PURPOSE
The New Indian Consumer Initiative (NICI) is a community-owned platform to foster interaction on the many challenges and opportunities of consumers in the New Economy. It is also a platform for community-led capacity building, for consumers to understand and lead the public interest.
NICI curates discussions on topics of common interest to people across different sectors. It aims at elevating general awareness levels of citizens as consumers, seeking their views and eliciting their responses for informed policy design.
In short, NICI seeks to contribute towards nation building through knowledge generation and civic participation.
The New Economy
In popular imagination, the New Economy is one that is facilitated by modern technology, and one which is rapidly changing the forms of production and consumption.
The New Economy, therefore, forces a re-examination of the social contract between the state and its citizens. As a central unit within the New Economy, the New Indian Consumer should have agency to vocalise and be heard. In the New Economy - political, social and economic dimensions of public interest need to be reimagined. In other words, a new aware and empowered consumer must take birth and shape public interest.
Themes
NICI will focus on the following three themes:
Theme 1: Emerging Technology
Innovations are making advanced technologies more accessible for consumers. For instance, smartphones, augment reality (AR) devices and smartwatches are already commonplace and affordable. More such innovations are likely to take up consumers’ attention and discretionary expenditure in the future.
Theme 2: New Infrastructure
New infrastructure plays a pivotal role in making new economic activities possible – that impact the consumer. For instance, 5G technology will enable a connected ecosystem of devices, known as Internet of Things. The price of accessing such infrastructure is now lower than ever before – and consequently the cost of consumer access to utilities such as solar energy are also much lower.
Theme 3: Media and Entertainment
The media sector is important for democracy since it shapes public opinion and plays a key role in informing and entertaining citizens. As more Indian consumers engage with the media and are influenced by it, it is important to ensure a level playing field on the supply-side, combined with focus on innovation and quality.