'Digital innovation key to economic growth'

SAN FRANCISCO, USA: The increasing convergence of software technology, engineering and design is leading to the emergence of digital innovation as one of the integral elements  of economic growth worldwide,  emphasized Carl Bass, president and CEO of of the digital design firm, Autodesk.

"There are four macro trends, which are shaping the growth of the world's leading economies and new way of digital life, which defines the way we work,  entertain, educate and interact with each other is redefining  human lives," said Bass, who heads the $1.8 billion San Rafael, California-based Autodesk, while showcasing the company's latest products at the 2nd World Autodesk Press day here on Tuesday.

He said Autodesk has recorded over 20 per cent growth rate in the last five years consecutively. It is likely to cross the $2 billion revenue mark this year and is expected to grow more than 15 per cent every year for the next five years. 

Bass defined four major trends that are shaping the global economic development. First, the emerging digital life is defined by the new and young set of consumers who are multi-taskers and adept at handling digital solutions that provide their need for information,  tools for communications with each other and the training methodologies at modern work places. He emphasized that the benchmarks set by the entertainment industry are redefining this segment.

Digital life is already a reality. He pointed out that more than 100 milion videos are downloaded from the YouTube website daily and 65,000 new videos created by people are added to the site every day. 

The world's largest analog data storage of 20 Terabytes is  available with the Library of Congress in the US. But Google has surpassed this 50 times by digitizing over 1000 terabytes of data in recent years.

Second, the era of globalization promoted by the abundant availability telecom bandwidths is helping companies access global talent, undeterred by geographical boundaries. This, the Autodesk chief, said  is opening up a new world for entrepreneurs who can devise new business models and leverage the emerging global opportunities.

Product differentiation alone will determine the winners in every segment where the basic technology tools are fully commmoditized, he said.

The global boom in setting up new infrastrucuture in almost all growing economies are also leading to the greater use of design innovations. The mammoth infrastructure projects being taken up in countries like India and China, rebuilding of the old urban infrastructure in developed economies, new investments in Saudi Arabia, many Latin American countries are all creating new opportunites, Bass said.

It was estimated that the spendings by the infrastructure sector in 2008 and 2009 may exceed $3 trillion or approximately  Rs 12,000,000 crore.  Use of software tools were reducing building project timelines by 25 per cent and saving costs by 25-30 per cent by providing the ability to visualize, simulate and analyze modern building on computers.

The fourth key factor driving design innovation is the climate change. Bass said the global demand for energy was expected to double in the next 25 years.  This is unsustainable and the world is looking at new efficient ways of producing energy. 

Hybrid vehicles, more energy-efficient transportation system, massive urban building which reduce their carbon footprints will all drive the demand for design tools.

"The world needs new ways to design better materials and super-efficient energy production methods," he emphasized.