Bhubaneswar, Feb 6 (IANS) The President of India, Droupadi Murmu, on Friday called upon entrepreneurs and innovators to ensure that fintech becomes a tool for social justice and inclusion.  President Murmu was speaking at the Black Swan Summit, India, organised by the Odisha government in collaboration with Global Finance and Technology Network, in Bhubaneswar. While speaking on the occasion, President Murmu said that rapidly evolving technology also brings serious challenges, including cybersecurity threats, deepfakes, misinformation, and an increasing dependence on technology.

“However, the rapid technological changes have a huge positive impact on innovation and growth. Through events such as Black Swan Summit, innovative methods can be explored to leverage technologies for further enhancing capabilities through skilling, generate employment and accelerate the digital and financial transformation,” said President Murmu. She also said that in the past decade, the Direct Benefit Transfer of funds into bank accounts and digital payments have become very common among beneficiaries like the nation's farmers, small shopkeepers and women.

For them, 'fintech' is not a technical term, it has become their lifeline. The President further noted that India’s fintech story should be remembered not only as a tale of technology but also as that of gender justice. “Women constitute an important segment that requires focussed attention for the promotion of fintech. The fintech ecosystem must view them not only as end users but as leaders, professionals, and entrepreneurs,” added President Murmu.

The President said that to make fintech more inclusive, there was a need to skill citizens, especially those living in remote, tribal, and rural areas with digital tools. She stressed that was crucial and urged entrepreneurs and innovators to make technology a vehicle for social justice, inclusion, employment, and entrepreneurship. Dwelling on the potential misuse of technology by criminals for financial frauds, she said that the union government has undertaken various measures to prevent and report frauds, including setting up of Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre, Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System and Cyber Fraud Mitigation Centre.

“Ensuring digital and financial literacy is essential to deter online financial fraud. It needs to be made part of school curricula so that the advantages and disadvantages of technology can be understood at a young age,” she underscored. She was happy to note that the Odisha government has launched the BharatNetra initiative for building a future-ready workforce and innovation ecosystem in digital, financial and insurance technology sectors.

During her address, President Murmu said that the upcoming India AI Impact Summit, to be held in New Delhi this month, is expected to see participation from around 100 countries. The summit aims to position Artificial Intelligence not just as a technological innovation but as a strategic tool for inclusive growth, expanding access to opportunities that have long remained beyond the reach of large sections of society. “India AI Impact Summit will play a huge role in leveraging global AI expertise and technology for the benefit of people,” the President noted.