report said telehealth will be a game-changer in post-Covid India.

“Advancements in consumer healthcare technology, along with the broader digitisation of healthcare infrastructure through telehealth platforms, will herald the next phase of healthcare service delivery in India and across the world,” it said.

Investments in physical and digital infrastructure, including cybersecurity protection for data privacy and security, will help bridge the urban-rural divide and ensure everyone has access to quality healthcare, the report added.

Also, it predicted 2021 to be an ‘overcast’ year with broad-based cloud adoption across the government and public sectors, large corporates, SMBs and start-ups.

“Covid-19, acceleration in digital and virtual adoption by organisations, the regulatory and policy push, and significant investments by existing data centre players, hyper-scale cloud providers, and new emerging market participants are unprecedented catalysts pushing the market forward,” it said.

Another key trend would be continued acceleration in the growth of online gaming.

“Of the universe of recreational and entertainment options, those requiring physical presence or involving large gatherings became unavailable due to the pandemic. Thus, options such as live concerts, sports, and movie theatres fell out of the set of possible choices,” it said.

Further, several options that could be consumed from the safety of one’s home did not allow for the creation of fresh content and television broadcasters and video OTT companies had to operate with existing libraries, it added.

“However, gaming and animation could support creation and consumption in the ‘new normal’, thus gaining an edge over other entertainment options,” it said.

In the long term, the key drivers that would drive gaming consumption in India are demographics, smartphone penetration, affordable data services, improving disposable income, supply-side factors, and deeper adoption of digital payments, the report noted.

Besides, the edge computing market in India is gaining momentum with the ‘growth of drivers’ in the explosion of mobile data, driving telcos’ need for low latency media processing, public cloud, IoT, AI, and big data.

“While the Indian market for edge computing is smaller than global markets, the expected growth rate for edge computing in the region, driven by IoT, is likely to surpass global rate during 2020−27,” the report said.