, hardware and software, vendors and service providers, risk management including disaster recovery should be factored in the it strategy of the bank. the chief information officer ( cio ) in a bank needs to work in close coordination with business, finance and legal departments as well as with other user groups within the bank. 9. while a bank ’ s it strategy can be a codified document, it must have enough flexibility to accommodate emerging circumstances, business priorities, budgetary constraints, regulatory requirements, skill sets, etc. banks should look at technology adoption as a core business driver rather than a compliance requirement. better it adoption can not only be leveraged to achieve balance sheet growth but also to protect margins and provide seamless customer service across different geographies. if one can summarise what could be the key elements of an effective it strategy, then it may comprise seven c ’ s : codification ( of it policies and practices with flexibility built into it ), control ( over systems and processes ), continuity ( of services and facilities ), confidence ( about the robustness of the system ), convenience ( to the customers and the staff ), cost ( implying optimisation of investments made and confidentiality ( meaning protection of customer information and organizational data safety ). ict and financial inclusion 10. it is well understood that ict could provide a major opportunity in reaching out to hitherto financially excluded segment of customers, thereby tapping the enormous opportunities at the bottom of the pyramid ( bop ) by bridging the urban - rural digital divide. as we, from the reserve bank, have always been emphasizing, the moot point is how can banks leverage technology to offer hitherto excluded customers products which are simple, safe, low - cost and easy to use. with the ubiquitous presence of mobile phones, the potential for mobile banking as a delivery channel for financial services is a huge opportunity in india. banks may have to strive to deepen mobile banking penetration to existing ( including pmjdy ) and new customers. putting into practice the policy pronouncements on jam ( jan - dhan accounts, aadhar identity numbers and mobile phone availability ) has to be a major focus area of banks, if the large number of accounts opened under pmjdy has to become operational and remunerative. entry of a sizable number of new - generation customers to the banking fold is a great opportunity in this regard. while new customers can ab initio be on boarded to mobile banking, efforts may

, as an autonomous apex institution, with the mandate of playing a proactive role of a " think - tank " of the banking system. the nibm is recognized by the university of pune as an approved centre for post - graduate research, and also by the department of scientific and industrial research, ministry of science and technology, government of india. joint indiainternational monetary fund ( imf ) training programme ( itp ) has been established recently at the nibm campus in pune. the reserve bank has sponsored and funded this collaboration. this is the seventh such facility of the imf institute in the world. a former governor of the reserve bank and at present the prime minister, professor manmohan singh, inaugurated the upgradation of the 50 year old bankers ’ training college into a centre for advanced financial learning, when he visited the reserve bank recently. the centre is in the process of taking a final shape with the help of a high powered advisory group. the reserve bank also promotes research by providing financial assistance under a scheme – the reserve bank ’ s endowment scheme – to various institutions for undertaking research and training in areas of interest to the reserve bank. the financial support is generally provided through corpus funds. at present, there are 21 corpus funds and the beneficiaries include several universities. the reserve bank funds several seminars / lectures by experts, including leading academics, most notable of them being a series of three memorial lectures and support to national level academic workshops / conferences. as a continuation of this process, and as a part of its capacity building and knowledge management initiatives, the reserve bank has recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the london school of economics and political science ( lse ), as one of the sponsors, for creating a lse india observatory and ig patel chair. currently, an eminent economist, lord nick stern, holds the chair. the lse india observatory co - ordinates india related research, policy development and teaching at the lse and is expected to emerge as a hub for academic collaboration with academic institutions in india, government agencies and corporate bodies. we, in the reserve bank, believe that this event reinforces our joint commitment to greater collaboration between our two countries, economies, financial sectors, central banks, and academia. i would like to conclude by expressing my gratitude to the university, in particular, vice chancellor professor fagoonie for his kind invitation to me, and honorary professor bheenick for making the conferment ceremony a very