He spoke on how India’s fast paced digital transformation across industrial spheres has been matched by its highly successful national strategy to extend financial literacy on a wide population scale. The Reserve Bank of India’s Financial Inclusion Index has shown year on year improvements in financial access and usage. Professor Bhimani noted however that some segments of society remain unbanked especially women, poor households in rural areas as well as those existing outside the formal workforce. Whilst immense strides are evident, of note is that access to financial products needs to be accompanied by financial understanding. This is critical as digital financial innovations replace conventional forms of financial management in homes and businesses. Of particular significance is the need for financial understanding to be complemented by digital literacy. Professor Bhimani argued also that artificial intelligence developments offer very extensive directions both for extending financial literacy and inclusion drives to adopt side by side with an extension of financial products aided by AI platforms. He spoke on how financial products and financial understanding will change the face of financial engagement in the most populous country in the world whose lessons will potentially prove applicable within other national contexts. AI will be at the centre of this. In essence, digital financial literacy, access to products, and understanding must remain at the forefront of India’ s financial inclusion strategy in the very near term as technological advances reshape finance.
Professor Bhimani appeared in a second panel on 19 November 2024 at the Symposium discussing ‘Collaborative Research in Sustainability’. He noted how the notion of sustainability which was first articulated over three centuries ago has widened in meaning so much so that no aspect of everyday life today can now be said to remain untouched by sustainability concerns. For researchers this opens very many investigatory possibilities across the range of scientific, social, economic, political and cultural concerns enabling also a diversity of ontological and epistemological perspectives to be adopted by researchers. The field has seen a mushrooming of scholarly studies already, but the status quo represents only a beginning. As investigations take place, pathways will emerge for more closely linking research to applied practices and societal reforms.