THE TALK
In 1997 renowned Economist journalist Frances Cairncross, in her best selling book “The Death of Distance: How the Communications Revolution Will Change Our Lives; talked about how Geography, and borders are rapidly becoming irrelevant to the way we conduct our business and personal lives, courtesy of the communications revolution. According to her this “death of distance” will be the single most important economic force shaping all of society over the next half century.
In version 2.0 of the book she released in 2001, she talked about timezone will matter more than miles, where culture, language and interests bind communities more closely than geography
The Indian IT industry was primarily built on this “Death of Distance premise with web-based and telecom technologies making it possible to communicate and work in new ways that dramatically reduced the value of physical proximity.
While the geographical and country borders were breached the role of “Office” remained intact. In the past few weeks with Covid 19, this frontier too has been breached. Home is the new Office
How would the India IT industry adapt and react to this? What are the implication from economic, social and psychological perspective? Is this a threat or an opportunity? What kind of innovations we might see in the next four five years to support this?
V Laxmikanth – MD, Broadridge Financial Services
Laxmikanth is the Managing Director of Broadridge Financial Solutions (India) Pvt. Ltd; a wholly owned subsidiary of the US based Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc. (NYSE:BR); a global S&P 500 company and a leading provider of technology and operations, communications, and data and analytics to financial services firms including capital markets, wealth management, asset management, and corporations. Laxmikanth is part of the Executive Leadership at Broadridge and his responsibilities include delivery of technology and operations from its India-based centers
A Physicist by education and with over 37 years of work experience his leadership spans execution, product and technical innovation and business strategy. Prior to the spin-off of Broadridge from ADP, he was part of the executive leadership team of ADP India since 1999. Laxmikanth is a pioneer in the global delivery model in India, having established and run multiple companies over three decades such as ADP India, DE Shaw India and Intergraph India.
He is an active member of industry and academic forums. He is currently part of the NASSCOM’s Executive Council and is the Chair of the NASSCOM GCC forum. He was Past Chairman of AMCHAM Hyderabad Chapter, member of HYSEA and Member of the CISI India Advisory Committee.
