Big Data, Automation Will Create New IT Jobs: Nasscom

New technologies like automation, Internet of Things and artificial intelligence are driving a big change in the IT industry landscape. And add to that the turbulence in the global economy and some sectors like energy in particular.

This has led to fears about the Indian IT sector, particularly about jobs, at a time when the big players in the sector struggling to keep up momentum. (Watch)

Acknowledging the changes driving the sector, Nasscom president R Chandrashekhar said, "As far as India is concerned...these apprehensions need not be there."

Nasscom is the premier trade body of the nearly $150-billion Indian IT-BPO industry.

"Jobs that are repetitive and predictive will be first to be automated. But newer technologies driving the change - such as Big Data, artificial intelligence and Internet of Things - will also create jobs," he said.

"Even as some jobs fall off the clip, there will be new jobs that will keep coming but they probably will require different, probably higher, skill sets."

But he acknowledges that the "number of new jobs created within IT may be less than the jobs falling off the clip".

Mr Chandrashekhar, however, said the changes in the IT landscape will "end up creating jobs but may be outside of the IT sector but because of the IT sector".

"The whole impact on jobs is a complex picture. Technology has always ended up creating more jobs than it destroys," he said.

Mr Chandrashekhar said "the overall trend in the industry towards digital, delivering business value and delivering business transformation. But this is an incremental change, not something that will happen overnight where all the old models are gone."

The Indian IT "industry is adapting to the change quite well and preparing for the future".

Earlier this week, Nasscom said it sees no immediate reason to revise forecast of 10-12 per cent revenue growth in IT exports for financial year 2016-17. However, it added that it is keeping a close watch on factors like Britain's exit from the EU (Brexit) and its ripple effect on demand for technology services.

Nasscom's 10-12 per cent revenue growth projection for the current fiscal year is lesser than the 12-14 per cent growth estimated by it in FY16.